Rules Question: Mounted movement

[eric warren]

If a paladin on his mount moves (mount moves), can the paladin then dismount and get his move?

Ex: Paladin on horse travels horses full move .. Paladin dismounts and takes his move/ turn.

It seems as 2 seperate entities they should both be entitled to a move and action.

Likewise, could the paladin's mount charge and attack as its action .. and then the Paladin on its back full attack (since the paladin technically did not use a move)?

[Sigurd]

"Ex: Paladin on horse travels horses full move .. Paladin dismounts and takes his move/ turn."

Does the paladin blink out of existence while the horse is moving or does he wait till the end of the movement. Shouldn't that waiting be reflected in the turn sequence?

Two entities working together still consume time in their shared goal. They share the time consumed.

s

[eric warren]

What if the mount moves on an earlier initiative and attacks...

Sigurd wrote:

"Ex: Paladin on horse travels horses full move .. Paladin dismounts and takes his move/ turn."

Does the paladin blink out of existence while the horse is moving or does he wait till the end of the movement. Shouldn't that waiting be reflected in the turn sequence?

Two entities working together still consume time in their shared goal. They share the time consumed.

s

[Bill Dunn]

The mount doesn't have a separate initiative count. It moves on the rider's initiative because the rider's the one directing it.

Basically, the rider directs the mount and the mount moves using its own move actions. But those move actions are presumed to consume some time that will constrain your actions.

Move more than 5 feet with that mount's move actions, and you can no longer take more than a standard action for your combat unless you're using ranged attacks (because then you don't really have to wait to get to your destination).

All of this is laid out in the sections covering the Ride skill and Mounted Combat on pages 201 and 202.

Taking that understanding into consideration, we can derive a bit more. A paladin can take his move actions separately from the horse but with some caveats. If he had to wait out the horse's movements, that's one move action he can't take to move (though he could do other things that were move actions, like drawing a weapon if he doesn't have quick draw or readying a shield while the horse is ambling along). If he took a single move action on the horse, used a free action to do a quick dismount, then he could take the second half of the round to take his second move action by moving on foot. That would preclude fighting, though.

[azhrei_fje]

Would you allow said paladin to make a quick dismount as part of a charge when attacking an opponent on the ground?

[cp]

azhrei_fje wrote:

Would you allow said paladin to make a quick dismount as part of a charge when attacking an opponent on the ground?

*if* the charge resulted in a valid attack vs an opponent, and if a dismout is a free, or swift action due to ride skill, I would allow the dismount after the attack.

A charge action is a special action where the movement and attack are integral.

I would not allow the dismount before the attack, aka to increase movement or get reach for an attack.

[James Risner]

Isn't there a rule in Mounted Combat section or in Ride that limits what you can do if your mount takes a move action?

[cercanon]

James Risner wrote:

Isn't there a rule in Mounted Combat section or in Ride that limits what you can do if your mount takes a move action?

Yes, it says this: "If your mount moves more than 5 feet, you can only make a single melee attack. Essentially, you have to wait until the mount gets to your enemy before attacking, so you can't make a full attack."

This can be interpreted two ways, either you get to take a move action while your mount moves then attack at the end, or you literally have to "wait" while your mount moves and the attack action is the only thing you can do in the round.

I'm thinking specifically of sheathing a sword as a move action, drawing a lance as a free action (glove of storing), then attacking at the end of the charge.

"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."

This implies that even on a charge you can potentially take a move action while the mount moves (i.e. it's not your charge action, so you get a move in addition to your attack action at the end).

What does everyone think about this?