D&D 5E Ideas for Dwarven Calvalry

[Oofta]

Okay, I suppose that is a fair enough point.
But are you then saying that how exactly you are supposed to feed these mounts should in no way be a consideration at all? That's really the primary issue I see with so many of the suggestions here. How exactly are you feeding these things?

How realistic do you want your game to be, and how much do you care? There's going to be a spectrum out there - people that want more-or-less-realistic with the addition of magic and the anything goes crowd.

Neither view is right or wrong, it's a choice you need to make with your group.

You are correct that in general, carnivores make really poor mounts because of their upkeep cost. A tiger, for example, takes 10-25 pounds of meat per day. That would be difficult to keep up. Bears are omnivores so they're a little better, but still expensive because they're larger. Of course elephants also have huge upkeep costs and are dangerous creatures yet they were (and still are) used as mounts.

Which means that there might be an elite subgroup of bear cavalry, that is supplemented by ram riders.

In my campaign I had dwarves riding spiders in part because the dwarves could raise giant grubs that the spiders fed on (when they weren't being fed the unfortunate orc here and there). It was also thematically appropriate because the clan was a little suspect, but that's a different issue.

Another issue to consider is the physical build of the creature being ridden. We don't ride wolves for several reasons, but on is that their backs could not support a rider long term. So while I agree goats make a lot of sense for dwarves, they would have to be specially bread to support the weight.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Okay, I suppose that is a fair enough point.
But are you then saying that how exactly you are supposed to feed these mounts should in no way be a consideration at all?

Or maybe not a particularly plausible one (second law of thermodynamics? meh).

Constructs seem like an option if you're hung up on the food chain, though, they literally can just run on magic.

Goblins riding Wolves is a very difficult one to explain. Aside from the fact that no stat block for goblins has ever given them a super-human ability to tame animals as they surely must have if they can dominate primarily predatory creatures that are larger than them, it isn't clear where the food supply comes from.

Part of the horror of wolf-riders might be that they're not sustainable. That is, when goblins form a horde and start rampaging as wolf-riders, there's no supply lines, they're just eating their fallen foes and everything else in their path - even if they win every battle they eventually run out of things to kill & eat and turn on eachother.

In which case, if Dwarves are going to be using beasts of burden or mounts, it would sort of have to be something that can sustain itself primarily off of rock

Perfectly plausible, as there are such creatures in D&D. They're not terribly friendly, most of 'em - Xorns and the like - nor very rideable (Denzelians) when they are.

Pre-scientific beliefs, though, did include spontaneous generation and creatures like spiders living 'on air.'

And, of course, D&D is positively bursting with impossible ecologies rife with large underground predators...

 

[MarkB]

There are plenty of suggestions here that might be epic mounts for a singular hero, no doubt. However, I think it is important to keep in mind the actual challenges of choosing what they could use as a mount.

First, it would be an animal that can live underground in cramped quarters in effectively complete darkness. Anything that needs sunlight for heat or is most active during the day or needs a lot of room to move around just won't work. That eliminates quite a lot of the suggestions here.

Second, it needs to be something that can live off some sort of food source that Dwarfs can mass produce. Without sunlight, I really have no idea how Dwarves feed themselves and I don't think I have ever seen a fantasy that has properly explored that. We always hear about Dwarven alcohol, but it is always weirdly alcohols that require a giant field out in the open under direct daylight every day for most of the year and a proper amount of rain or other waters. Where exactly is this subterranean race getting all this wheat and barley from? It is a massive flaw in the conception of the race. And other solutions-- mushrooms or something? There is just simply no way you could grow enough to feed a population center large enough to develop the sort of culture they have and certainly not the excess needed to raise armies. The only possible solution is that the Dwarves are completely dependent upon trade of the stone they quarry and the ore they mine in trade for food and would immediately starve to death if left without a surface trading partner.

It may not be entirely economically thought out, but a major aspect of the standard D&D setting is that it includes a vast subterranean world with its own thriving ecosystem. There are crops down there that can feed armies, and the several races who make the place their home have each mastered their own ways of maintaining a reasonably independent lifestyle.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

A few general points.

Horses are quite dangerous. People die or get permanently maimed by horses IRL every year, after thousands of years of domestication. Wild horses are aggressive, dangerous, ill tempered beasts that wouldn't seem fit for domestication to a casual observer if we didn't know better. Same with the ancient ancestors of cows, by the way.

