Can a goblin riding an ogre use Mounted Combat to defend the ogre?

[Terath Ninir]

Yeah, I know, crazy question. But I was looking through Arms & Equipment today and saw the section on mounts. Which includes ogre-riding goblins. Now, I already have some ogres in my current story arc, so having some ridden by goblins is an easy extension. But is letting the goblin use Mounted Combat too cheesy? It'll make the ogre in question a lot tougher -- given the Ride score you can give a goblin (decent Dex, +4 racial bonus), it's pretty much guaranteeing one shot won't hit each round.

What do y'all think? Should I do this or not?

 

[Darkness]

Well, you can always kill the goblin first, negating the ability. BTW, the PHB suggests there's a -5 penalty to Ride checks on most bipedal creatures. Unless the A&EG says otherwise, I'd apply this modifier, significantly reducing the goblin's success chance.

 

[shilsen]

What do y'all think? Should I do this or not?

Hell, yeah! Just use the -5 Darkness mentioned. And don't forget to give the goblin a couple of fighter levels so that he can pick up Ride-By Attack and Spirited Charge

 

[Terath Ninir]

Okay, that -5 actually makes me feel a little better about this idea. The goblin has a 7 in Ride (+3 Dex, +4 racial) before I've even added any ranks. With the -5 it will be a lot more reasonable, even when I add the Skill Focus (Ride).

And the goblin will, indeed, have Fighter levels. Even though the party is 4th level, I'm still not throwing a regular goblin at them.

 

[Yair]

Hillarious. Yes, it should work, and I'm definitely stealing this idea.

 

[monboesen]

It must be implecit that the Ogre can only serve as a mount as long as it is completely subservant to the goblins commands. The mounted combat feat must be the riders ability to anticipate attacks and make the mount move accordingly.

I think it will reguire a lot of training to impart such a level of trust and servitude in an Ogre

I'm all for it, but I think I might let the control slip as the Ogre gets hurt, angry and more likely to follow its violent nature rather than the commands of some wiry little pest on its back

I could imagine a very volatile situation if the Ogre is hit despite following the Goblins directions (when the ride check is not superior to the Ogres AC). Hmmm in fact I think I must steal this idea.

 

[Terath Ninir]

Well, I'm still working on it and will put something in House Rules when I have more, but I'm trying to set up a system of morale checks using the Willpower save. Obviously, I can't use it straight up -- ogres have low Will, but are going to be very slow to break in run. But in my game, NPCs and monsters will act semi-realisticly and not fight to the death.

So I might work something like your scenario in, monboesen.

 

[orangefruitbat]

Just remember, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Expect so see halfling rogues riding 1/2 orc barbarians in your party...

Hillarious. Yes, it should work, and I'm definitely stealing this idea.

 

[kjenks]

Don't forget the Exotic Military Saddle. That prevents a -5 penalty for riding bareback, which would stack for the -5 penalty for an "unsuitable mount."

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Oooh! Ooh! The ogre could throw the goblin at the PCs when it gets hit. A goblin in spiked armor would be best...that would be awesome. I'm going to do that ASAP.