Mounted combat: Do you bother?

[Hussar]

I made a halfling fighter with a dog mount and the first thing I did was buy a wand of Mount for the wizard.

The thing is, if you use a lance two handed (you can), and power attack with spirited charge, you wind up getting a six for one damage bonus. This ends up with insane damages, even though you only attack every other round.,

 

[Hypersmurf]

BTW, if you read the D&D faq it has recently included some rulings that made Ride-by attack almost useless, as you cannot overrun, must continue in a straight line, etc, which basically means that unless you down your opponent, you can't use the ride-by.

It's the core rules (with errata) that make Ride-By Attack almost useless; the FAQ contains a suggestion for a rule change to make it work better. (The FAQ suggests that instead of charging directly to the nearest space from which you can attack the target, you allow a Ride-By Attack to charge directly to the nearest space from which you can attack the target and continue the straight line of the charge.)

With the rules erratum that prohibits overruns as part
of a charge, the Ride-By Attack feat is now nearly useless.

You must use the charge action to use the Ride-By Attack
feat, and that requires you to travel in a straight line
toward your target. Using the example in the Player’s
Handbook, this would appear to rather specifically mean
along a line from your entire square (or squares if riding a
horse or other mount with a space of 10 feet or greater), to
the target square.

Ride-By Attack allows you to continue
moving along the straight line of the charge after your
attack. This would have to mean that at some point you
would enter the square (or squares) of the creature you
attacked. (At least I cannot conceive of any other way it
could be done). Since you cannot enter your foe’s space
unless the creature is already dead, Ride-By Attack is now
pretty much useless if you can’t also overrun the foe. Some
have suggested that you could charge in a manner that
would not bring you through the target creature’s square
(or squares). To do so, you would not be charging directly
toward the target and likely not moving by the shortest
route (also a charge requirement) or attacking it from the
first possible square (another charge requirement). In any
of these cases, you would be breaking the rules for a charge.

Am I wrong about any of this?

No, you’ve got it about right.

When using the Ride-By attack feat, you must conduct your
charge so that you move in a straight line toward the closest
square from which it is possible to attack your chosen foe, so
long as it is a square that allows you to attack and then continue
on in the straight line of the charge. You still must attack your
foe the moment you reach that square. (Although the feat
description doesn’t say so, you and your mount also must move
at least 5 feet after you make your attack to get the benefit of
the feat.) This is a special rule for charging when using the
Ride-By Attack feat. Note that the Flyby Attack feat (discussed
in the previous question) does not require you to move in a
straight line. You merely make a single move and take another
standard action at some point during that move.

-Hyp.

 

[Drowbane]

Seems to be a recurring theme in Eberron games...

In our game, there is a halfling ranger who goes everywhere with his Clawfoot, Fluffy. He has just gotten high enough level to make Fluffy an official animal companion (previously Fluffy was a purchased Clawfoot - as DM I allowed him to keep Fluffy now that he is high enough level to make him an animal companion).

The ranger has gotten really deadly as a mounted warrior. Since the clawfoot is medium sized, taking him into dungeons is not much of a problem and with his high riding skill, accompanied with all sorts of feats, they are a deadly team and hard to dismount.

It seems that Small Riders with Medium Mounts is the way to go if you're expecting any dungeon travel at all. I'd love to get one of those lizards drow ride for dungeon crawling. (up the walls!)

My last mounted character in recent memory was a Halfling Druid with Clawfoot Companion. He had good ride skill, but no Mounted Feats (just not enough feats!)... he was still a blast to play.

One of the characters I'd like to play is a Faen-Spryte (warlock? hehehe) who rides an eagle into combat. Ranger, Druid, or a Wild Cohort... or just a normal eagle

As others have mentioned, I rarely bother with a mount as they're hard to justify. Last time I bought a Warhorse it was only useful for off-stage traveling... and everybody else was supplied with horses for free.

The thing is, if you use a lance two handed (you can), and power attack with spirited charge, you wind up getting a six for one damage bonus. This ends up with insane damages, even though you only attack every other round.,

I could be mistaken... but Lance is a two-handed weapon that you can use one-handed while mounted. Due to its designation as a two-handed weapon, it retains the x1.5 Str advantage. This is one reason Monkey Grip was changed in 3.5. I guess they didn't like people dealing 2d6+6 (with 18 str) and using a shield at the same time.

 

[Drowbane]

oops

 

[Greylock]

In Alsih2o's last Midsouth campaign, I played a character focused on Ride skills and Mounted Combat. Used it every session. In Beale Knight's game that followed, I play a char dedicated to Knowledge skills. Use it every session. In the latest game, dmed by BrutorzBill, I play a guy based on Jump, Balance, Climb and Tumble. Used it in one session thus far. Looks promising.

hth

 

[Hussar]

I could be mistaken... but Lance is a two-handed weapon that you can use one-handed while mounted. Due to its designation as a two-handed weapon, it retains the x1.5 Str advantage. This is one reason Monkey Grip was changed in 3.5. I guess they didn't like people dealing 2d6+6 (with 18 str) and using a shield at the same time.

