Paladin Mounts

[FCWesel]

Okay. As a paladin's mount is a Magical Beast, when they gain HD do they get the skill points and feats and such as per the MM, page 12-13?

Also, are there any books or sources other then MM, PHB and Defenders of the Faith that give options and abilities for a Paladin's Mount?

 

[The Souljourner]

Follow-up question - if a Paladin's mount is a magical beast, why are the hitdice they receive d8's?

-The Souljourner

 

[FCWesel]

Yeah! Why are they not D10? (Good question, one that I simply ruled was "d10" myself.)

 

[The Souljourner]

BTW, I don't know if there's FAQ or anything anywhere, but I would definitely rule they follow normal monster advancement... they need all the help they can get.

-The Souljourner

 

[Chun-tzu]

Also, are there any books or sources other then MM, PHB and Defenders of the Faith that give options and abilities for a Paladin's Mount?

Path of Faith, by Fantasy Flight Games, has a small but nice section on Paladin mounts. There are a few new mounts for Paladins: Crystalwing (Medium-size flying insect), Frostmane (arctic horse), Mist Dragon, Rock Dragon, and Shadowelk. There's also a section on additional abilities that Paladins can buy for their mounts, by performing a special ritual and paying an XP cost.

In the Saddle, a PDF by Natural 20 press, has some rules on teaching mounts (any mounts) new tricks and even feats. It's a good resource for horses, but the section on improving your mount seemed a bit bland to me. The sections on magical items for mounts is good, and there are 19 new mounts to choose from.

 

[Mahali]

They're getting bonus HD and actual advancement. No skills, feats, increase in size, ect...

 

[Spatzimaus]

BTW, I don't know if there's FAQ or anything anywhere, but I would definitely rule they follow normal monster advancement... they need all the help they can get.

No kidding. This is a problem with Familiars/Mounts/Companions in general; they just don't scale up much. It's nice that they still get SOMETHING, but what starts as a decent combat companion ends up as a liability in many situations. At least you can stick your Familiar in your backpack or something.

Once you get access to Teleport and such, you won't travel the old-fashioned way much any more. And, it's not like those Mounts have good combat abilities.

There are some decent rules out there for making mounts better. IMC we reworked it entirely into more of a "Divine Companion" sort of thing, where it doesn't HAVE to be a rideable creature. But this discussion would go to House Rules if we wanted to get into that.