Black Flag Tales of the Valiant is out (in PDF)! What do people think?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They do not. It was a hard choice, but a choice to be made. Especially because the playtest feedback was clear---modern paladin players really don't use mounts--even magical ones! (def weird for us old school players to wrap our heads around, but the data was clear).

In my campaign, I had a paladin player character fail to quality for a knightly order in part because the (antiquated) order made horsemanship one of the three pillars of membership and the player character quite reasonably had never wanted or needed to learn Animal Handling or Ride (this character has moved through three different incarnations of the game).

 

[Zaukrie]

I can't recall the last time one of my players used a mount, so it makes sense. since my campaign is surely how everyone plays....

 

[Distracted DM]

I've had players that wanted a steed, but a warhorse is going to get quickly toasted in even tier2 combat so they ended up not using it.

 

[Bladesinger]

They do not. It was a hard choice, but a choice to be made. Especially because the playtest feedback was clear---modern paladin players really don't use mounts--even magical ones! (def weird for us old school players to wrap our heads around, but the data was clear).

HOWEVER, there are also a LOT of ways/options folks can take to get access to ritual spells if they are one of the rare paladin players who can't live without the ability to cast find steed

With the huge array of heritage, lineage, talent, subclass, combos and more (including the Ritual Caster talent mentioned earlier) ....it is more than doable to make it happen (edited)

Paladins can also now use spell scrolls to cast any Divine spell they want---including find steed

I understand your point, but then if Paladins not using a mount in dungeons is a thing, why do the other Classes get it? Aren't they more likely NOT to use a mount than a Paladin? I think we are going to have to disagree on this one.

However, thanks for the response, I do appreciate it!

 

[James Gasik]

That's always been a huge issue with a mounted character- while a horse might seem pretty tough to a low-level character, keeping it alive in a game where you fight giant monsters is pretty tough, especially if you're playing a Fighter (or Cavalier) who don't have the excuse of "magic" to make their mounts tougher. In a 4e adventure, I bought a giant riding ant for my Warlock, and I went to crazy lengths to keep it alive, even as the DM seemed happy to target it sadistically whenever he could (granted, my Warlock had a tendency to explode when hit, so I suppose that makes some sense).

And the workarounds over the years have been hilarious, from Figurines of Wondrous Power to Equus Amulets, to "the gods give you a celestial horse you can summon out of nowhere and comes back if it dies".

When you stretch things to this point, I wonder why we don't thread the needle and say a mounted character is treated as one entity, with all damage being shared, as if using Warding Bond or something.

One of my favorite fantasy series has a knight riding the same horse throughout multiple books and many battles, and yet in D&D you'd be lucky to keep the horse alive through one adventure (and that's assuming you actually get to ride said horse and aren't in a dungeon all the time).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I wonder why we don't thread the needle and say a mounted character is treated as one entity, with all damage being shared, as if using Warding Bond or something.

That's a pretty good solution, actually. Then you don't need celestial horses or special stats for a horse. Paladins, by nature of their class or subclass, just get this ability as a thing with any willing mount (that's not the goliath barbarian in a weird mood).

 

[Weiley31]

I had a question that I think got lost up-thread - Does the Paladin get the Find Steed Ritual? Because it doesn't seem like they do, yet Cleric, Druid, and even eventually Ranger can get it.

Apparently, during the ToV Playtest, the Paladin DID have Find Steed. But one of the things they(Kobold Press) noticed/saw was that people WEREN'T really using the spell, like, at all. And those that did were a hella small number. As a result, they axed the Find Steed ritual from the ToV Paladin.

 

[Shardstone]

Can't wait to use Find Steed in Death House! Oh...what about Chult? Eh...what about the throne room of the Storm King?? Can my horse keep up with the soul-powered war machines of Avernus? Oh! The underdark! That's where my horse will shine...

Yeah the spell is useless, only exists as fluff.