D&D General What ever happened to the Cavalier?

[TylerDurden]

We used to have a cavalier Class in the older versions of D&D. What ever happened to that, are we ever going to get another Cavalier Class?

 

[bedir than]

We used to have a cavalier Class in the older versions of D&D. What ever happened to that, are we ever going to get another Cavalier Class?

It's a subclass in 5e that was published in Xanathar's Guide. There's a tiny bit of mounted combat, but it is mostly about defense

 

[James Gasik]

And really, there's a reason for that. If the game wants you to traipse around in dungeons, there's not much place for a shining knight astride a valiant steed, so making a class (or subclass) based around mounted combat is actually less problematic, apparently, than shoving a kung fu guy into your quasi-European fantasy game.

Plus, if you have to rely on a real horse, and not a magical horse, ala the Paladin, that presents it's own problems.

Though, as an aside, I would find it hilarious for Cavaliers to become a subclass of Paladin, the complete reverse of 1e's Unearthed Arcana.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

We used to have a cavalier Class in the older versions of D&D. What ever happened to that, are we ever going to get another Cavalier Class?

4e brought it back as a subclass of Paladin. The actual "Be a Paladin" part was a little weak, but the mount stuff was AWESOME. I always ask my 4e DMs if they'll let me take the Cavalier's Call Celestial Steed power as a standard Paladin (which you ORIGINALLY could do, before they stealth-nerfed it) simply because it's awesome. In Epic tier, you can spend a feat to have a friggin' SILVER DRAGON as your trusty steed! How cool is that?!

 

[Celebrim]

1e Cavelier was literally just a better fighter in every way. The problem isn't so much with the concept of a cavalier as providing one that is balanced with other classes. Typically since 3e arrived, such concepts are trading away skill at general combat for skill at mounted combat which for most campaigns would be a net loss in effectiveness given the difficulties with steeds.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Battlemaster + Animal Handling + whatever feats and fighting style add the flavor you want. Done.

 

[Stormonu]

To me it's a bit odd how horses and other mounts are disdained to the point that most characters would rather travel by foot everywhere they go.

Hilariously, 2E had a whole section on mounts, including a table of horse traits.

I'd love to see mounts (and classes tied to their use) be much more viable in the game and the system simply more friendly to their use without turning them into pocketable pokemon like 3E tried to do.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yeah, this is a less extreme case of why you don't see a lot of attempts at a Seaman class; in a lot, maybe most campaigns, too much of the game takes place in situations where a horse is a non-starter, and that's not getting into the problems of equine survivability in a game like D&D.

 

[Thomas Shey]

To me it's a bit odd how horses and other mounts are disdained to the point that most characters would rather travel by foot everywhere they go.

When they're as easy to kill as they are, getting dependent on them is just counterproductive. And that's before getting into the extra hassle of feeding and finding some place to put them when you're going to get into situations where you can't take them with you.

Basically, D&D has done everything it could for a long time to make them unattractive.

 

[DEFCON 1]

In order for the game to make mounts and ships more meaningful to characters, they need to not pool all the advancement mechanics needed to be effective at them in the same bucket as land-based effects. Any time a player has to choose to use one of their few Feats on a Mounted Combat option OR a standard combat option... they will always take the standard option because it will get used much more often. Likewise any sailing options and the like-- no one will spend their limited resources on something that only occasionally will come up in the game.

If the game wants people to have better mechanical options for characters on mounts or sailing vessels... every game mechanic (such as Feats) needs to have as part of its description how the Feat is used/expanded/changed) while on the backs of animals or on ships. So if a player selects it, they know the Feat will be useful in every type of situation.