Once again I turn to the vast knowledge available here at the CF! forum. You know the paladin I was talking about in the 'raising strength' thread? Well....time is nearing for his horsey. So I thought I'd pop in here for a moment and ask what some of you have done for this little part of paladin life. I've never DMed for a paladin who was in need of receiving his bonded mount. The paladin is a rare find in our group for some reason, but of course Kalem had to go and ruin it and decide to play one.
I find it a bit boring, and somewhat bad roleplay to say, "Aaaaand there's the horse. Yeah, he's outside the church that morning.... He's white..... Real pretty."
I'd like it to involve some sort of little side scenario for him and thought I'd see what sort of situations some of you may have put before your paladins in discovering his mount. _________________ Never get into fights with ugly people, they have nothing to lose.
It happened once in my campaign. The paladin was in Furyondy at the time. He had to cross the Veng ito the Horned Society, where an evil fighter had the warhorse. The fighter didn't know exactly what it was, just that it was an exceptional animal that he wanted for his own, and had so far been unable to break. The paladin's player wasn't the brightest light in my gaming group, but he did manage to defeat the fighter and get his horse. Several bad decisions later, he was riding for his life back to Furyondy with a small hobgoblin army in persuit.
He made it, but died soon after in the first room of the Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun.
Scott
What I did was make it a non life threatening Test within the Church of Al' Akbar (He was from Zeif, seeking the cup in the east). He had to travel to Ket, where he found the closest Temple.
He went through a question and answer session with a Mullah. His answers were unsatisfactory, in that he had not been questing for the Cup. However, he was engaged in the crusade against the Giants and Huminoids of Geoff.
He was destined to get the Mount, unless he just botched the interview. He did not, but it was a long way ride to come away without the mount. It did, however, offer a chance for my Paladin to reconnect with the Church. Though they did not provide the mount, they left him with the impression that they did. His tithing increased as a result, and helped pauper down the party as a whole.
What i did was a bit tricky...I took the idea from a Dragon Magazine....the PC's r running to find a cure to save a kingdom from a magical plague...in the process they stumbled, in the Lortmils, on a herd of Pegasi and asked their help....the Pegasi agreed but the heroes had to help them first taking care of some mosters....the PC's succeded...and that night the chief of the pegasi came to the paladin of the party, woke him up and guided him to a cliff....there the Paladin saw a young night-black pegasus flying in the air...the chief told him that his son was ready to leave the herd.....and that if the PC was able to stand in the saddle for at least 5 minutes the young pegasus would agreed to become his mount.....the PC managed to achieve this trial (he was really lucky with his dices...he didn't choose the NWP ride aerial mounts...we were playing in 2E in those days).....and the paladin got his bonded mount...and a real particular one _________________ The best orc is the dead one.....and beheaded for security
Thanks for the replies everyone. As Devon mentioned, I was thinking of looking around through Dragon's or more likely some old Dungeon's for ideas. _________________ Never get into fights with ugly people, they have nothing to lose.
There`s a nice adventure in Dungeon #22, where a paladin may aquire an equus magical item as a companion.
TOMB IT MAY CONCERN
AD&D adventure, for a paladin of level 4-6
Written by: Randy Maxwell
Artwork by: Bob Giadrosich
Subterranean, any climate
7 pages
Description: A paladin awakens inside an underground tomb with no memory of where, or who, he is.
Also I dimly remember one where the party meets an elven griffin rider and gets a chance to get a griffin and train it. One of the later 2E issues.
Thanks Thanael, I'll have to check into that. I may have 22 in a box somewhere. And yes, I recall the griffin episode. I actually had a group that went on that little incursion. It involved a great deal of red dragons IIRC. _________________ Never get into fights with ugly people, they have nothing to lose.
I'd like to follow up Tedra's question with another question. How often do characters actually engage in mounted combat where a special mount, or any mount, will come into play?
In movies and books, you see a lot of mounted action. The proto-typical D&D adventure takes place underground where Trigger will not be a factor.
When people talk about a medieval flavor to D&D, I think one thing that cuts against this is the medieval mounted combatant's celebrity versus the D&D dungeon explorer on foot. It doesn't get better if you compare the medieval foot soldier with the dungeoneer. The medieval footman often weilded a polearm, a pike or one of those things that looks like a can-opener, to deal with the mounted knight. The D&D adventurer is wedded to a sword, mace, ax or hammer. The D&D fighter just doesn't seem very medieval except that he wears armor and doesn't use a gun. Well, maybe a Viking, but where's the horned hat?
