D&D 5E find steed: giant bat?

[Scorpio616]

There is no carrying ability; not sure what you mean by that.

Carrying capacity is still in the game. STR 15 and I'm not sure I'd count a bat it as a 'quadruped' if there is a CC multiplier for that this edition.

I'd say the giant bat could be ridden by a small creature. But that's because the creature I've pictured and seen depicted as the large size giant bat isn't all that massive.

The sad part is that there isn't any sort of "improved warhorse" to maintain the theme of the knight in shining armor without falling behind in usefulness.

Uhm, there is, you just don't get to BUY it. It is called a Pegasus.

 

[Hand of Evil]

There is no carrying ability; not sure what you mean by that.

They have a STR of 15 this means they can carry 225lbs (PHB 176) but they are also Large which then takes this to 450lbs. As a flyer I don't know if I would allow the double for size but I see no issue not to allowing it, meaning it should not have any problem carrying a paladin in armor.

As far as just appearing, well story telling does come to play...there are only four mounts for the housemen of the Apocalypse.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I would allow it as a DM, it would have to be a dusk/night only riding mount and would have to see its carrying ability but don't see any reason not to but it is your DM that has to decide if they are in the area.

Bats can fly during the day, fruit bats are mainly active during the day for example. Many species are nocturnal because that's when their food is out (insects). However given that the mount has a hightened intelligence, I dont see a strong need to restrict it to the regular animal's behavior.

 

[epithet]

I wouldn't outright forbid the use of the bat in the daytime, but I would give the bat a level of exhaustion because he's supposed to be asleep and disadvantage on pretty much everything in daylight.

 

[Scorpio616]

I wouldn't outright forbid the use of the bat in the daytime, but I would give the bat a level of exhaustion because he's supposed to be asleep and disadvantage on pretty much everything in daylight.

I'm not sure what restrictions I'd put on the bat, but I too agree the MM giant Bat is a nocturnal predator as a giant flying fruitbat would not have an attack as effective as the MM listed giant bat has.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

One thing to be wary of if you're riding a giant bat:

Mounted Combatant will (usually) protect your mount from being killed out from underneath you, but it does zippo to prevent you from being Pushed off the mount or knocked off by Gust of Wind or Repelling Eldritch Blast.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Uhm, there is, you just don't get to BUY it. It is called a Pegasus.

Yep, but I was specifically referring to the find steed spell, which is limited to beasts.

 

[Saeviomagy]

As a DM, I'd look at what the rest of the party have access to and grant something in line with that. If members of the party can fly all day, the paladin can choose a mount that can fly. I'd probably allow summoning things like pegasi, gryphons etc as well.

Ideally I would rewrite the spell entirely. At present you can't 'charge' a higher level spell slot in order to grant a more powerful mount, because the spell is instant, and the cost would go away tomorrow, while the mount would remain.

Here's how I'd do it:

Find steed
1st level conjuration
Casting time: 10 minutes
Range: 30 feet
Components: V,S
Duration: Until you prepare spells
Summon a spirit that ...
... the steed takes on a form that you choose. Available forms are any beast with a CR of up to 1/4 with no swim nor flight speed.
The steed has the statistics of the chosen form...
... When the steed drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form.
As an action you may temporarily dismiss your steed. It disappears to another plane, where it awaits your summons. By performing a 10 minute ritual while it is temporarily dismissed, you may cause it to appear in any unoccupied space within range. This does not cost any spell slots or other resources apart from time.
While you are within 1 mile...
... As an action you can release the steed from it's bond at any time.
You may cast this spell from a high slot, choosing a more powerful form for your mount. For each spell slot above 2nd, you may increase the CR:
[table="width: 500"]
[tr]
[td]Spell level [/td]
[td]Max CR[/td]
[td]restrictions [/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]2nd[/td]
[td]1/2[/td]
[td]Beasts with no swimming or flying speed[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3rd[/td]
[td]1[/td]
[td]Beasts with no flying speed, swimming allowed [/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]5th[/td]
[td]2[/td]
[td]Flying and swimming allowed[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]


I would also like to work out a consistent way to allow griffons and pegasi as summoned mounts (along with other appropriate creatures), but unfortunately the MM creature classifications are useless. There's no real way to say "fantastic animal that doesn't have weird special powers", and many things that would meet that classification (griffons, for instance) are actually classed as monstrosities... which also includes things with cold breath weapons or the ability to project illusionary duplicates of themselves. And then a pegasus is a celestial. Sigh. The only way to go might be to append specific creatures to the list (probably on the level 5 version of the spell).

 

[IchneumonWasp]

As a DM I'd allow it, depending on how fantastic and magical the campaign setting it. If it in any way fits the setting, I'd allow it. The main purpose of the game is to let the player do awesome things and riding a giant bat is certainly one of them.

But also think of the many story seeds that might grow from such a mount:

* NPC farmers report that some of their cattle has been found dead, drained of blood. They blame the player character's giant vampire bat and demand compensation. Did the bat do it? If not, who did?

* NPCs mistaking the players characters for vampires, due to the giant bat.