D&D (2024) Horse Warrior Shenanigans

[I'm A Banana]

I'm doing some close looking at mounted combat for a fighter build I'm working on, and I'm noticing some interesting rules interactions. I'm not sure how many of these are intended vs. just overlooked vs. maybe not intended but basically OK. I'd be interested in your take on how these might work at your table, and any other curious interactions you see with mounted combat. I'm interpreting all of these through a controlled mount (your "horse"), rather than an independent mount.

• Moving Your Mount. Generally, you don't move when you are mounted - your mount does. So if you have something that allows your mount to move, it will take you with it, allowing you both to move for the price of moving an ally.
  • Bait and Switch Maneuver: So "within 5 feet" can mean riding on top of, allowing you to immediately be ridden by your horse rather than the other way around. This also works for things like a halfling sitting on a goliath's shoulders or even flipping places with the friendly giant eagle that's carrying you in its talons. In most cases, I'd imagine this would result in the bigger creature just falling down, but it has interesting implications for a pair of acrobats who are the same size and who can stand on each other's shoulders and Bait and Switch like the world's weirdest combat circus. Or maybe if one of you has a burrow speed you can take turns hiding in the ground? Hilarious, regardless.
  • Maneuvering Attack Maneuver: Actually good. You don't provoke an OA when your mount moves, since you're not using your action, bonus action, reaction, or your speed to move (it's essentially forced movement for you), and your mount gets to move without provoking, so nobody provokes. Not significantly different than Evasive Footwork, except that you get to use your mount's speed, and the die goes to damage instead of to your AC.
  • Jump / Longstrider Spells: Longstider is the more obvious choice, giving the speed bonus essentially to yourself via your mount. Honorable mention also to the jump spell, which turns your mount into a very fast kangaroo for a while. Boing.
• Making Your Mount Attack. Usually, not something a controlled mount can do...
  • Commander's Strike Maneuver: Looks like you can order your horse to attack with this. Probably not usually worth it, though.
• Protecting Your Mount. As long as your mount counts as an ally, you can buff it instead of your party members, because the party rogue won't let you scratch behind his ears. Any healing or protection you can use on a party member can also benefit your mount, and because your mount doesn't run away to do its own thing, it can actually benefit from things that require it to stay close to you.
  • Goading Attack / Menacing Attack Maneuvers: A curious way to protect your mount, since anyone who does it will have disadvantage, and works equally well for the rest of the party.
  • Rally Maneuver: When your horse has been hit and needs a lil' pick-me-up.
  • Interception / Protection Fighting Styles; Sap Weapon Mastery: A sword and board fighter on a mount has given that mount many extra chances at life. You're almost always within 5 feet of it, and when your mount attracts attention, your ability to impose disadvantage on attacks against it from various sources is one way of keeping the heat off it a bit.
  • Musician Feat: Give your horse Heroic Inspiration, for ensuring it can make jumps and such.
  • Chef Feat: Give your Horse a Treat!
  • Inspiring Leader Feat: Probably a better choice for your horse than Chef, since it's more THP.
  • Mounted Combatant Feat: It's not going to stop a dedicated assault on your mount, but it certainly is better than leaving it unprotected.
  • Polearm Master Feat: If someone comes within your Reach to attack your horse, you can poke it.
  • Sentinel Feat: Your horse is a creature other than you!
  • Sanctuary Spell: Extremely effective at deterring creatures attacking your mount. No concentration, your mount won't attack anyway, and combines well with some of the other options on this list because it's not Disadvantage.
• But what if I'm a rogue?! Honorable mention to how you can entirely circumvent the speed limitation of Steady Aim by having your horse move instead. Your mount is a mobile artillery platform.
• Dismounting Your Foes. Because JOUST!
  • Pushing Attack / Trip Attack Maneuvers; Push or Topple Weapon Masteries: Do you want to just knock them down or do you want to knock them down and hurl them 10 feet?
• Avoid these options as a mounted character. These do nothing to help you on horseback, and might actually be a problem. A corollary to the first point is that if you move yourself, your mount can't come with you.
  • Evasive Footwork / Lunging Attack Maneuvers: Become pretty useless on a mount unless you're ready to get off of it.
  • Charger Feat: Your horse dashes, not you, so you'll only get to use this off your mount.
  • Fey-Touched Feat: Teleporting with Misty Step doesn't teleport your horse.
  • Thunderwave Spell: Any damaging spell that affects an area around you is a quick way to go from riding a horse to standing ankle-deep in the puddle that used to be your horse.

 

[Horwath]

For mounted combat, it required so house rules and some stealing from beastmaster mechanics.

Mounted:
you move with your mount speed and modes of movement. when your mount is provoking AoO, attacker can choose you or your mount as a target of AoO.
you can give your mount following orders for free: Dash, Dodge, Disengage, Hide. Mount still uses it's own action to take those actions.
for your mount to attack you can use Bonus action or one attack from your Attack action. but not both.
your mount attacks with it's own attack stats, using it's described actions for it. No bonuses for having a rider.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It's still kind of wild to me that if your mount uses Disengage, neither you or it provoke OA's by RAW. Just, action-less (for the rider) OA-free movement, that's faster than most races at base. It's a huge mobility enhancement (and with Jump it gets even better).

 

[TwoSix]

It's still kind of wild to me that if your mount uses Disengage, neither you or it provoke OA's by RAW. Just, action-less (for the rider) OA-free movement, that's faster than most races at base. It's a huge mobility enhancement (and with Jump it gets even better).

For sure. Being mounted is extremely strong in 5e. It mostly gets avoided because the rules ARE so ambiguous/odd, and the obvious limitations to building around a mount (restricted spaces).

But if we were outside, my archer-bard with a pegasus (from Find Greater Steed) was ridiculous.

 

[Stormonu]

I ignore most of the 5E rules for mounts, I just find them overly restrictive and unfun. Instead, it acts on the controlling player's turn and gets its own actions. Riding horses generally aren't trained for combat so unless they've specifically trained for war, I'd probably rule they can't make an attack. Otherwise, it can take any action the rider commands it to.

Being contemplating how much I want to involve Animal Handling checks and possibly Bonus Actions to make the mount perform certain acts (thinking possibly have the rider having to use their bonus action to issue any commands other than the mount to move - with it becoming a free action if the rider has proficiency in Animal Handling or Vehicle/Mount tool proficiency after a certain level - maybe 8th?)

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

It's still kind of wild to me that if your mount uses Disengage, neither you or it provoke OA's by RAW. Just, action-less (for the rider) OA-free movement, that's faster than most races at base. It's a huge mobility enhancement (and with Jump it gets even better).

Mobility is a major benefit to having a mount. The strength of being able to strike and move out of reach of many enemies cannot be overstated.