I've often wondered what a D&D game would look like and how it could work if mounted combat played as big a roll in the game as it did in history.
For the last 4 years I have run a Gran March/Dim Forest Campaign, and the characters have used mounts on a regualr basis. It is an intergal part of the campaign, due to the distances they travel. Some dismount immediately at the signs of trouble, some (the rogue) ride in the other direction.
The paladin has used his mount and associated feats (Mounted Combat, Ride By Attack, Overrun (not a feat)) and some mechanics out of "Legends and Lairs" Path of the Sword (which I highly recommend) to devestating effect. The group has defended a town, charged a dragon (only the Paladin's Mount and a Mount from a Bag of Tricks was able to pull that off), rode through a ancient tomb (it was plenty large) while fighting a horde of goblins. The rogue (who has the bag of tricks) is even endevoring to learn to ride the Rhino that is produced.
So, I think that mounted combat can be a central and exciting part of the campaign. The thing that we learned very quickly though, is that one must be wealthy to use horses. They expire quickly, die often and need fresh remounts in order to maintain a steady travel pace. I have to say that I have not played in, nor run a total dungeon crawl/ underdark campaign since 1991 or so. With this in mind, mounts have become a regular part of our game. Limit transportation spells a little, and they become even more attractive. Apply travel rates, random encounters, and goblins diligently, and the characters horse will become their best friend.
In a campaign that I am playing in, horses are known, but scarce in the area in which we are playing. At this point, I would give my familiar for a good warhorse.
(oh, you mentioned pole arms, this is another thing we have all grown fond of, though they are darned inconvienant indoors. Reach, though is a wonderful thing.. if a wizard is going to take a martial proficiency, make it a polearm that allows trip. "I the mighty Mercurio will stand at the back, magically (or mundanely) trip you, and the guy with the sword will bash in your brains." Not quite the makings of a ballad, but very effective when Mercurio is out of spells.
PS: IMC the Paladin died before the gates of a village outside of Orlane (by Hochoch), when his horse was tripped by a goblin with a polearm and he fumbled the soft dismount. There is still a statue of him there to this day.
You raise another point. Even if the fighters are mounted combatants, that doesn't say anything about the rest of the party. Everybody in on a more equal footing, pardon the pun, if everyone is on foot.
My question though is - have you run or seen a game where mounted combat predominates over foot combat as in books, movies and history (at least to a point)?
If I could relate one of my experiences with a Paladin's mount, I think you might find it amusing. The Paladin in our group needed his horse. So he went to a mystic and she said, "You will find your horse at X spot." So we all rode our lil horses to X spot and fought monsters, freed a village, but didn't find a horse. We went back and she said, "You must be quick, you will find your mount at new X spot." So we travelled forever and went to new X spot and had a new advenure, killing some Lizardmen and a vampire. Yet, still no horse. We travelled back to Tenh and had to go to the Sea of Dust (from Tenh). After many adventures where everyone's mounts died or became food (except the Paladin's horse), we made it to the Sea of Dust. After a harrowing adventure where two of the party died (including my Ranger), we were all thrist stricken and about to die and still no mount. The Paladin's old nag, who had been with us from the onset led us to an oasis. We met a traveller who wanted to buy the Paladin's horse. The Paladin was about to sell "her laim ****" for tweo camels, until the DM (playing the wandering nomad) asked him several questions. "How long have you had this horse? Has it ever failed you in travel? Has it ever failed you in battle? Has it ever left your side? Has it ever saved your life? " Well, you get the picture. Talk about a proverbial lightbulb going off. Just a possability.
I want to ressurect this thread so that I can take it in a different direction.
Earlier in the thread GVD asked how often anyone actually uses mounted combat. I have been thinking about this, and I have decided that the rules are broken. Mounted Combat, the feat and the concept, should provide more bonuses, at least to mimic its utility in the real world.
Several thoughts:
1) The mounted combat feat ought to have many more antecedents in it's tree.
2) Lances, as drawn, do not do nearly enough damadge. Take a 1000 pound horse, a well trained knight, and a 10 ft., metal tipped spike and think about it. Your dead if they hit. I think the damadge for a lance should be x3 while charging, x5 criticals. It should have the highest critical multiplier of any weapon. A succesful hit shatters the lance. Period.
This means that a H. Lance could do 1d10x3x5= damadge range of 15-150. Even Giants should beware.
3) Horses should be more significant in their attacks. i do not know how much. Have you ever seen anyone kicked by a horse. Ooooh, ugly. At 1000 pounds, they have a lot to hit with.
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