Spatzimaus
First Post
There have been a lot of discussion on the balance issues of Paladin mounts. There's confusion on the PHB rules (Is that Natural Armor a bonus, adding to what the creature has, or a straight Natural Armor? Are those bonus HD Magical Beast dice or Animal dice?). There's debate on how badly Mounts suck at high level. Then, there are the DotF rules for picking a Dragon or something. Wait one level to call your Mount, and you can get a Celestial template, which tremendously increases its survivability. Take Leadership, and you can summon a mount more powerful and more intelligent than you are.
After a certain point, my group just got sick of it and rewrote the whole thing. We wanted a system where you'd pick a mundane creature, like a horse, and have it evolve into something with the abilities of a Celestial template. The final result is the Build-A-Mount (tm) system below; note that it substantially increases the power of these mounts at high level, but we wanted to do that to make up for the fact that the Paladin would have to buy magical items for his mount out of his own share of the treasure. So, most of these abilities mimic things the Paladin would buy for his Mount just to keep it useful.
Note: IMC, we have four Paladin subclasses for the four extreme alignments (LG, LE, CG, CE), in an attempt to replace some PrCs like the Blackguard. It's not important for this discussion; just plug LG into the template below. We also allow Paladins and Monks to multiclass to/from their race's Favored Class without halting their Pal/Mnk progression.
It's long, I know (almost 2 pages in 12-point text in Word), but feedback would be nice; in our view the Mount should be the most important ability a Paladin gets, and he shouldn't have to leave it behind every time things get hairy. We also wanted to give the Paladin a customizable ability to keep things interesting, sort of like how Rangers pick Favored Enemies.
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Crazy Spatz's Build-A-Mount (tm) Rules:
The Paladin?s Mount, unlike a Familiar, starts as a mundane creature (Animal or Beast only, with Intelligence less than 3); supernatural templates and creature advancement may not be applied. It must be of a type that can be domesticated, although the individual creature can be wild. Upon selection, it becomes imbued with divine energy, increasing in power as the Paladin gains in level.
The term "Mount" does not automatically imply a riding beast; many Paladins choose a smaller creature (more commonly referred to as a "Companion"). This is most common among Crusaders (CG) and Blackguards (LE), although Paladins of all alignments have chosen small creatures. The exact type of creature acquired is dependent on the individual Paladin's patron deity, each of whom has several favored creatures from which the Paladin must choose. At least one of these creature types will always be rideable. The ritual of selection also varies from order to order, but always takes a minimum of one full day to complete.
The base creature must be an unintelligent Animal or Beast with a number of HD less than the Paladin's Class Level, and must be within one size category of its new master in either direction. A Paladin may delay calling a Mount to acquire a more exotic (or powerful) base creature, but this has no effect after level 10, so the base creature can never have more than 9 HD before being called. To be used as a steed, the creature must be larger than its rider and must be physically capable of mounting a rider.
The creature at first appears identical to its mundane cousins. As it gains levels it slowly takes on the appearance of a corresponding Outsider; for example, a LG Mount begins to look like a cross between a Celestial and an Axiomatic creature. At class level 15, the creature becomes a true Native Outsider of the appropriate alignment subtypes; it does not gain any template features other than those described below and this change does not retroactively alter previous hit dice. As a side effect of the taint of evil, the Mounts of Evil Paladins are healed by negative energy and harmed by positive; they are not undead, however, and cannot be turned.
When first summoned, all Mounts gain certain enhancements. They immediately gain the following abilities: Share Saving Throws, Share Spells, Darkvision 60', Empathic Link, and Evasion. All of these abilities are listed in the PHB. (Note that it's Evasion, not Improved Evasion.)
Their creature type changes to Magical Beast, and they gain two Magical Beast hit dice (providing 2d10 hit points, +2 BAB, saving throws, skill points, and a general Feat); these hit dice are not true creature advancement and so do not count towards size increases, although they are still modified by Constitution. The previous hit dice remain their original types.
The Intelligence of the Mount is increased to 8, its base land speed increases by 10', its Natural Armor increases by 2, and it gains Spell Resistance equal to the Paladin class level of its master. The Mount understands all languages its master understands, although it is incapable of speech. All of these increases are inherent, Extraordinary abilities. In most ways, this is similar to the effects of the Druid spell Awaken, except that the creature is not truly sentient; it does not earn XP, and cannot take a normal class.
