N00b DM Questions

[BENINHB]

It depends on the area the battle takes place. An open battlefield where a horse can maneuver and you can see your enemies from a distance is very different from a dungeon or a dense forest.

Mounted archers will dominate in an open plain where they can full attack as they move away but are tactics like this are useless inside a building.

A mounted character using a lance is devastating when they can charge but are limited when fighting in a forest full of tree's and difficult terrain.

I accidentally almost TPK'd my party with 2 Mounted Rangers and 2 Scout that were guarding a convoy the players tried to ambush. I had to cut the players a little slack and allow the scouts and rangers to make some major tactical errors for the players to even survive, and even then the players only escaped, they didn't win. When considering mounted combat terrain is even more of a factor than normal.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

can the players make use of them?

its like when rolling random magic crap and getting a magical whip

can anyone use a whip? (and not profiecent, this isnt what a bard can and cannot do)

a +5 whip is nice....to sell!

 

[Jacob]

My brother got deep into the Mounted Archery with his wolf animal companion. Needless to say, he dominated on the field when there was plenty of space to run around. When he was learning about mounted combat, I directed him to the Rules of the Game Archive at Wizards. There's a 5 part article there all about mounted combat. Should be plenty of reading and info for you there.

Far as I can see, mounts (not just horses) are meant to be treated like equipment (lest they are a special creature). Sure, they are living creatures, but they are a commodity, that is amazing early in game, but tend to lose appeal later on. They tend to die against the perils the adventurers survive against. Again, this is more your stock mount, but as it goes.

But you're looking for suggestions on the horses presented. In no particular order: Gold Horse. Why and how is it getting extra gold to the party? Is the gold being stolen from what the party would already find? And why is such a horse being sold to common people, and not solely a product for the rich to get richer?

White Horse: I assume the Temp HP is 1/day, lest the PCs want to abuse the heck out of the bonus HP the horse provides. And this is also a magical horse, due to the fact it can cast a spell-like ability. Which means it has an intelligence score, and therefore not an animal...I think? If anything, it certainly makes it more complex (and expensive) than your normal animal.

Hell Horse: Again, seems like a magical beast, and therefore more expensive than a normal animal.

Nightmare + Grey Warhorse: First, not to be confused with THE Nightmare, right? I fail to see the need to make these present, if for just the small boon they give to respective moments of the game, because the Warhorse is already battle trained to fight and not get spooked by undead (I think). The only issue I see other than that is the mention of having the mount fight with you even while dismounted...which you can already do with a regular horse with current rules (Handle Animal check i believe). And summoning undead? Doesn't that make it...evil (besides a magical beast)?

In summary, the lot you have aren't "Horses", and shouldn't be priced as such. If anything, consider prices more similar to the Griffon, Spider Eater, and Hippogriff. I know there are others, but that's what I got for the now.

 

[CuRoi]

Ok, I love the creativity in your ideas. It stretches the rules a bit but that's fun. You mention worrying about breaking the game but don't be concerned. You will KNOW you broke it when you and your players are no longer having fun. So how aobut this for some suggestions:

Gold horse - Extraordinary Ability - Nose for Gold. Has the equivalent of "Scent" but instead of sniffing out living creatures, it can sniff out gold or maybe magic items : )

Chestnut horse - don't forget experienced Riders can "Fast Mount" a horse which would decrease their time to get back in the saddle.

Choclair horse - Flank Attack (Extraordinary) As mentioned, a straight line charge follwed by an abrupt change in direction toward the enemy (knight pattern). Essentially this can just give the horse either Improved Overrun as a feat (which normally requires power attack) and then a rider with the mounted combat "Trample" feat can have the horse attack. Or just give the horse "Trample" like say a Gorgon has, and assign a DC for a Reflex save.

As for putting horses in the game, well, it depends. Surely it doesn't change things anymore than animal companions do. In many cases the areas players adventure in just aren't suitable for a horse. Swamps, dungeons, sewers, thick undergrowth, mountains, etc. etc. They are also a bit of a liability (what do you do with them when you do go into the dungeon?) So it really depends on the overall campaign how much a mount impacts the game.

 

[Scorponox]

Thanks for a ll the replies guys!

I have decided to just leave horses out for now, at least for the PCs. I talked to some of the players and they seemed to think there was no need for them at this point in the game. They will show up eventually, but only as boss battles or other important battles.


I do, however, have another question. Is there anything in 3.5e that gives ongoing damage? I'd like for a spider to bite them, and they take ongoing HP damage during a fight, but looking up some of the poisons in the Monster Manual, they give damage to abilities, but that's it.

