Paladin Mounts

[Chroma]

I've got two paladins in the party I run and they've both delayed getting their mounts until they could get something "special".

They've finally decided, with one (6th level) taking a hippogriff and the other (7th level) a pegasus. These are the first paladins I've run in 3rd Ed and I was wondering if people just use the base creature profiles, modified for the paladin's levels, or if people randomly (or point buy) generate uniquely statted creatures for mounts. I suppose the same could be asked about animal companions.

So, what do you do?

 

[Calico_Jack73]

This may sound cheesy but I make the mount the most perfect example of the creature ever seen (max stats). It is a companion granted to the Paladin by a god so I treat it as such. Torm wouldn't send his champion a broken down old nag to go forth and fight the forces of evil. As the creature progresses and gets more HD I then enforce rolling but when the Paladin gets it the creature is as perfect as possible. I've thought about applying the Axiomatic template to bonded mounts but haven't done it yet. Considering the challenge of playing a Paladin well I believe in rewarding a player who is up to the challenge.

 

[Garmorn]

This may sound cheesy but I make the mount the most perfect example of the creature ever seen (max stats). It is a companion granted to the Paladin by a god so I treat it as such. Torm wouldn't send his champion a broken down old nag to go forth and fight the forces of evil. As the creature progresses and gets more HD I then enforce rolling but when the Paladin gets it the creature is as perfect as possible. I've thought about applying the Axiomatic template to bonded mounts but haven't done it yet. Considering the challenge of playing a Paladin well I believe in rewarding a player who is up to the challenge.

I base mine on the campain, how well the character is being roleplayed and the power level we are using for that camapain. My adive is to use what seems best for you. Start low powered and then increase it as you go until it fits both the campain and the players.

 

[Chroma]

This may sound cheesy but I make the mount the most perfect example of the creature ever seen (max stats).

By "max stats", do you mean max hit points or all eighteens in abilites or what? Hippogriffs and pegasi are pretty nasty to begin with.

As to the challenge of playing a paladin, half the party follows the same goddess as the higher level paladin and the other paladin follows the god that is that goddess' son... so the party tends to be mostly in agreement with the actions of the paladins... which may be rare for most groups. *laugh*

 

[Crothian]

I personalize the mount to the Paladin. Stats, extra abilities, and anything like that I pick and choose and assign.

 

[jerichothebard]

It hasn't come up, but what I would do would be to look at the creature's base stats, and then tweak them to work with a personality I had in mind - much like generating all the other NPC's.

I also think there is something to the idea of not just calling the mount to you, but going to find it. This would make a nice character-defining quest. Maybe their god sends them a vision, or just mails them a map... Something other than he just sits and prays for a few minutes and *poof* there's Howie the Hippogriff...


jtb

 

[Chroma]

I also think there is something to the idea of not just calling the mount to you, but going to find it. This would make a nice character-defining quest. Maybe their god sends them a vision, or just mails them a map... Something other than he just sits and prays for a few minutes and *poof* there's Howie the Hippogriff...

Well, that's sort of what happened with calling the pegasus, at least. They were battling an enemy on two fronts and the paladin wasn't at the one where the head "Big Bad" was smashing through the local soldiery, so he prayed to his goddess, "Give me the strength to thwart the leader of the enemies!" and She sent him a pegasus and he was able to zoom over there.

None of the players, including the paladin's, realized that's what would happen; I'd just had a special mount pegasus prepared for just such an occasion, since the woman who plays the paladin had thought a pegasus would be a "neat" choice, but she'd never actually decided to "make the call". I felt it was an appropriate response to the prayer and it totally boosted the morale of the entire party!

The other paladin is a new addition to the party (the guy's barbarian/pre-shadowdancer got smoked attacking a sorceress with fire shield last session) so, technically, the hippogriff has already been called.

So, you'd tweak the stats; maybe making the special mount stronger, but less charismatic, or more dextrous and such?

 

[NewJeffCT]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think our DM rolls randomly and then decides if the paladin's mount is appropriate for the campaign... I'm pretty sure he would use the stats straight from the MM and it would take a lot of convincing for the mount to be anything other than a fine warhorse. Well, convincing or huge bribes... ;=)

 

[Calico_Jack73]

By "max stats", do you mean max hit points or all eighteens in abilites or what? Hippogriffs and pegasi are pretty nasty to begin with.

Oops... I do that for Heavy Warhorses, not for higher end mounts.

 

[Tessarael]

Defenders of the Faith, page 13, has alternate Paladin mounts. For balance reasons (so that the mount isn't overpowered with the bonus HD et al. that it gets), I would be inclined to apply something like the 3.5 Druid rules for animal companions. i.e. The better animal companions get a penalty to the level of the benefits. For example, Pegasus might get Paladin's level -3 benefits - so only getting +2 HD when your Paladin is 8th level.

Regards stats ... again, it is a balance issue. You could use the elite array of stats (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) or the standard array. It really dependers how you handle cohorts and familiars for other players, and whether a powerful mount will cause the Paladin + mount to overshadow other characters.

Another option is requiring the Paladins to take the Leadership feat, and giving them an appropriate mount (as per cohort level). This will give a far better mount, at the cost of a feat.

Just my thoughts ...