The creature's elemental resistances also increase, depending on its two alignments. Add the two appropriate lines from the following table to any resistances the creature already possesses.
Good: Acid 5, Cold 5, Electricity 5
Evil: Fire 5, Cold 5
Lawful: Fire 3, Cold 3, Electricity 4, Sonic 4
Chaotic: Fire 3, Cold 3, Electricity 3, Acid 3, Sonic 3
These changes are permanent. Even if the Paladin dies or Falls from favor, the Mount retains these bonuses. These Mounts have been touched by a deity, and so are treasured by the Paladin's Order. They will never take another master.
At every odd Paladin class level, the Mount's abilities increase further. Add all of the following at every odd class level (7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19)
Bonus HD: The creature gains one hit die; at class levels 7, 9, 11, and 13 these are Magical Beast dice, while at 15, 17, and 19 they are Outsider dice. These dice are not true advancement and do not cause size increases. These gain a Constitution bonus as normal. These dice may also result in extra general Feats (1 + 1 per 4 Magical Beast and Outsider HD). A Mount never suffers a "multiclassing" XP penalty for mixing different types of hit dice.
Natural Strength: Increase any 1 attribute by 1 point; this is treated similarly to the attribute increase characters receive every 4 levels. Increase Natural Armor by 1.
Fast Movement: Increase all existing natural movement modes (walk, climb, burrow, swim, fly) by 5'. This does not provide any new movement modes, or modify the speed provided by other sources. This is a Supernatural movement ability, and does not stack with other magical movement increases (such as horseshoes of speed).
Special Abilities: Choose an ability from the following table. Each of these abilities may be selected multiple times unless specified otherwise. All are Supernatural abilities unless specified otherwise.
Steady Pace: The creature is capable of riding over water, sand, mud, and swamp as if it were firm ground (as if it were wearing horseshoes of a zephyr). In addition, the Mount does not tire when moving for long periods of time. This ability may only be selected once.
Improved Evasion (Ex): If the mount is subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, it takes no damage on a successful check and half damage on a failed check. This ability may only be selected once.
Smite: This is always either Smite Law (for Mounts of Chaotic Paladins) or Smite Chaos (for Mounts of Lawful Paladins). Once per day, the creature may perform an exceptionally powerful attack. The Mount adds its HD to both the attack roll and damage roll against a creature of the appropriate alignment. If the Mount accidentally smites a creature of the wrong alignment, the smite has no effect but is still used up for that day. Each successive time chosen adds one more use per day.
Damage Reduction: The first time this ability is chosen, it bestows Damage Reduction of 5/+1. Each successive time chosen increases the threshold by +1 and the soak by 5 (to 10/+2, 15/+3, and so on). As this is inherent creature-based Damage Reduction, it also allows the Mount to bypass similar Damage Reduction in other creatures.
Elemental Resistance: The first time this ability is chosen, the amount of elemental resistance the Mount receives from the deity is doubled. Amounts from other sources, or those inherent to the creature type, are unchanged. Each successive time chosen doubles the resistances again (remember that a doubled double is a triple)
Spell Resistance: Each time this ability is chosen, it increases the Mount?s granted Spell Resistance by 5. This is always relative to the Paladin?s current class level, and so increases each time he gains a level. The first time this ability is chosen increases SR to (level+5), the second to (level+10), and so on.
Bonus Feat (Ex): Gain any one Feat. The Mount must still meet all normal prerequisites. This may be taken multiple times.
If a Mount suffers a level drain, his abilities decrease as if he were the Mount of a lower-level Paladin.
This enhancement is provided by the Paladin's deity, as part of the Paladin's daily magical preparation. These abilities are contingent on the continued loyalty and devotion of the Paladin; if he Falls from favor, fails to pray at least once per week, dies, or is separated from the Mount during his prayer time, the Mount begins to return to its original abilities. For each week that passes, the Mount's abilities decrease as if his owner had lost two levels, until it either reaches the abilities it possessed when first called, or the Paladin reenters his deity's favor. At this point, the Mount instantly returns to its full power.
Note that these power increases are not retroactive, and always occur at the beginning of the appropriate level; if a Paladin chose to delay calling his Mount to receive a more powerful creature type, it does not gain any missed upgrades.
