Rust monster Cavalry.


Advice


Good day/evening,

I'very been toying with the idea of a mounted force using rust monster as mounts. Being aberration, they are tougher than regular mounts so that's one point to consider.

For riders I was considering (half)orcs, hobgoblins using sling, club, spear or other stone/wooden weapon and either leather/hide armour.

Whee I'm a bit stump is class. What would be a good class for them. I'm particularly looking for:

Regular troops: 1st level
Corporal: 2nd level
Sergeant: 3rd level
Lieutenant: 5th level
Captain: 7th level

1st and 3rd party suggestion are welcomed. And if you can thing of another race or other equipment let me know.

Thanks


I would say ordinary fighters could pull it off. Really any martial class, I could definitely see rangers doing it, picking up mounted combat style.

Regular troops are probably warriors

Corporals I could see as fighters

Seargant I picture Rangers

Lieutenant I imagine Sohei monks, because why not?

Captains could probably be a Vanguard (Slayer) or Tactician (Fighter)


You could probably just do warrior for low-level troops, and ranger or cavalier for higher-level ones. Also consider that druids would not have a very hard time operating as such. Dwarves, orcs, half-orcs, and other races that come into contact with aberrations would be the best fit. Races with bad STR, CON, and/or WIS may not be the best. Metal weapons will need to be made of obsidian, bone, or voidglass, depending on your price range.


Interesting ideas. I agree that any martial class could work. Fighter and Ranger (as well as cavalier and barbarian) were possibilities I was looking into especially with the mounted combat or archetypes they had.

I never thought about Sohei monk and Vanguard slayers (nor monks or slayers as a whole) but they would work and give some flavor to the unit.

Edit:
Druid and dwarves/duergar would work too and are great suggestions. Thank you.


I think non cavaliers would be better, as the animal companion becomes a bit neglected, and it's a wasted class feature.


I actually did that in a game, but it was goblins in black hide & bone armor riding rusties. Party hated me...


At one point I was considering goblins, kobolds or even lizardmen in the first two cases, being small could be a problem and the lizardmen is not usally found in the same environment.

And year, most Martial class will have a caniption

MageHunter wrote:
I think non cavaliers would be better, as the animal companion becomes a bit neglected, and it's a wasted class feature.

It's a fair point. The 2 possibilities I looked at were the Beast Rider archetype or the order of The Beast Order (ACG version). But even then they're not the greatest.

Grand Lodge

Dwarven stonelords, wearing stone plate with stone earthbreakers.


I would think you would need Small races to ride normal Rust Monsters, which are Medium. Rust Lords are Large, so Medium characters could ride them, but these would be less common and probably a lot harder to tame, since they'll go after even the iron in your blood.

How come nobody has any love for the idea of a mounted spellcaster cavalry? Nobody remember the AD&D 1st Edition cartoon (can't remember whether it was in the Player's Handbook or the Dungeon Master's Guide or the Monster Manual) of a Fighter jumping into the arms of a Wizard to get away from the Rust Monster?


Balancer wrote:
Dwarven stonelords, wearing stone plate with stone earthbreakers.

Interesting archetype. And the stoneweapon/armour would definitely work here.

UnArcaneElection wrote:
I would think you would need Small races to ride normal Rust Monsters, which are Medium. Rust Lords are Large, so Medium characters could ride them, but these would be less common and probably a lot harder to tame, since they'll go after even the iron in your blood.

True, looking over the description they are 5' and 200 lb, a small creature (or a dwarf) might be a more suitable rider. however most of the small race either have a STR or CON penalty, which sucks somewhat, but it's still feasible.

UnArcaneElection wrote:

How come nobody has any love for the idea of a mounted spellcaster cavalry? Nobody remember the AD&D 1st Edition cartoon (can't remember whether it was in the Player's Handbook or the Dungeon Master's Guide or the Monster Manual) of a Fighter jumping into the arms of a Wizard to get away from the Rust Monster?

Yes I remember this image, pretty hilarious.

Spellcaster could work. I could see Sorcerer or a bloodrager (for extra punch) with Aberrant bloodline. A magus, the previously mentionned druid or maybe a warpriest could also work well.


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Is it this image by any chance?


Dracoknight wrote:
Is it this image by any chance?

Yes. Yes it is.

On a side note, I've been looking at the races. Dwarves (and subraces), gnomes (and subraces) and halfling (and suraces) would work quite well. Goblin and Kobold are a good fit too.

It could also be a good way to Introduce a new race such as:

- The Gow, a Goblin-Drow halfbreed, by 500 Penny Design;
- The Kobold King, by Super Genius Games;
- The Dog-faced Kobold by Fat Goblin Games;
- The High Goblin by Jon Brazer Enterprises;
- The Boggles from Alluria Publishing;
- The Xax also from Alluria Publishing;
- The Dodelig from AAW Games;
- The Hoyrall Also from AAW Games;
- The Blue from Dreamscarred Press
- The Dromite also from Dreamscarred Press.


^If you're going to go 3rd party, including Dreamscarred Press, might as well have the characters be Psionic. (Related to this within Paizo material: Kineticists, if not of a type that would be better off flying.)

And suddenly, I have a devious thought: Remember WarCraft III/TFT Huntresses? They throw bladed chakrams/large shurikens/3-fold starknives that ricochet and are Unarmored (although they actually have some AC, they wear almost nothing), and are fast mounted warriors? Well, replace their weapons with stone discuses (treat as chakrams), and give them Ricochet Toss, the Startoss Style chain, and as much of the Vital Strike chain as they have BAB for, plus Rust Monster/Rust Lord companions (use Small race for the Huntresses if using normal Rust Monsters), and they'll make sure everybody else isn't wearing much either. Actually a squad of these would be really scary for most armor-dependent martial types, too.


Obsidian javelins and the splintering weapon feat are a nasty combo. They're simple weapons too so compatible with almost any class.


Both of those ideas are pretty good. I haven't thought about psionic but that'should an option.

And those weapon/feat combo are pretty interesting, I'll look into them as they give me a bit of range flexibility.


I've been mulling this over and considering my options. Here`s what I,ve got so far. What do you think?

Good? Bad? Too Focused? Not focused enough?

Very likely going to be Goblin troops

They would be divided in troops of 5 goblin plus a Corporal and a Sergeant. 2 such troops will be lead by a lieutenant. 2 such grouping will lead by a captain and have the shaman aids.

1st level will be Fighter(Roughrider Archetype) with Mounted Combat and Splintering Weapon Feat.

They will be armed with Terbutje and javelins and wear wooden armour and light wooden shield.

Corporal would be Fighter(Roughrider)1 /Monk(Sohei) 1 with Mounted Archery as his bonus feat

Sergeant would be Fighter(Roughrider)1 /Monk(Sohei) 1/Ranger 1 (Horse lord) with Cavalry Fromation (Teamwork feat)

Lieutenant would be Fighter(Roughrider)2 /Monk(Sohei) 2/Ranger 1 (Horse lord) with Weapon focus (Javelin), poiint blank shot, Dodge

Captain would be Fighter(Roughrider)2 /Monk(Sohei) 2/Ranger 1 (Horse lord)/ Slayer (Vanguard) 2 with Charging Hurler and Escape Route (Teamwork Feat).

The Troop is accompanied by 3 Shamans (Battle or Ancestor spirit):

2 assistant would be Fighter(Roughrider)1 /Shaman 2 with Still Spell as his feat.

1 would be Fighter(Roughrider)1 /Shaman 4 with Tenacious Spell as his feat.

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