D&D (2024) How Do I Make a Beast Rider?

[Dragonhelm]

I am converting an old character of mine from 2e to 5e (2024) for fun (so no DM involved), but I've got a snag.

The concept is that he's a beast rider. Think of a Thundercat riding Battle Cat from He-Man. He originally was a ranger in 2e and used the Beast Rider kit from the Complete Fighter's Handbook. His mount was a white tiger with whom he shared an empathic link.

Looking at the 2024 PHB, the beast master ranger is perhaps the closest fit. However, both he and the primal companion are medium sized. I don't see an option for a large companion.

Another option would be to use the paladin's Find Steed spell, which can summon a large mount. However, taking a class that doesn't quite feel right for the character just for one spell seems off to me.

And, of course, the mounted combatant feat is a must.

So how do I represent the concept of a beast rider in 5e?

Side note: I love that the beast master ranger art has a magical white tiger!

 

[I'm A Banana]

This is one of the hard ones to convert. If you want to ride a tiger by the Official Rules, there's some hoops you might have to jump through.

1. DM Involvement. Let your DM know about your character concept and see if you can't just...have a tiger NPC that you can mount. Personally, I'd consider this a pretty simple ask, and maybe ask for some gold up front (equivalent to maybe buying a warhorse, another CR 1 creature), and you ride. This is probably the most satisfying way to do it.
2. Ranger: Animal Friendship + DM Involvement. The animal friendship spell could be used to tame a tiger, even over long periods of time. This relies a little bit on DM involvement, too, to have you meet a tiger "offscreen," and it isn't viable for level 1, but it's got some rules support. Not something I'd really recommend (kind of implies your tiger friend is there because you use magic on it, and it takes spell slots you might want to use on other things).
3. Paladin: Find Steed. This requires a higher level, but doesn't require much DM involvement. The 2024 version of the spell just gives you a stat block that you can say is your tiger, which might not be super satisfying. It's also clearly a supernatural creature, which might vibe with you, or not. For more ranger-y vibes, there's Oath of the Ancients, which is pretty good wilderness feel.

None of these are super satisfying options, but they are likely the best. I'd do #1 if you can, #3 if you need to jump through rules hoops to do it.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

If this is a conversion of the character, what level is that character? If a high enough level Ranger, the DM can just houserule offering the 2nd level Find Steed spell as part of the Ranger spell list. Then just pick a different subclass that suits him.

Nonmagical combat pets are a terrible idea. They will die. There is no getting them back. Every pet class should use a "spirit" version of the pet (like Find Familiar and Find Steed and Beast Master Ranger) that narratively makes sense so that dying all the time is not literal torture. Just use the class ability or ritual to manifest the spirit in material form again. Because otherwise...
"Oh no... my pet warcougar is caught in chimera fire again. He died bad that time. Well, time for a little house-rule rez to bring him back so he can die to a griffon's talons next time."

 

[Dragonhelm]

If this is a conversion of the character, what level is that character? If a high enough level Ranger, the DM can just houserule offering the 2nd level Find Steed spell as part of the Ranger spell list. Then just pick a different subclass that suits him.

He was originally a ranger 8/mage 8 in 2e. So I'm thinking maybe 13th - 15th level.

I'm thinking about dropping the mage side.

Nonmagical combat pets are a terrible idea. They will die. There is no getting them back. Every pet class should use a "spirit" version of the pet (like Find Familiar and Find Steed and Beast Master Ranger) that narratively makes sense so that dying all the time is not literal torture. Just use the class ability or ritual to manifest the spirit in material form again. Because otherwise...
"Oh no... my pet warcougar is caught in chimera fire again. He died bad that time. Well, time for a little house-rule rez to bring him back so he can die to a griffon's talons next time."

Yeah, I like how recent editions allow you to summon them back. When I played this character, I was often worried that my tiger would die.