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We also added a Feat, "Improved Mount", that provides magical wings for flight as well as more options for the Special Ability table. I'll post that later, along with a couple examples, if anyone actually reads this dissertation.
I know it's long, but the question is, how would you change this? It's stronger than the PHB rules, and weaker than most of the DotF rules... does it work?
After a certain point, my group just got sick of it and rewrote the whole thing. We wanted a system where you'd pick a mundane creature, like a horse, and have it evolve into something with the abilities of a Celestial template. The final result is the Build-A-Mount (tm) system below; note that it substantially increases the power of these mounts at high level, but we wanted to do that to make up for the fact that the Paladin would have to buy magical items for his mount out of his own share of the treasure. So, most of these abilities mimic things the Paladin would buy for his Mount just to keep it useful.
Note: IMC, we have four Paladin subclasses for the four extreme alignments (LG, LE, CG, CE), in an attempt to replace some PrCs like the Blackguard. It's not important for this discussion; just plug LG into the template below. We also allow Paladins and Monks to multiclass to/from their race's Favored Class without halting their Pal/Mnk progression.
It's long, I know (almost 2 pages in 12-point text in Word), but feedback would be nice; in our view the Mount should be the most important ability a Paladin gets, and he shouldn't have to leave it behind every time things get hairy. We also wanted to give the Paladin a customizable ability to keep things interesting, sort of like how Rangers pick Favored Enemies.
******************
Crazy Spatz's Build-A-Mount (tm) Rules:
The Paladin?s Mount, unlike a Familiar, starts as a mundane creature (Animal or Beast only, with Intelligence less than 3); supernatural templates and creature advancement may not be applied. It must be of a type that can be domesticated, although the individual creature can be wild. Upon selection, it becomes imbued with divine energy, increasing in power as the Paladin gains in level.
The term "Mount" does not automatically imply a riding beast; many Paladins choose a smaller creature (more commonly referred to as a "Companion"). This is most common among Crusaders (CG) and Blackguards (LE), although Paladins of all alignments have chosen small creatures. The exact type of creature acquired is dependent on the individual Paladin's patron deity, each of whom has several favored creatures from which the Paladin must choose. At least one of these creature types will always be rideable. The ritual of selection also varies from order to order, but always takes a minimum of one full day to complete.
The base creature must be an unintelligent Animal or Beast with a number of HD less than the Paladin's Class Level, and must be within one size category of its new master in either direction. A Paladin may delay calling a Mount to acquire a more exotic (or powerful) base creature, but this has no effect after level 10, so the base creature can never have more than 9 HD before being called. To be used as a steed, the creature must be larger than its rider and must be physically capable of mounting a rider.
The creature at first appears identical to its mundane cousins. As it gains levels it slowly takes on the appearance of a corresponding Outsider; for example, a LG Mount begins to look like a cross between a Celestial and an Axiomatic creature. At class level 15, the creature becomes a true Native Outsider of the appropriate alignment subtypes; it does not gain any template features other than those described below and this change does not retroactively alter previous hit dice. As a side effect of the taint of evil, the Mounts of Evil Paladins are healed by negative energy and harmed by positive; they are not undead, however, and cannot be turned.
When first summoned, all Mounts gain certain enhancements. They immediately gain the following abilities: Share Saving Throws, Share Spells, Darkvision 60', Empathic Link, and Evasion. All of these abilities are listed in the PHB. (Note that it's Evasion, not Improved Evasion.)
Their creature type changes to Magical Beast, and they gain two Magical Beast hit dice (providing 2d10 hit points, +2 BAB, saving throws, skill points, and a general Feat); these hit dice are not true creature advancement and so do not count towards size increases, although they are still modified by Constitution. The previous hit dice remain their original types.
The Intelligence of the Mount is increased to 8, its base land speed increases by 10', its Natural Armor increases by 2, and it gains Spell Resistance equal to the Paladin class level of its master. The Mount understands all languages its master understands, although it is incapable of speech. All of these increases are inherent, Extraordinary abilities. In most ways, this is similar to the effects of the Druid spell Awaken, except that the creature is not truly sentient; it does not earn XP, and cannot take a normal class.
The creature's elemental resistances also increase, depending on its two alignments. Add the two appropriate lines from the following table to any resistances the creature already possesses.
