mvincent said:
You are incorrect. I have done so, a lot. Actually, I have used all the suggestions I made (to good effect), so your protests would be moot even if they were mechanically correct.
Some of his protests were accurate according to RAW.
mvincent said:
Charging is a full round action for the horse, but not for the rider. The
rules actually say:
"If your mount charges, you also take the AC penalty associated with a charge. If you make an attack at the end of the charge, you receive the bonus gained from the charge."
Charging is difficult on an untrained horse (hence the need for a high ride skill), and provokes an AoO, but it can be done.
No, it cannot. The phrase "If your mount charges" does not mean that all mounts can charge.
Fight with Warhorse: If you direct your war-trained mount to attack in battle, you can still make your own attack or attacks normally. This usage is a free action.
This is what the Ride skill states. Your mount cannot attack at the same time as you unless it is war-trained is the implication. There is no Ride skill that allows a non-war-trained mount to attack. This is the only "fight" manuever listed under the Ride skill. There might be one in another book, but not in RAW.
You can charge with a war-trained mount and get its attacks as well. You cannot do this with a non-war-trained mount. The non-war-trained mount can move and you can attack, but it cannot charge and have you attack.
Charging is a special full-round action that allows you to move up to twice your speed and attack during the action. However, it carries tight restrictions on how you can move.
Charging is listed under the special attacks section, so, the non-war-trained mount cannot charge because it cannot attack while ridden.
mvincent said:
They lasted long enough for me (and several other people that I have seen use this trick). Usually the war horse was easy enough to get, but using the others (especially the rhino) can be a blast if you have a high enough ride skill.
With 10 pulls from the bag per week and only a 1 in 5 chance of getting the Warhorse, Frank's point is that you won't be able to do this a lot and he is correct. On average, you can do it twice per week for 10 minutes each.
The animal serves the character who drew it from the bag for 10 minutes (or until slain or ordered back into the bag), at which point it disappears. It can follow any of the commands described in the Handle Animal skill. Each of the three kinds of a bag of tricks produces a different set of animals. Use the following tables to determine what animals can be drawn out of each.
The heavy warhorse appears with harness and tack and accepts the character who drew it from the bag as a rider.
The question here is whether the "purposes" in the Handle Animal skill are "commands". I would not think so. I think the "perform a task or trick" in the Handle Animal skill are "commands" and the "purposes" are specialized training. But, a different DM might rule differently.
Since the heavy warhorse appears with tack, I suspect that the designers had them in mind for riding and not the other creatuers.
Getting the Rhino if purposes are not commands still means that you cannot have the Rhino charge and the PC attack since the Rhino cannot attack while being ridden (it is not war-trained). It can attack while not being ridden since attack is part of the standard Handle Animal list of "tricks and tasks".
mvincent said:
Also incorrect. The
rules say:
"A creature with a fly speed can move through the air at the indicated speed if carrying no more than a light load. (Note that medium armor does not necessarily constitute a medium load.)"
Given that flying mounts are a mainstay of D&D, I'm unsure what you are trying to refute.
Minimum Forward Speed: If a flying creature fails to maintain its minimum forward speed, it must land at the end of its movement. If it is too high above the ground to land, it falls straight down, descending 150 feet in the first round of falling. If this distance brings it to the ground, it takes falling damage. If the fall doesn’t bring the creature to the ground, it must spend its next turn recovering from the stall. It must succeed on a DC 20 Reflex save to recover. Otherwise it falls another 300 feet. If it hits the ground, it takes falling damage. Otherwise, it has another chance to recover on its next turn.
For average and lower maneuverable creatures, the Minimum Forward Speed is half. If the creature is encumbered by medium or heavier barding and a rider, it is very difficult for it to charge successfully because it still has to move half of its speed. Frank's point was that minimum forward speed can easily creep up on you. He was incorrect about medium and heavy barding (tmk), but he was correct that low maneuverability flying mounts can easily crash if they have a rider and armor on and try to fight in flight (course, this can happen even if the flying creature is not encumbered).
For example, an average maneuverability Pegasus has a Strength of 18. Most medium sized riders with gear would put a Pegasus in a Heavy load (200 to 300 pounds) very quickly. Hence, it is difficult for a pegasus to carry a both a medium sized rider and wear barding. Its reduced speed would be 40 from 60. If it ever drops to 25 or lower (like with a short distance charge), it has to land (which it cannot since it charged) or it will fall.
Since a Charge is a special full round attack action, a Pegasus could not do a Charge as part of a Fly By Attack. So, if it charges 25 feet or less, it falls.