The MOUNT spell

[candidus_cogitens]

It says this summoned mount serves willingly and well. What does that mean? Are ride checks determined the same way as with a normal mundane riding horse, or is this magical animal exceptionally cooperative.

Should the caster get a bonus to ride checks? Would the mount be less likely to be spooked?

 

[candidus_cogitens]

Does anybody ever use this spell? When does it come in handy?

 

[Mr Fidgit]

When does it come in handy?

any time! you need something to set off those nasty floor traps? cast Mount! standing over the bad guys with nothing to drop on them in sight? cast Mount! need something to feed your Dire Wolverine animal companion? cast Mount!

actually, Mount has brought up a couple of dilemas in games i've played in

1) the Mount isn't extra-planar, so damage does stay with it

2) the Mount isn't extra-planar, so someone on your home plane will end up with a damaged or worn out horse

we've never had a situation where we needed ride checks when using summoned Mounts, so the 'serves willingly and well' has never come into play

 

[candidus_cogitens]

in my campaign, we ALWAYS have to make some kind of ride check or calm the animals ... almost every time we get on the horses.

If I take one of these summoned mounts into combat, would it get spooked and be hard to control?

 

[Mr Fidgit]

every time you get on a horse ? yikes!

well, the mount isn't a warhorse, so i'd think you would have to use the same rules for a non-warhorse in combat (ride check to control the horse if you don't dismount, etc.)

 

[Corlon]

2) the Mount isn't extra-planar, so someone on your home plane will end up with a damaged or worn out horse

You cast MOUNT and your friends warhorse teleports 5 feet away and right next to you

 

[1337 h4xor]

i like the dropping it onto things option.... dont have +x weapons to penetrate dr... use a horse as an LBO to drop it on something from the top of a cliff.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

So, when it says "willingly and well" it means no more than that the horse is trained for riding, like a normal horse.

 

[Fenes 2]

I doubt you can summon the mount over the head of an enemy, it seems far-fetched to me.

 

[Pax]

in my campaign, we ALWAYS have to make some kind of ride check or calm the animals ... almost every time we get on the horses.

EVERY time? That's ludicrous; your GM obviously has never sat a horse in his or her life.

Now, untrained characters, or those who, despite being trained, have a negative modifier ... I can see a DC2 oll to actually get ONTO the horse, and/or not look like a total goof while doing so. 8) (Been there, done that, lol!).

But to calm the horse? Any proper horse won't get unsettled JUST by having someone climb into the saddle; in fact they are trained NOT to get unsettled by that.

If I take one of these summoned mounts into combat, would it get spooked and be hard to control?

This actually is an important point. Horses are herbivores; the sight and scent of blood normally makes them quite uneasy; the sight of that blood being spilled by violence, normally scares the bejesus out of them; it's a natural instinctive response which, in the wild, keeps the herd-as-a-whole safe from predation (though of course, individual members of the herd are still taken by the predators).

Thus, the (really, ONLY) distinction between a riding horse, and a warhorse. Warhorses have had their instinctive fear trained out of them (it helps that warhorses are almost exclusively stallions, and so, tend towards higher levels of aggression). They are often trained to, if their rider is unseated, stand over them to prevent that rider form being trampled, until the rider can regain his or her feet, and possibly even remount.

A ride check to control a non-battle-trained horse, in combat, I can see. Even without the shedding of blood, the short, sharp, loud noises of most combats would tend to spook most horses.

But every time you get ON them? I'm sorry, but IMO, your GM needs to be whacked upside the head with a Clue-By-Four ... !