D&D 3E/3.5 3.5 - Masterwork Mounts?

[Jon_Dahl]

It's no biggie, but I was just wondering that why there aren't any elite-bred horses or riding dogs in D&D 3.5?

Of course this is easy to solve with variety of options, but what would be the best way?
1. Add one more hit dice. But mounts don't advance by RAW...
2. Give elite array abilities
3. Give better than just elite array
4. Max hp
5. Add bonus feat(s)
6. Something else?

And what would be the price of elite warhorses? Let's assume we are talking about Greyhawk of Forgotten realms... In my opinion no one should be able to say "it depends on the campaign world" because masterwork items all have core price. So such answer is invalid IMO.

I was thinking about selling masterwork horses and adding 400 to the price of such horses. These horses would have 75% of max hp and elite array.

 

[Vegepygmy]

It's no biggie, but I was just wondering that why there aren't any elite-bred horses or riding dogs in D&D 3.5?

For the same reason there "aren't any" elite-bred rust monsters or umber hulks: "Except where noted otherwise, each creature [in the Monster Manual] is assumed to have the standard array of ability scores before racial adjustments (all 11s and 10s)." MM page 6-7.

You certainly could have elite-bred horses and riding dogs in your campaign; you just have to stat them up yourself.

Of course this is easy to solve with variety of options, but what would be the best way?
1. Add one more hit dice. But mounts don't advance by RAW...
2. Give elite array abilities
3. Give better than just elite array
4. Max hp
5. Add bonus feat(s)
6. Something else?

You could go with the nonelite array first (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8) and the elite array for really, really amazing animals. Or you might just give a +2 or +4 bonus to each physical stat (or maybe just Str and Con). Your other ideas aren't bad, either.

And what would be the price of elite warhorses? Let's assume we are talking about Greyhawk of Forgotten realms... In my opinion no one should be able to say "it depends on the campaign world" because masterwork items all have core price. So such answer is invalid IMO.

I was thinking about selling masterwork horses and adding 400 to the price of such horses. These horses would have 75% of max hp and elite array.

IMO, that would be way, way too cheap for such magnificent creatures. Consider that a masterwork longsword costs 2,100% as much as a normal longsword, and all that gives you is a measly +1 on attack rolls.

I'd set the price for an "elite" horse at no less than 1,000% the cost of an ordinary mount, and probably even higher, to be honest. Such animals would be so highly prized, I think, that only the richest of the rich could afford them.

 

[Greenfield]

We had a 3.0 campaign that converted when 3.5 came out. As we were of substantial level, and had acquired some land, one of the PCs set up an operation to breed and train dire horses. "Hardurian warmounts" he called them (named after the land where we captured the first dire horses.)

They were ridiculous. Their base move was absurdly high, and when they went to a full run they were only slightly subsonic. The base creature got tuned down a bit under 3.5 rules, but his natural armor and hit points were staggering.

At one point, after getting up in the morning and going to check out our horses in the Inn's stable, we couldn't find the stable boy. Worried, the Druid cast Speak with Animals and asked the horses if they'd killed and eaten a small human child. They looked at each other, and responded, "You mean recently?"

Yeah, dire horses in that game were omnivores.

But to answer your original question, yes there are masterworked mounts in D&D, under RAW. More hit points, more and better attacks, better behaved in combat, the whole thing. They're called Warhorses.

They win races against normal horses as well. You can spur your mount for extra movement, at the cost of doing a point of damage. Next time, it's two points. Then four. Then eight. Then your horse dies because he doesn't have enough hit points to take the 16 that follows.

But since warhorses have more hit points than standard riding horses, you can spur them longer, so you win the race.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think the Eberron Campaign Setting has a template for mage-bred (or something) elite animals that are the equivalent of such special mounts from Tolkien, etc.

 

[Sammael]

Champions of Valor accessory has a whole bunch of special horse breeds with different stats and even additional HD.

 

[irdeggman]

Noble Steeds by Avalanche Press had ways of improving mounts - giving them xp and feats, etc. It also had different types of mounts each one tailored to do something different (based on real life equivalents).