 

[Jacob]

Is there anything in 3.5e that gives ongoing damage? I'd like for a spider to bite them, and they take ongoing HP damage during a fight, but looking up some of the poisons in the Monster Manual, they give damage to abilities, but that's it.

Off the bat, you could delve into poisons the way they are presented in Pathfinder, though I don't know how that would change a lot of the game. I do know there are poisons and diseases the work by the round rather than every minute, but don't quote me bro.

There's also Melf's Acid Arrow (titled differently via copyrights), which continues to burn after the initial strike. Certain monsters make their opponents bleed until they heal their wounds (some of which resist magic healing). And don't bash Constitution Damage/Drain (or any such thing to an ability score). It's just as dangerous or more so than HP damage. Even if someone has 100 HP, you can still do more damage to them in the long run with a 1d6 against their Con every round (viper bites someone 6 times, that's 6 initial rolls, and 6 rolls 1 minute later). Versus a Short Sword that does 1d6 per strike, I think the damage/drain will kill someone faster.

 

[Scorponox]

Another Monster

I made another monster, and I plan to unleash one or two of them on my level 4-5 party this Friday.

Here is a picture of it.

It is a Terrorbeak, and it hunts either solitary or in pairs. Its main meals are usually giant scorpions, called Sandstriders, but will turn to humanoids if they are hungry enough.

I have ripped the stats from the Deinonychus, but wanted to give it other attacks. The first special attack I wanted to give it was a Wingcutter attack. If you notice on the bird's wings, they look sharp. And the reason for that is they have extremely sharp quills. They like to run in between opponents and cut them with their wings, damaging anyone within 5 feet of each other. (The PCs will have to be 1 square apart for it to hit both of them.) This will do 1d6 damage.

However, the problem is, usually running right next to the PCs and then running past them would provoke attacks of opportunity. This special attack would not be worth it if the PCs get attacks of opportunity. Why not then just use their standard attack?

What I want to know is if there is a feat or skill that lets monsters like these avoid attacks of opportunity? Because if not, then the Wingcutter skill becomes pretty worthless.

The other special attack would be a swift crotch kick that knocks the PC prone and stuns them for 1d4 rounds. The Terrorbeak's full attack is two swift pecks with its killer beak. Tactics for this bird include both of them using Wincutter to damage a few different PCs, then one using the stunning kick, and on success, the second bird doing a full attack on the prone PC.

Stats:

Size/Type: Large Bird
Hit Dice: 6d8 (30 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 60 ft. (12 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (+2 Dex, +5 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+7
Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d8+4)
Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d8+4) and Bite +7 melee (1d8+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Stunning Kick +3 (1d6) + Stunned for 1d4 rounds (Fort save DC: 15)
Wingcutter +3 (1d6)
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +12, Jump +26, Listen +10, Spot +10, Survival +10
Feats: Run, Track
Environment: Desert
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 5-8 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —

I've increased the challenge rating to reflect on the size and special attacks of this creature. The players seem to like fighting monsters not found in the MM, as they know a lot of them and can tell me their behaviors and how powerful they are off their memory.

 

[BENINHB]

Mobility gives +4 to AC vs AoO generated by movement

I don't think it would work with Spring Attack as the feat is written but you homebrew a lot of your own stuff anyway so i don't see a problem with adapting it.

I would probably go with mobility to give the bonus to AC but not take away the PCs chance for an attack of opportunity. They may feel cheated if these things are strafing back and forth and they don't get a swing at them. Of course i guess they could always use Ready Actions... hmmm...

Either way remember that without Combat Reflexes each character only gets 1 attack of opp per turn.

 

[Jacob]

Flyby Attack and Improved Flyby Attack. Monster/General feats from SRD. Need to use these with some harpies I've conceived against my PCs should they ever want to rebuild a miles long bridge again. Frustrating? Yes. And they will need to learn tactics to compensate or else.

 

[Scorponox]

Hi, I have a question regarding Frost Giants, and was wondering if this is real. From the d20 SRD, the attack of a Frost Giant is as follows:

Attack: Greataxe +18 melee (3d6+13/×3)

That x3 at the end there, that means it can attack 3x in one round?? That seems impossibly high. I've got a party of 2 fighters, 1 swashbuckler, a wizard, a cleric, and a non-damaging sorceress (who charms, etc.) about level 5-7, and this would most likely kill a few of them with the 3 attacks per round. a level 5-7 party of six should be tested with this, but should I throw this at them?