The strength bonus is secondary though. It's the Power Attack bonus that gets insane. On a regular charge, you already get a +2/hit. Drop those two points into Power Attack, and you get +4 (for two handed weapon) X3=+12 to damage.

I was regularly pumping 5 into my power attack, giving me a +30 to damage, over and above the 3d6 (halfing lance) + 4.5X STR bonus to damage. Effectively, I was causing a Fort save vs massive damage with every hit with a non-magical lance with no enhancements.

Drop in Bull's strength, Greater Magic Weapon, buff here and there and I was approaching triple digit damage with an 8th level fighter.

Only problem was, my dog kept dying. If I did it again, I'd be taking a level in sorcerer with the Mount spell and a wand of Mount. Ponies are medium creatures as well.

 

[wedgeski]

In my Dragonlance/Key of Destiny campaign the gnome Ranger is on the verge of acquiring a riding dog and intends to make mounted archery an integral part of her repertoire. At least 50% of the campaign takes place in the open, sometimes with extremely large battles in which she's just going to excel.

I can't wait.

 

[frankthedm]

I think the problem is mounted combat quickly become outdated as you get higher in levels.

There was a reason He-man rode Battle Cat.

As others have mentioned, the mounts can no longer survive the damage from mid to high level encounters. Let's also not forget the problems with moving mounts around in dungeon settings.

If a steed served well, Awakeing Mr Ed might be a good idea. Of course if you "use mount for cover" a lot, he will flee as soon as possible. Awakening adds 2 HD off the bat and then allows for the critter to take character levels.

The system does need Dire animals and construct mounts costed for higher level mounted combat. When you are twice as tough as your mount, you need to upgrade. Sadly, Wotc rigged nearly all other Would be cool to ride. animals much slower than horses.

Rear a wild animal
15 + HD of animal
Rear a Wild Animal: To rear an animal means to raise a wild creature from infancy so that it becomes domesticated. A handler can rear as many as three creatures of the same kind at once.

A successfully domesticated animal can be taught tricks at the same time it’s being raised, or it can be taught as a domesticated animal later.

Combat Riding (DC 20): An animal trained to bear a rider into combat knows the tricks attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel. Training an animal for combat riding takes six weeks. You may also “upgrade” an animal trained for riding to one trained for combat riding by spending three weeks and making a successful DC 20 Handle Animal check. The new general purpose and tricks completely replace the animal’s previous purpose and any tricks it once knew. Warhorses and riding dogs are already trained to bear riders into combat, and they don’t require any additional training for this purpose.

DIRE BOAR
Large Animal
Hit Dice: 7d8+21 (52 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (–1 size, +6 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+17
Attack: Gore +12 melee (1d8+12)
Full Attack: Gore +12 melee (1d8+12)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Ferocity
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +8
Abilities: Str 27, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 8
Skills: Listen +8, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Iron Will
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary or herd (5–8)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 8–16 HD (Large); 17–21 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —
Dire boars are omnivorous and spend most of their time rooting around, much as ordinary pigs do. They viciously attack anything that approaches them, however.
Dire boars grow up to 12 feet long and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.
Combat
A dire boar charges its opponent, trying to rip the target open with its tusks.
Ferocity (Ex): A dire boar is such a tenacious combatant that it continues to fight without penalty even while disabled or dying.

 

[Henry]

Super cool! One of these days I'm going to finally play my gnome paladin whose holy steed is a saint bernard!

Currently playing a halfling druid who rides his mastiff into dungeons, complete with saddle and barding...

 

[Jubilee]

We also have a paladin in the party and she often rides into combat. So we do a moderate amount of fighting from horseback. I think Mounted Combat and the other riding feats are worth it.

I am the paladin in the group and actually have no feats for riding, and very few ranks in ride - unfortunately, I'm only a 5th level paladin, so I have been taking feats to boost my horse rather than my ability to stay on my horse (celestial mount and holy mount). Luckily for me, I have an empathic link with my more-intelligent-than-your-average-horse, so I don't have to make ride rolls very often.

The GM keeps telling me that there's not going to be alot of mounted-combat opportunities and I really shouldn't bother with mounted combat feats or feats for my horse, but I still try to turn every combat I can into a mounted combat (I once considered riding my horse up onto the battlements of a city we were defending and having her make a leap off the top to chase after a badguy who had just escaped that way but was convinced it would be a Bad Idea by the funny looks I was getting from the GM & other players...). *sigh* It's so hard to be stupidly heroic with people looking at you that way..

/ali