Dire Animals As Mounts

[Tetsubo]

The discussion last week about dire apes has me still thinking about dire animals. How
hard would it be to train a dire carnivore as a mount? Dire omnivores or herbivores
shouldn't be much harder than normal versions. But I can't imagine training a dire
carnivore as a mount would be easy or fun.

But the thought of a dire bear mount or dire tiger is very cool. A dire shark for an
aquatic campaign would also be keen.

Any thoughts?

 

[hong]

The discussion last week about dire apes has me still thinking about dire animals. How hard would it be to train a dire carnivore as a mount? Dire omnivores or herbivores shouldn't be much harder than normal versions. But I can't imagine training a dire carnivore as a mount would be easy or fun.

Didn't I tell you that thinking too hard about D&D was bad?

Anyway, the cover of Dragon 292 features a druid riding a dire weasel; more generally, if you have access to the animal companion spell, it shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, I would think you'd have to rear the animal from birth.

As an aside, I thought it was quite funny how the druid's ears are poking out of her hood in the illustration.

 

[Tetsubo]

Well you have mentioned that, yes...

But at least gaming beats thinking about my psycho boss...

The hood does look rather silly with ears sticking out of it doesn't it? I guess they could find no better way to show the figure was an elf. Having a human riding a giant fantasy weasel isn't "fantasy" enough I guess...

 

[Dingleberry]

But the thought of a dire bear mount or dire tiger is very cool. A dire shark for an
aquatic campaign would also be keen.

A keen dire shark? We're gonna need a bigger boat.

 

[Vaxalon]

I don't understand the problem.

Dire animals are listed in the MM as "animal" types.

So get yourself some dire tiger kittens, then spend a year rearing them and make your animal handling roll: the DC is 15+hd, or 31. With a wisdom of 14, your 16th level ranger can do it taking ten.

Training them will be more problematic. The DC will be 36, which will mean that even with 23 ranks at 20th level, you'll need a +3 from something in order to safely take ten on the roll.

So it's possible... but it's not easy.

 

[Hatchling Dragon]

Correct me if I'm wrong...

But, strictly from a rules standpoint, doesn't the Animal Companion spell mearly make an animal Friendly towards you? And in the Animal Handling skill description it says that training an animal (at least in some cases) requires the animal to be willing and friendly (which tend to go hand-in-hand).

And just an FYI: but as far as I know, from watching many 'nature shows' and such, the Bear is an Omnivore. They do acutally eat a fair amount of plant-life as well as (primarily) fish and meat. That old 'joke' about Bears and Honey is true.

Now, on the other hand, time to get a bit silly I'm more interested in how you plan on keeping your Bear mount/friend from Hibernating come winter. Or are you a silly Druid/Ranger that doesn't go out adventuring during the Winter? I'd think it damned inconvient to be forced to walk right when the conditions for walking are at thier worst.

I could have sworn I'd seen the description for spell(s) that would temporarily enhance your bonus to Animal Handling skill rolls. Not a clue where it might be, other than perhaps something Forgotten Realms ('Magic of' perhaps?). Good idea for a spell to research too. Or you could try to get a Druid to Awaken it, then explain just why you want to ride it around

Hatchling Dragon

 

[Christian]

HD: Masters of the Wild says that characters get a +2 circumstance bonus to use the Handle Animal skill on an animal companion.

Vax: If I read the PHB skill description correctly, the DC for teaching wild animals tasks is for animals that you haven't raised from youth. So if your druid uses Animal Friendship to befriend that adult dire tiger, well, the adventure is just beginning.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

We'd probably need to come up with rules for fighting from the back of a Huge animal. For example, you can't use a M weapon to attack a M creature on foot if you are fighting from the back of a H creature!

Also, presumably the advantage of a dire animal is that it can make deadly attacks on its own. So how do you saddle on a dire bear that runs on all four but has to stand up to attack with its front paws?

 

[Speaks With Stone]

I plan on using duct tape myself. Of course, I also plan on having the barbarian remove the duct tape saddle at the end of each day. No sense in being suicidal about the whole thing.

But seriously, If I ever lay my hands on a large dire animal (much less a huge one), I'll do whatever it takes to secure my seat on the attacking animal platform. From this platform I will be able to launch flame strikes, entangles, and summon other dire weasels to attack my foes.

I've recently been thinking about securing a treant as a mount. I figure when I get access to awaken, I'll use mold wood on an appropriate large tree to form a very comfortable seat at the top, a place to prop up my feet, and a drink holder. Then I'll awaken the tree and have a rather pleasant journey. This may require some time for the awakened tree to adopt a gait that doesn't slosh my mint julep, but I'll be patient. I mean, heck, it took me 9 levels just to get a mount, I can put up with a little breaking in time.

Ahhh. I love being a druid.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

This is probably to picky, but just having 4 legs and being big enough probably doesn't mean it can be a mount even if trained. I'm just guessing that unless they have the right skeletal structure and muscles they just aren't built for carrying things on backs. But honestly I would let it go, just because it is very fantasyish to be mounted on exotic mounts. Might think about starting with a dire wolf, their size I think is large, and their hd aren't too big so it might be more doable.