D&D 5E Mounted Tavel Pace

[Jester David]

I think that is not correct.

I'm simplifying a little.
If you travel at a normal pace for 7 hours and gallop for 1 you cover pretty much the same distance as if you travelled for a fast pace the entire day. Give or take a mile.

a) You can only gallop for one hour

Correct

b) You gain the benefit of twice the distance of "fast pace" - BUT: You pick that from the table shown on page 182 that states "4 miles". So you can gallop for a total of 8 miles.

Also correct.

I think RAW states the following points:

1.) You do not travel faster while mounted.

By default, no.
Which is close to reality. A horse being ridden can generally only travel 20-30 miles in a day. A person walking can cover a comparable distance. The advantage of horse in travelling is the extra weight they can carry.

2.) You can only gallop for one hour per day (covering twice the usual distance for a fast pace).

By the rules as written, correct.

3.) There is no need of a rest after galloping. And there is no rule saying you need to continue travelling at "slow" or "normal" pace. A horse simply can't gallop anymore for that day.

That does seem to be what is written. It's a once/day ability.

4.) If you travel more than 8 hours, the traveler has to make a check for exhaustion - regardless of whether he is riding a mount or walking. (DM might also ask for a check for the mount.)

The rules here are unclear because they do not mention mounts. So the RAW is uncertain and the RAI are unknown.
The best (i.e most RAW) ruling you can make is that everyone needs to make an exhaustion check, mount and rider. But more than any other part of this subject it's up to the DM.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Have in mind that the slow/normal/fast pace in PHB are based on average humanoid speed of 30ft

double that for a riding horse.

The rules actually clearly state that you don't do that when they specify how to handle mounts & vehicles and reference the travel pace chart rather than the mount's speed.

Also, the pace listed in the PHB still apply even if the entire party are dwarves, halflings, and gomes (25' speed), is all wood elves, higher level monks and barbarians, or have the mobile feat (35' or higher speed).

 

[Ancalagon]

I think if the rules fail, it's best to look at history.

The *maximum* rate (without killing horses) is probably the Mongols, who were superb riders, many spare horses and resilient mounts. They could travel 160 km/day (100 miles)

 

[Ancalagon]

Ok, but what about, erm, not mongols? Well, Wikipedia says this:

"The speed of travel varied greatly. Large retinues could be slowed by the presence of slow-paced carts and litters, or by servants and attendants on foot, and could rarely cover more than fifteen to twenty miles a day. Small mounted companies might travel 30 miles a day. However, there were exceptions: stopping only for a change of horses midway, Richard II of England once managed the 70 miles between Daventry and Westminster in a night.[63]"