Wolves can be (mostly) domesticated, irl. Being bigger or smaller than them is irrelevant, when you are raising and breeding them. Esp when it isn't a huge difference.

There are all kinds of foods for dwarves. Snails can be bred to be the size of your head, and are easily to keep and insanely nutritious. Rabbits are excellent eating, breed fast, live in cramped warrens naturally, and make decent pets and are easy to raise and keep. Other rodents might work even better as food, but I don't know how tasty they will be! Mushrooms are very nutritious and plenty caloric. All of which ignores hydrothermal vents and the like.

If dogs could handle being mounted physically, small humans could ride large dogs. Dogs are predatory animals with all the power and potential fearsomeness of wolves. There is no reason dwarves couldnt do the same with some other creature like giant weasels or whatever.


This is also a set of worlds wherein magic can be used to create daylight indoors, btw. Anything that can be cast can be enchanted into an object, and dwarves are legendary crafters of magic items in most worlds. Greenhouse forests under ground.

Plants need energy, water, and carbon. All can be provided underground, and plants are generally easier to green and hybridise than animals. Surely dwarves would do the same sort of tinkering with plants that humans have over the last few tens of housands of years.

 

[Oofta]

A few general points.

Horses are quite dangerous. People die or get permanently maimed by horses IRL every year, after thousands of years of domestication. Wild horses are aggressive, dangerous, ill tempered beasts that wouldn't seem fit for domestication to a casual observer if we didn't know better. Same with the ancient ancestors of cows, by the way.

Wolves can be (mostly) domesticated, irl. Being bigger or smaller than them is irrelevant, when you are raising and breeding them. Esp when it isn't a huge difference.

There are all kinds of foods for dwarves. Snails can be bred to be the size of your head, and are easily to keep and insanely nutritious. Rabbits are excellent eating, breed fast, live in cramped warrens naturally, and make decent pets and are easy to raise and keep. Other rodents might work even better as food, but I don't know how tasty they will be! Mushrooms are very nutritious and plenty caloric. All of which ignores hydrothermal vents and the like.

If dogs could handle being mounted physically, small humans could ride large dogs. Dogs are predatory animals with all the power and potential fearsomeness of wolves. There is no reason dwarves couldnt do the same with some other creature like giant weasels or whatever.


This is also a set of worlds wherein magic can be used to create daylight indoors, btw. Anything that can be cast can be enchanted into an object, and dwarves are legendary crafters of magic items in most worlds. Greenhouse forests under ground.

Plants need energy, water, and carbon. All can be provided underground, and plants are generally easier to green and hybridise than animals. Surely dwarves would do the same sort of tinkering with plants that humans have over the last few tens of housands of years.

Speaking from experience after a trip to Peru, rodent (Guinea Pig and a few other varieties that I don't really want to think about as I spent time hiking and visiting villages in the rain forest) is actually not that bad, kind of like a greasy roast beef.

Don't forget real world underground animals such as blind fish and insects. Not to mention that just about everywhere we look there is life of some sort or other. Frequently it's microbial, but with a little magic who knows?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Speaking from experience after a trip to Peru, rodent (Guinea Pig and a few other varieties that I don't really want to think about as I spent time hiking and visiting villages in the rain forest) is actually not that bad, kind of like a greasy roast beef.

Don't forget real world underground animals such as blind fish and insects. Not to mention that just about everywhere we look there is life of some sort or other. Frequently it's microbial, but with a little magic who knows?

And a lot of mountain dwarf communities are depicted as being quite close to lava flows and such, giving plenty of room for subterranean food growing.

 

[Kye You]

Now I know that this wont make to much sense for people who live under ground but what about elephants. Because Dwarves are smaller you can fit more archers on each elephant. this is an idea I was thinking about for halflings but it should work for dwarves too. the Guard drake from volo's guide could also work they are unaligned and you could even reskin them to be metallic if your worried about associating dwarves with chromatic dragons

 

[GreenTengu]

A few general points.

Horses are quite dangerous. People die or get permanently maimed by horses IRL every year, after thousands of years of domestication. Wild horses are aggressive, dangerous, ill tempered beasts that wouldn't seem fit for domestication to a casual observer if we didn't know better. Same with the ancient ancestors of cows, by the way.