Good: Acid 5, Cold 5, Electricity 5
Evil: Fire 5, Cold 5
Lawful: Fire 3, Cold 3, Electricity 4, Sonic 4
Chaotic: Fire 3, Cold 3, Electricity 3, Acid 3, Sonic 3
These changes are permanent. Even if the Paladin dies or Falls from favor, the Mount retains these bonuses. These Mounts have been touched by a deity, and so are treasured by the Paladin's Order. They will never take another master.
At every odd Paladin class level, the Mount's abilities increase further. Add all of the following at every odd class level (7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19)
Bonus HD: The creature gains one hit die; at class levels 7, 9, 11, and 13 these are Magical Beast dice, while at 15, 17, and 19 they are Outsider dice. These dice are not true advancement and do not cause size increases. These gain a Constitution bonus as normal. These dice may also result in extra general Feats (1 + 1 per 4 Magical Beast and Outsider HD). A Mount never suffers a "multiclassing" XP penalty for mixing different types of hit dice.
Natural Strength: Increase any 1 attribute by 1 point; this is treated similarly to the attribute increase characters receive every 4 levels. Increase Natural Armor by 1.
Fast Movement: Increase all existing natural movement modes (walk, climb, burrow, swim, fly) by 5'. This does not provide any new movement modes, or modify the speed provided by other sources. This is a Supernatural movement ability, and does not stack with other magical movement increases (such as horseshoes of speed).
Special Abilities: Choose an ability from the following table. Each of these abilities may be selected multiple times unless specified otherwise. All are Supernatural abilities unless specified otherwise.
Steady Pace: The creature is capable of riding over water, sand, mud, and swamp as if it were firm ground (as if it were wearing horseshoes of a zephyr). In addition, the Mount does not tire when moving for long periods of time. This ability may only be selected once.
Improved Evasion (Ex): If the mount is subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, it takes no damage on a successful check and half damage on a failed check. This ability may only be selected once.
Smite: This is always either Smite Law (for Mounts of Chaotic Paladins) or Smite Chaos (for Mounts of Lawful Paladins). Once per day, the creature may perform an exceptionally powerful attack. The Mount adds its HD to both the attack roll and damage roll against a creature of the appropriate alignment. If the Mount accidentally smites a creature of the wrong alignment, the smite has no effect but is still used up for that day. Each successive time chosen adds one more use per day.
Damage Reduction: The first time this ability is chosen, it bestows Damage Reduction of 5/+1. Each successive time chosen increases the threshold by +1 and the soak by 5 (to 10/+2, 15/+3, and so on). As this is inherent creature-based Damage Reduction, it also allows the Mount to bypass similar Damage Reduction in other creatures.
Elemental Resistance: The first time this ability is chosen, the amount of elemental resistance the Mount receives from the deity is doubled. Amounts from other sources, or those inherent to the creature type, are unchanged. Each successive time chosen doubles the resistances again (remember that a doubled double is a triple)
Spell Resistance: Each time this ability is chosen, it increases the Mount?s granted Spell Resistance by 5. This is always relative to the Paladin?s current class level, and so increases each time he gains a level. The first time this ability is chosen increases SR to (level+5), the second to (level+10), and so on.
Bonus Feat (Ex): Gain any one Feat. The Mount must still meet all normal prerequisites. This may be taken multiple times.
If a Mount suffers a level drain, his abilities decrease as if he were the Mount of a lower-level Paladin.
This enhancement is provided by the Paladin's deity, as part of the Paladin's daily magical preparation. These abilities are contingent on the continued loyalty and devotion of the Paladin; if he Falls from favor, fails to pray at least once per week, dies, or is separated from the Mount during his prayer time, the Mount begins to return to its original abilities. For each week that passes, the Mount's abilities decrease as if his owner had lost two levels, until it either reaches the abilities it possessed when first called, or the Paladin reenters his deity's favor. At this point, the Mount instantly returns to its full power.
Note that these power increases are not retroactive, and always occur at the beginning of the appropriate level; if a Paladin chose to delay calling his Mount to receive a more powerful creature type, it does not gain any missed upgrades.
*******************
We also added a Feat, "Improved Mount", that provides magical wings for flight as well as more options for the Special Ability table. I'll post that later, along with a couple examples, if anyone actually reads this dissertation.
I know it's long, but the question is, how would you change this? It's stronger than the PHB rules, and weaker than most of the DotF rules... does it work?
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