Mounts and Stuff

[Istar]

Our party is low level and hasnt really looked at Mounts yet besides the horses we have stolen.

Not sure how this Mount / Companion slot works.
You can have 1 magic item per mount / companion, not more even though one might be a bridle and another a badge.

Do you need beast riding proficiency to get use of this slot.

The "Bridle of Rapid Action" looks quite cool for a Rogue as it gives you a better chance to go first each fight rolling initiative twice.

I quite like "Giant Ant" for a Rogue as you can take it underground as well, its got great movement, its cheap and you get shift 2.

I have no idea how a Rogue is supposed to be sneak attacking - especially Dagger weilders - foe's when riding some of these mammoth mounts, or stealthily hiding for CA on his 5 Headed Dragon T-Rex.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

Before I start answering your questions you might as well be happy with just reading this:

Saddle Up! - A guide to mounts and mounted combat (June 2010) - RuinsFate

 

[Istar]

Before I start answering your questions you might as well be happy with just reading this:

Saddle Up! - A guide to mounts and mounted combat (June 2010) - RuinsFate

Yeah had a quick read.
The question I have is, although you need the riding feat to apply the mounts special skills, there is no mention anywhere that you have to have the feat to be able to use the magic item slot properties.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah had a quick read.
The question I have is, although you need the riding feat to apply the mounts special skills, there is no mention anywhere that you have to have the feat to be able to use the magic item slot properties.

Which means you don't.

As for sneak attacking rogues, well, riding in with the cavalry on your mount isn't exactly known as being a stealthy way of fighting... Nothing really says all classes are going to want to fight mounted. Rogues are pretty much an example of a class that, at least in certain builds, probably aren't one that really wants to fight from whatever-back. You COULD make a Ruthless Ruffian rattler build that wouldn't mind much perhaps, but its not overall an exceptionally strong build.

On the whole 4e wasn't designed with the idea in mind that the PCs would engage in a lot of fighting while mounted. It works OK, but generally its more about superior mobility than anything else and pretty heavily favors ranged attackers.

 

[DragonXNIK]

I have no idea how a Rogue is supposed to be sneak attacking - especially Dagger weilders - foe's when riding some of these mammoth mounts, or stealthily hiding for CA on his 5 Headed Dragon T-Rex.

I agree that the rogue won't be able to hide while mounting a 5 headed Dragon T-Rex (but that would still be awesome). I don't think that type of creature is likely to be great at stealth, and you can't hide one of them unless you hide both, since allies cannot be used for cover for stealth.

There's no reason he wouldn't be able to take advantage of other forms of Combat Advantage such as Flanking, Daze, prone, blind, etc.
Since rogues are such a deft, dextrous lot, you can imagine that they stand up on the saddle, or slip on the side of the mount, reaching for a stab. That, or their melee attacks while mounted are just thrown, in the case of a dagger.
Heck, a rogue could even ride right up to a foe, then use a minor action movement power to flank it with his own mount by getting off.

Also, I agree with AbdulAlhazred, no feat is required to use the companion magic item slot. You just need a companion to use that slot, which can often be a cost in itself, because companions are often weaker then their riders, and are easy targets for Bursts and Blasts.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Before I start answering your questions you might as well be happy with just reading this:

Saddle Up! - A guide to mounts and mounted combat (June 2010) - RuinsFate

I would HEAVILY caveat that guide. There are a number of key rules interpretations made, some of them implicitly. Not all of them are generally accepted. Unfortunately there are a rather large number of ambiguities in how specific things apply with mounts. Expect heavy interaction with the DM if you start using any of the more unusual mounts or do much beyond vanilla range/melee attacks while mounted. In fact expect heavy interaction with the DM on ruling corner cases regardless. Many things don't work as you might expect, and not all of them work the way the guide's author thinks they do, at least in IMHO.