Pathfinder 1E Lance from horseback up close & personal

[John Blackport]

Two-weapon reach and non should work just fine, but you are getting pretty feat-intensive to make it work well.

It sure is . . . especially without the fighter-class bonus feats! I'm tempted to multi-class into 3 or 4 fighter levels, but I'd hate to slow down the mount's progression of feats and ability scores!

Side note, I've been playing mounted characters on Large mounts since the first weekend of Living Greyhawk, you can get more lance charges than you might expect, particularly if you can get your mount to fly or airwalk at mid to high levels.

I'm playing in a setting sort of like 1700AD. . . I'd love to try Greyhawk someday.

 

[Seule]

It sure is . . . especially without the fighter-class bonus feats! I'm tempted to multi-class into 3 or 4 fighter levels, but I'd hate to slow down the mount's progression of feats and ability scores!

I think there is a feat to buff the advancement of a Cavalier mount at least to full character level rather than class level but I can't find it right now.

Edit: Horse Master from Ultimate Combat.

--Penn

 

[gamerprinter]

This isn't 1st or 2nd edition, where a 3rd- or 4th-level wizard can kill virtually any mount in a couple of rounds with attack spells (or a mid-to-high level archer will manage in it easily in only one round).

Yeah, I know. I am a developer/designer/cartographer with my own published setting, the Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG). So I know what PF spellcasters can and cannot do.

I agree with you --- a mounted combatant obsessed with lance charges is going to be of very, very limited value. It's nice to get your x5 crit against the biggest threat on the field, sure, but you can't count on your enemy allowing you opportunities like that very often. Ignoring skirmishing and the opportunities for ranged combat from horseback just leaves most of the tactical value on the table.

At my table, instead of cavaliers with lances on horseback, you'll more likely see samurai with bow and katana on horseback. I even helped develop the Yabusame samurai archetype, a purpose built mounted archer specialist.

 

[John Blackport]

I know what PF spellcasters can and cannot do.

I apologize, my comment you quoted was a reaction to the phrase "20 years ago". I certainly didn't mean to imply that you didn't know what you're doing. Sorry about that.

I edited out the link because the forum rules seem to prohibit me from posting them until I've posted a few more times. . . no offense intended

 

[gamerprinter]

I apologize, my comment you quoted was a reaction to the phrase "20 years ago". I certainly didn't mean to imply that you didn't know what you're doing. Sorry about that.

No problem. My point about 20 years ago, was that was the last time a player with a mounted knight with lance PC appeared in any of my games, even though I've been playing for over 30 years - and still play today. I tend to avoid Euro-centric settings, so as to why you'd not normally see a lance bearing mounted knight in my games. Its not because they are not effective, rather thematically, they don't fit.

Casting Create Pit in front of a charging mounted knight, is an easy, low level spell to effectively end a charge attack...

 

[Ramaster]

The one time I had a mounted character was during a 3.0 campaign. He used the chain of mounted combat feats and was quite effective at dealing and taking blows (he was using the Knight class from PH2).

It also helped A LOT that I gave him a sort of figurine of wondrous power that summoned a horse so that he could take it wherever he went.