Mount question

[PrinceZane]

Greetings Guys,

I guess this could be categoried Combat or Creatures, or both.

I just had an idea, but I don't have my books and stuff around to check on the rules and "how to" of this so maybe you can help.

Our group has never really gotten into the mounted thing, and thus I've never really checked into how it works, what you can/can't do etc. I've got them going on a dragon hunt this weekend, and I just had the idea of making it a little more interesting by giving the draggie a buddy to play with - some type of NPC to ride him into battle causing havoc and chaos. I'm thinking of either a fighter or a sorc. Either way, when dealing with mounted combat and such, would both the rider and the mount be able to make combat strikes, or would they opperate as 1 unit (between the 2 of them only 1 move/standard per round, so the NPC rides draggie as move, and either NPC or draggie get the attack). I'm sure this is clearly stated somewhere, but alas, I'm bookless at the moment.

Anything to point me in the right direction via information/ideas, links on the web, book references for when I get back to them, or what-not would be appreciative.

Zane

 

[FireLance]

This is the section on mounted combat from the SRD:

MOUNTED COMBAT
Horses in Combat: Warhorses and warponies can serve readily as combat steeds. Light horses, ponies, and heavy horses, however, are frightened by combat. If you don’t dismount, you must make a DC 20 Ride check each round as a move action to control such a horse. If you succeed, you can perform a standard action after the move action. If you fail, the move action becomes a full round action and you can’t do anything else until your next turn.
Your mount acts on your initiative count as you direct it. You move at its speed, but the mount uses its action to move.
A horse (not a pony) is a Large creature and thus takes up a space 10 feet (2 squares) across. For simplicity, assume that you share your mount’s space during combat.

Combat while Mounted: With a DC 5 Ride check, you can guide your mount with your knees so as to use both hands to attack or defend yourself. This is a free action.
When you attack a creature smaller than your mount that is on foot, you get the +1 bonus on melee attacks for being on higher ground. If your mount moves more than 5 feet, you can only make a single melee attack. Essentially, you have to wait until the mount gets to your enemy before attacking, so you can’t make a full attack. Even at your mount’s full speed, you don’t take any penalty on melee attacks while mounted.
If your mount charges, you also take the AC penalty associated with a charge. If you make an attack at the end of the charge, you receive the bonus gained from the charge. When charging on horseback, you deal double damage with a lance (see Charge).
You can use ranged weapons while your mount is taking a double move, but at a –4 penalty on the attack roll. You can use ranged weapons while your mount is running (quadruple speed), at a –8 penalty. In either case, you make the attack roll when your mount has completed half its movement. You can make a full attack with a ranged weapon while your mount is moving. Likewise, you can take move actions normally

Casting Spells while Mounted: You can cast a spell normally if your mount moves up to a normal move (its speed) either before or after you cast. If you have your mount move both before and after you cast a spell, then you’re casting the spell while the mount is moving, and you have to make a Concentration check due to the vigorous motion (DC 10 + spell level) or lose the spell. If the mount is running (quadruple speed), you can cast a spell when your mount has moved up to twice its speed, but your Concentration check is more difficult due to the violent motion (DC 15 + spell level).

If Your Mount Falls in Battle: If your mount falls, you have to succeed on a DC 15 Ride check to make a soft fall and take no damage. If the check fails, you take 1d6 points of damage.

If You Are Dropped: If you are knocked unconscious, you have a 50% chance to stay in the saddle (or 75% if you’re in a military saddle). Otherwise you fall and take 1d6 points of damage.
Without you to guide it, your mount avoids combat.

And here's a link to the recent Rules of the Game article on mounts from the WotC website.

To briefly answer your queries, for simplicity, assume the mount and rider act on the same initiative. Both the mount and the rider can take a full round's worth of actions. However, if the mount moves more than 5 feet, the rider cannot make a full melee attack. He may make a full ranged attack but at a penalty (see above). The rider does not need to spend a move action to move (he moves with the mount), but if he takes a standard action, he can use his move action for other things, e.g. loading a crossbow.

 

[kjenks]

Beware: that Rules of the Game article makes up several new rules of the game, but it doesn't label them as such.

 

[Greylock]

As far as I can tell, the dragon would have to acquiesce to the rider, so that better be one nifty NPC. The initiative roll would belong to the rider as well. Attacks and actions on, during or after moves would be controlled by the same rules as a horse or any other mount, so several options are available, but the dragon wouild lose his/her better actions at the mercy of the riders decisions. To be honest, I would think the dragon better off on his own. Maybe cohorts riding fell-drakes would satisfy the ticket?

 

[PrinceZane]

Actually, I remembered why I didn't have this plan to begin with. The dragon + NPC would annhilate them due to way overpriced CR for their liking. Somehow I'll use both of them. Maybe just fly over the city with a few frightful presence poses, a breath or 2 for terror. My how I love chaos Thanks for the imput, maybe I'll get to use it soon