 

[Marandahir]

I'd note that the medium creature Mastiff is listed amongst the mounts and its art shows it wearing a saddle, but I can't find any rule in the glossary nor Chapter 1 nor Chapter 6 about mount sizes needing to be bigger than you. I'd assume RAI is one size larger, but I could see arguments made for same size steeds (like the Dwarves riding ponies in The Hobbit – pony is medium in this book!). I'd also note that all the examples given by Find Steed are large size, but they do list Dire Wolf which is not listed in the list of purchasable steeds, nor are any flying or aquatic steeds despite the exotic saddle explicitly speaking to them.

So while tigers are not listed in the mounts table, they are in the PHB referenced creature stat block appendix, so I'd suggest getting DM buy-in for them as a mount using the Dire Wolf in Find Steed as your precedence. And while an exotic saddle is only required RAW for aquatic and flying mounts like giant seahorses or gyphons, I'd suggest that a saddle for a tiger should be exotic as well, and not able able to benefit from Military Saddles.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I take it that you want to be a Beast Mastery Ranger who rides their companion? Rather than just having a horse, or summoning a steed?

In D&D 2024, humans can be Small size. So you could ride your normal companion.

Ask your DM to adjust the statblock of the Beast of the Land to make it Large size, in exchange for removing the climb speed perhaps. And/or sacrificing a spell slot of a certain level perhaps?

The Enlarge/Reduce spell would allow you to enlarge your beast to Large, so you could ride it, but it is of limited duration. Might work for a "battle transformation", but it is awkward to use in combat. Also, I don't think that its on the Ranger list, and I don't think that you can pick it up with a feat.

Alternatively, a dex-based Ancients Paladin has access to the summon steeds spells and very similar flavour to a Ranger.

 

[Horwath]

I have a custom feat if you are interested:

Animal companion:
+1 ASI
you gain service of medium or large(optional) companion.
you control Companion with Bonus action or one attack from your Attack action.
Without orders Companion can only Move, Dodge, Disengage or Dash.

Companion(customize the type and look as you see fit),
STR 14, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 4, WIS 12, CHA 8

HP: 5+5×your level

AC: 10+prof bonus

speed: pick one
1. 40ft, climb 40ft
2. 20ft, fly 60ft(cannot bear rider yet)
3. 30ft, swim 30ft, waterbreathing
4. 20ft, burrow 10ft

attack:
bite:
attack roll; 2×profbonus
damage; 1d6(1d4 flying)+prof bonus

saves: all proficient
skills: Athletics, Stealth, Perception

 

[Tonguez]

I'd just use Beast Master ranger and then add IF the character has the Mounted Combatant feat then they are able to select a Large beast as their companion

 

[Dausuul]

Nonmagical combat pets are a terrible idea. They will die. There is no getting them back. Every pet class should use a "spirit" version of the pet (like Find Familiar and Find Steed and Beast Master Ranger) that narratively makes sense so that dying all the time is not literal torture. Just use the class ability or ritual to manifest the spirit in material form again. Because otherwise...
"Oh no... my pet warcougar is caught in chimera fire again. He died bad that time. Well, time for a little house-rule rez to bring him back so he can die to a griffon's talons next time."

Personal gripe here: This problem could be solved without making everything a friggin' Pokemon. Due to the very generous death-and-dying rules, PCs are notoriously difficult to kill by accident in 5E*. You could use similar rules to improve the survival rate of animal companions; then they could be real creatures that didn't have to be conjured up, and they wouldn't die in a stiff breeze.

But Pokemon is the quick and easy answer, so that's what we get.

*When I say "by accident," I mean that the DM is not targeting downed PCs. This is in no way meant as criticism of DMs who do target downed PCs -- it's entirely a question of DMing style and playgroup preference, I rather like playing with a bit more edge of danger -- but there's no question it's a deliberate choice to run a more lethal game.

 

[Epic Meepo]

The Sidekick rules from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything are another possible option. Those should be compatible with the 2024 rules. They would require some buy-in from the DM and the other players, though, possibly including sidekicks for the other PCs.