D&D 5E Exotic Mounts

[aco175]

That part of my life out of the way, I've always been a fan of the "stone destrier." There's something badass about being seen on a horse of solid stone. Then there's the metal one that Lord Robilar used to ride around the desert (Greyhawk) when he and Rary betrayed the Circle of the Eight, 3rd edition conversion here for ideas. Rary was making metallic monsters like this to help conquer the region.

Also the one Drizzt has from a piece of ivory and a unicorn pops out. The mount spell could be changed to allow more options and larger animals if cast at higher level. Other items could be apparatus of Kwalish and flying carpet.

 

[NaturalZero]

In a fantasy world, you have a vast variety of creatures that don't exist in real life. I'm not sure why a fictitious drake or made-up dog breed couldn't make as good of a mount as a horse. There's 193,043 humanoids that are ostensibly non-human, so why can't a giant dragon have a rider?

 

[dave2008]

Because it isn't a factor of weight. Its that most animals can't carry any significant weight on their back without major complications. More a musculature/bone structure issue than weight. Yon malamute has apparently been saddled though, and that punches a fairly large hole in my issues.

You are incorrect to say it is not a factor of weight, but that is not the only factor, which I alluded to when I said "though not completely." Even for 1,000 lbs thoroughbreds weight matters. Jockeys are small and they have handicapped horse races where they add weight to horse to slow it down. Weight absolutely matters. You even said: "...most animals can't carry any significant weight on their back,,," The question is what is a significant weight? This is relative to each animal, so I can't really answer that. However, I bet the # goes up with training and selective breeding of the type you would expect to find in animals raised to be ridden.

 

[Redwizard007]

You are incorrect to say it is not a factor of weight, but that is not the only factor, which I alluded to when I said "though not completely." Even for 1,000 lbs thoroughbreds weight matters. Jockeys are small and they have handicapped horse races where they add weight to horse to slow it down. Weight absolutely matters. You even said: "...most animals can't carry any significant weight on their back,,," The question is what is a significant weight? This is relative to each animal, so I can't really answer that. However, I bet the # goes up with training and selective breeding of the type you would expect to find in animals raised to be ridden.

insert beating dead horse gif

I also conceded the point, several posts ago, when presented with a rl example that debunked my belief. If you want to argue semantics, I'm out.

 

[Oofta]

Even riding an elephant can be quite harmful to the animal according to many sources.

On the other hand, it's fantasy and I think coming across these guys would be awesome: