Control Mount in Battle

[TheGogmagog]

These mounted combat questions bring to mind another question I've wondered about:

Control Mount in Battle
As a move action, you can attempt to control a light horse, pony, heavy horse, or other mount not trained for combat riding while in battle. If you fail the Ride check, you can do nothing else in that round. You do not need to roll for warhorses or warponies.

What is battle? As soon as initiative is rolled and combat actions begin? When the horse is subjected to a ranged attack or area of effect? When it's in melee, or when it's targeted with a melee attack?

If you have a character concept that centers around that you would just get a wartrained mount, but I was wondering more for characters that were just using horses for overland movement and encounter begins.

 

[hong]

Battle is joined as soon as initiative is rolled.

Think of a box with a cat (Pirate...) in it. Until you open the box, you don't know whether the cat is alive or dead; in fact, the cat is simultaneously alive _and_ dead. Similarly, until the state of the encounter is determined, by the act of observing the initiative order, all participants exist in a simultaneous superposition of states, making it impossible to determine who goes first.

 

[TheGogmagog]

On the same note, When do you have to make concentration checks for casting on horseback? If you gake a move action and cast, does that require a concentration check, or is a 'moving mount' when you try to cast and take a double move?

DC 10 Vigorous motion (on a moving mount, taking a bouncy wagon ride).
DC 15 Violent motion (on a galloping horse, taking a very rough wagon ride).

 

[Tiberius]

Battle is joined as soon as initiative is rolled.

Think of a box with a cat (Pirate...) in it. Until you open the box, you don't know whether the cat is alive or dead; in fact, the cat is simultaneously alive _and_ dead. Similarly, until the state of the encounter is determined, by the act of observing the initiative order, all participants exist in a simultaneous superposition of states, making it impossible to determine who goes first.

If you're going to bring up Schroedinger's Cat, you could at least mention the lethally radioactive material portion of the thought experiment.

Also, that quantum superposition doesn't really apply on a macro scale.

 

[hong]

If you're going to bring up Schroedinger's Cat, you could at least mention the lethally radioactive material portion of the thought experiment.

Details, details.

Also, that quantum superposition doesn't really apply on a macro scale.

Macros? What macros? We're talking about minis! On a 5' lattice!