Centaur characters and mounted combat feats

[Kark001]

I always assumed the penalty comes from the speed the mount's moving at. A Centaur that's galloping at full speed should have the same penalties as a guy on a horse galloping at full speed.

Shot on the Run [General]
Prerequisites: Point Blank Shot, Dex 13+, Dodge, Mobility.
Benefit: When using the attack action with a ranged weapon, the character can move both before and after the attack, provided that the character's total distance moved is not greater than the character's speed.

A Centaur is a character with 4 legs and two arms...he isnt a horse and a horseman in one.
All the riding charms operate on the basis of a rider who needs to control his/her mount...I dont think a centaur has the problem of sorting out his own legs when running.
Ergo...the usual feats are enough mostly.
Personally I wouldnt let a Centaur use spirited Charge or Trample, orelse I would give the spirited charge feat to a character charging with a spear as well (and there already is a charge option)...same goes for trample...why shouldnt a half orc be able to trample on a dwarf.

Thats just my 2 cents.

 

[cerberus2112]

Make a PrC, like I did

I made a centaur prestige class that had several abilities which mimicked mounted feats (including ride-by-attack, since it is more restrictive than spring attack). Of course, I also gave him nifty abilities like galloping cleave (a version of supreme cleave with up to 15 feet of movement, only in a straight line), and the ability to make attacks of opportunity with his hooves when someone moves into a flanking position. If anyone is interested, I could post the PrC in the house rules section.

 

[mikebr99]

Shot on the Run [General]
Prerequisites: Point Blank Shot, Dex 13+, Dodge, Mobility.
Benefit: When using the attack action with a ranged weapon, the character can move both before and after the attack, provided that the character's total distance moved is not greater than the character's speed.

A Centaur is a character with 4 legs and two arms...he isnt a horse and a horseman in one.
All the riding charms operate on the basis of a rider who needs to control his/her mount...I dont think a centaur has the problem of sorting out his own legs when running.
Ergo...the usual feats are enough mostly.
Personally I wouldnt let a Centaur use spirited Charge or Trample, orelse I would give the spirited charge feat to a character charging with a spear as well (and there already is a charge option)...same goes for trample...why shouldnt a half orc be able to trample on a dwarf.

Thats just my 2 cents.

I'll second this...

 

[cerberus2112]

Personally I wouldnt let a Centaur use spirited Charge or Trample, orelse I would give the spirited charge feat to a character charging with a spear as well (and there already is a charge option)...same goes for trample...why shouldnt a half orc be able to trample on a dwarf.

Thats just my 2 cents.

Spirited charge is debateable. Where does the extra damage come from? I think it is from the speed and mass of the horse, and a centaur could easily match that speed and mass.
On Trample, well that's easy. A half-orc can _overrun_ an opponent, but since he doesn't have four hooves (which can be used as a weapon) and he isn't very fast, he doesn't deal damage and people can get out of the way. A horse is fast and has damaging hooves, so the feat exisits for a rider to make use of this ability. Centaurs, much like horses, are fast and have hooves, so should be able to take advantage of this too.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

My whole problem with centaurs is that the rules don't make any sort of distinction between the horse part and the human part. For example, the centaur in the MM has, I think, a 19 strength, which means that a centaur character would get a +8 to his strength. Now I'll agree that the horse half is probably that strong, but there's no way the human half could have a strength in the 20's. I definitely think the centaur needs two strength scores - one for his hooves and carrying capacity, and the other for his melee attacks.

 

[Kark001]

Trample [General]
Prerequisites: Ride skill, Mounted Combat.
Benefit: When the character attempts to overrun an opponent while mounted, the target may not choose to avoid the character. If the character knocks down the target, the character's mount may make one hoof attack against the target, gaining the standard +4 bonus on attack rolls against prone targets.

*This is not a feat*
Overrun (charge) [Standard][AoO: Yes]
A character can try to overrun as part of a charge action against an opponent that is one size category larger, the same size, or one size smaller than the character. Only one attempt to overrun can be made per charge.
An overrun takes place during the movement portion of a charge. With an overrun, a character attempts to move through the opponent's area.
First, a character must charge at least 10 feet in a straight line into the defender's space.
Then the defender chooses either to avoid the character or to block the character. If he avoids the character, the character keeps moving. (A character can always move through the space occupied by someone who lets a character by.) If the defender blocks a character, make a trip attack against the defender (see Trip, below). If the character succeeds in tripping the defender, the character can continue the charge in a straight line as normal.
If a character fails and is tripped in turn, the character is prone in the defender's space. If a character fails but is not tripped, the character has to move 5 feet back the way the character came. If that space is occupied, the character falls prone in that space.

Why cant an half-orc...or even an halfling (if he moves against the right size people) not learn to kick an overrun opponent - maybe as an AoO.
Beside that, horses are neither that heavy ... opposed to a half-orc in Full Plate...nor that strong...even nowadays strong men can pull a horse along...
The Centaur will have an advantage tripping over another person because he is considered large (with all benefits and drawbacks), but thats all.

*edit for spelling...its 2 am (yawn)*