Ok,
I know, we've had these, and they've been gone over. But, I started a new one because I just had a thought after reading the afteraction reports of others using the class.
Unlike the Paladin, the Cavalier cannot summon his special mount.
I know, we all know that, but, let that sink in a moment. A paladin can go down into the underground, come out again on the other side of the mountain, and poof, his mount is there.
A cavalier can't.
A mount is at least a good percentage of his class abilities (charging, fluff, etc). And it's one of his main class features. But he can't summon it. I know the why, he's not magic. No arguing that.
What I think should be done though, as a counterbalance, is that the Cavalier's mount feature should have some rules for him being able to get the best out of non-special mounts. Basically, he's hell on earth on his special mount, but he's still dangerous on any mount, able to get the best out of even a plow horse. That's been talked about too, but no real details.
I was thinking, if the Cavalier could have some abilities as part of his character that affect both his special mount and any other mount he has a few hours to familiarize himself with that would go a long way to mitigating the issue.
For example, maybe the ability to teach any mount up to Level/5 (min 1) temporary tricks. Basically, spend an hour to teach the mount some tricks that last for the day (sort of like a cleric praying for spells in the morning, taking a little time to prepare) but he can do it any time of day, and can switch the trick around any time by taking an hour. Thus, he could take a plow-horse, and in an hour, get him minimally combat trained, or teach him to stand over a downed rider, etc. Any trick you can normally teach an animal, but has to be renewed every day.
Secondly, perhaps giving him the ability to grant temporary hitpoints to any mount (his own or an emergency one) equal to twice his level after taking care of it for a week. This is him administering to it, changing it's feed balance, exercising it, etc. Let him do this for a number of mounts equal to his level/4 (1 minimum), so he can even help his allies mounts. Have it take an hour a day as well. So an hour in the morning to teach his own mount a temporary trick, and an hour at night to keep up to his limit in horses in prime condition?
Thirdly, similar mechanic to boost the mount's saves (or just one save?) by an amount based on his cavalier level?
|
I'd like to see something like this happen; in fact, I just started a thread asking about entire alternative features to the mount part of the class. I agree that the cavalier shouldn't be totally screwed if his DM decides to take him through a narrow cavern and out the other side.
Without having the PDF in front of me (work, gotta keep up appearances...) I'd be curious about granting select features while riding any mount you can spend an hour with, and maybe halve any numerical bonuses you receive regarding a mount.
My weekend starts in about an hour so I'll be more able to give it though and try to come up with mechanically sound and characteristically fitting ideas.