Wolves can be (mostly) domesticated, irl. Being bigger or smaller than them is irrelevant, when you are raising and breeding them. Esp when it isn't a huge difference.

There are all kinds of foods for dwarves. Snails can be bred to be the size of your head, and are easily to keep and insanely nutritious. Rabbits are excellent eating, breed fast, live in cramped warrens naturally, and make decent pets and are easy to raise and keep. Other rodents might work even better as food, but I don't know how tasty they will be! Mushrooms are very nutritious and plenty caloric. All of which ignores hydrothermal vents and the like.

If dogs could handle being mounted physically, small humans could ride large dogs. Dogs are predatory animals with all the power and potential fearsomeness of wolves. There is no reason dwarves couldnt do the same with some other creature like giant weasels or whatever.


This is also a set of worlds wherein magic can be used to create daylight indoors, btw. Anything that can be cast can be enchanted into an object, and dwarves are legendary crafters of magic items in most worlds. Greenhouse forests under ground.

Plants need energy, water, and carbon. All can be provided underground, and plants are generally easier to green and hybridise than animals. Surely dwarves would do the same sort of tinkering with plants that humans have over the last few tens of housands of years.

These are all pretty decent answers to how the Dwarves might possibly be feeding themselves. But all of them pretty much preclude the possibility of there being an entire acre of extra grazing land for some sort of mount creature.

An artificial construct or a new original creature that eats rocks do seem like the best options. Although the artificial construct and your underground greenhouses would both require that magic be extraordinarily common and easily utilized in the setting.

Though-- perhaps one can tie the existence of Warforged in this setting, if they are there, with Dwarven mount constructs. Like perhaps Dwarves originally developed the technique to create their own mounts and had perfected the technique to a pretty high level and then a small group of elite prodigies managed to create a technique for creating servants or soldiers using the same art.

 

[Herosmith14]

Just domesticate some owlbears

Jokes aside, to take an idea from the biker post earlier, Gorgon's might be an idea, though I'm not sure how well they'd fair underground.

You could use Dino's or steal the Giant Strider from the Firenewts.


Sent from my iPhone using EN World

 

[doctorbadwolf]

These are all pretty decent answers to how the Dwarves might possibly be feeding themselves. But all of them pretty much preclude the possibility of there being an entire acre of extra grazing land for some sort of mount creature.

They do? Why? IMO, no, they don't.
But grazing land is also only required for grazing animals. Again, humans turned wolves into dogs, a creature that is genetically predisposed to do whatever the hell we want (seriously, it's almost creepy how much we have changed the instincts of dogs), and would definately let us ride them if their backs could carry us without breaking. Pony sized carnivores/omnivores would work fine without grazing land.

A diet of snails, mushrooms and the like, and burrowing creatures could trivially sustain a population and their animals. Trade for stuff like fruits would probably exist, but it wouldn't be required for their survival. Seriously, snails as big as your head. Huge caloric value per gallon of water and pound of feed. Prehistoric humans in Europe farmed them as a staple food, before the climate changed.

An artificial construct or a new original creature that eats rocks do seem like the best options. Although the artificial construct and your underground greenhouses would both require that magic be extraordinarily common and easily utilized in the setting.

Also, remember that Dwarves are slower than humans on foot, so the incentive for war mounts might be even greater.

As for the greenhouse, I don't think that a settlement having one or two items that can create the Daylight (a 3rd level spell) effect requires that magic be "extraordinarily common".

Nor does a culture having the ability to build construct servants, though it at least requires more common magic than the daylight effect. Or technology and a little magic.

Heck, if the mountain dwarves and hill dwarves are close enough, ponies would be a great option. They're strong as hell, and make excellent mounts as long as you aren't too tall.
Even without the hill dwarves, since when do mountain dwarves not interact at all with the surface of their mountains? They can't have valley pastures in their mountain ranges? I assure you, horses are raised in the mountains IRL. I know from direct personal experience.

I also know from experience that you don't actually have to let them graze, it's just better for their temperament and health to do so. You can just harvest food and feed them in their stables, and most horses I've dealt with ate more that way than at pasture, for a lot of the year.

But you'd have to breed them to be happy underground, and a bunch of other stuff, if you wanted to use them for subterranean war. For that, you want something that lives there naturally, and is already adapted for not running into things because it can't see.