Handle Animal/Ride

[RedTonic]

Which check, and at what DC, should one make to try to force a typical (non-war-mount) beast of burden like a horse or mule carry a wounded predator creature? One of my players wants to adopt a wolf that was part of a pack which attacked the party (the wolf's currently disabled) and carry it around with him until it's well. He's riding in order to not keep the party held back.

I put the DC at 20 (and he succeeded) because I wasn't sure if that qualified as a "push" under Handle Animal (and I didn't want to be a jerk in my off the cuff ruling). The PC does not have animal empathy or anything similar.

If there's a neat list of expanded handling/riding rules anywhere beyond the DMG2/Rules Compendium, that would be great to know.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Pushing an animal is a DC 25, so at least that. You are asking it to do a task it's physically capable of, but does't know how to do, so it falls under "Pushing".

Beyond this, you fall into the realm of DM-determined situational modifiers. I generally at +2 to the DC of anything if I think there are valid extra factors.

+2 for overcoming a natural fear response from the horse.
+2 for carrying a medium-sized weight that would not sit in the saddle in an expected manner.

I'd add another check if/when the wolf woke up if still on the horses back, and I'd add the above modifiers, plus and extra 2 for the unusual moving.

A failure means the horse refuses. a failure by 10 or more means the horse runs. This would be my DM ruling, but I can't back it up by RAW. You're the DM, so you get to decide whatever you think makes sense!

Perhaps building a wooden pallet or using a cart, towed a few feet behind the horse, would be less awkward for the animal? If it was trained to pull a cart, I'd not require it to make any checks, just do what it normally does.

 

[Sekhmet]

Good ideas on Rumble's part. I want to EXP him so badly my knee hurts.

 

[RedTonic]

Sadly I can't posrep @RUMBLETiGER right now either! I guess I +'d him before. Thanks for the response.

Ahhh, I don't look forward to effectively taking the shiny new toy wolf away.

 

[Sekhmet]

Sadly I can't posrep @RUMBLETiGER right now either! I guess I +'d him before. Thanks for the response.

Ahhh, I don't look forward to effectively taking the shiny new toy wolf away.

I'd put a Craft (Wood) or Heal check of 10ish to make a simple gurney to lug the wolf around behind the animal.
It's two poles and a length of cloth, not rocket science.

This effectively negates the need to Push the animal, and a DC10 is well within the realm of possibility for even a level 1 PC.

If no lengths of cloth are available, anyone with the ability to Craft (Seamstress) could make a DC 10-15 check to stich together pieces of clothing (shirts). Two or three shirts would be sufficient.

The gurney made would be Hardness 2, HP 5, take up an additional 5 feet on the length of your horse, and be able to traverse even rough terrain at half speed.

Remember that two people working in concert on a project apply a +2 modifier, if none of your party have Heal or Craft (Wood) checks available.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Or if no cloth, an A-frame of 2 poles, the wide part hitched to the horse, the point on the ground, than some sort of netting made of rope, branches, shirts, anything. Since a wolf is a medium sized creature, picture anything a person can lounge semi-comfortably in while being dragged by a horse, an unconsious wolf can.

It doesn't have to be impossible, just creative!

 

[RedTonic]

Well, the rest of the party is really not happy with the wolf thing, and the PC caring for it has a vow of poverty... So he's not exactly carrying around much stuff, and the others aren't exactly willing to make the situation easier for him beyond the use of the mule, which was offered before the wolf attack. The only person with a (trained) relevant craft skill has some wild animal trauma.

 

[Sekhmet]

Sure, sure.
VoP doesn't stop him from having a knife that he can cut up some branches with. Nor does it keep him from lugging around the wolf himself in a makeshift gurney.
They're surprisingly easy to handle, and you really do get used to having an extra five or six feet sticking around behind you.

 

[Dandu]

Which check, and at what DC, should one make to try to force a typical (non-war-mount) beast of burden like a horse or mule carry a wounded predator creature?

I would like to point out that humans are apex predators, and beasts of burden pull us all the time.

Basically, this all centers around how familiar the horse is with predator creatures, since familiarity would make the horse more comfortable. Given that the typical human society will have dogs, which are genetically pretty much identical to wolves and some breeds of which actually look like wolves...

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

I would like to point out that humans are apex predators, and beasts of burded pull us all the time.

I believe it can be assumed that a domesticated beast of burden is accustomed to the preditors called Humans, while unacustomed to the proximity & interraction with the preditor called Wolf.