Riding Dogs

[Pinotage]

A couple of questions on riding dogs:

1 - Do riding dogs need armor proficiency to wear barding?

2 - If your purchase mitral armor for a riding dog, is the cost twice as much? So would mithral breastplate barding cost 1200 gp or gp?

Thanks

Pinotage

 

[the Jester]

Ooh, proficiency!

I hadn't really thought about that aspect of it- the mid-level game I run has tons of riding dogs, almost as many as it has pcs- and they just started getting some barding for 'em!

Will have to watch this thread. I suspect that they do need proficiency to use them without being armor check penaltied into the dirt. (Even a nonproficient wearer gets the bennies of armor, it just has harsher penalties as well.)

As to mithril, I'd say that mithril barding would have the same cost mod as any other mithril armor.

And let me just throw out another part to the discussion: how do you feel about partial barding types, such as a barding chain shirt or breastplate (as opposed to chain or plate barding)? This came up my last session, and my instinct was to say no, as the concept struck me as pretty ridiculous- after all, a dog's back/chest is pretty much its entire body, right?

 

[domino]

Only if you plan on having the riding dogs attacking. If not, no worries.

 

[Pinotage]

Well, one of the reasons I'm asking is because the description of the animal types says that if it's trained for war, it has armor proficiencty. Now, a riding dog is automatically trained for combat riding, but is that the same as being trained for war? I presume so much, but I just wanted to make sure.

I don't have a problem with barding types from chain shirts or the like. I guess a chain shirt barding covers the body but not the legs, while chain barding goes further down and covers the legs?

Pinotage

 

[domino]

I assume they're doing that for things like trample or kick attacks that the animal might make.

And mitral breastplate barding would cost 4400 gp (200x2 for being nonhumanoid)+4000 mitral.

 

[Tobold Hornblower]

Well, one of the reasons I'm asking is because the description of the animal types says that if it's trained for war, it has armor proficiencty. Now, a riding dog is automatically trained for combat riding, but is that the same as being trained for war? I presume so much, but I just wanted to make sure.

That's how I interpreted it. War Dog would have been a more appropriate name, as the Riding Dog in the price list is like a War Horse rather than like a Riding Horse. So it should be proficient in armor.

 

[Pinotage]

I assume they're doing that for things like trample or kick attacks that the animal might make.

And mitral breastplate barding would cost 4400 gp (200x2 for being nonhumanoid)+4000 mitral.

Holdover from 3e where it all cost the same for mithral

Pinotage

 

[Wolf72]

padded or leather barding, and MW studded leather barding have no ACP (iirc)

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

That's how I interpreted it. War Dog would have been a more appropriate name, as the Riding Dog in the price list is like a War Horse rather than like a Riding Horse. So it should be proficient in armor.

I concur.

 

[domino]

padded or leather barding, and MW studded leather barding have no ACP (iirc)

And of course, if it's made of mithral, the chain shirt doesn't have an ACP either.

And if, for some reason you allow the ACP reduction from the MW quality to stack with that from Mithral, neither does scale mail, or a breastplate.