Request - Fix Mounts In General

[cliff]

Quijenoth wrote:

There is no way a cavalier can ride a dragon cohort and his enhanced warhorse at the same time and their is no rules to have one replace the other. You DM would have to be pretty lenient or completely crazy to allow a dragon of equivalent power to a levelled animal companion into his game. then add in the fact that the dragon will not advance like an animal companion does and the cavalier player will feel like hes not pulling his weight in a couple levels.

See, here's where I think the whole mount this is getting confused. A mount is a beast that get's ridden. What you're wanting to put into the mix, Quijenoth, are (a) creatures that have IQs or (b) creatures that are pretty far out for the most part. Pegasi and Dragons can simply choose to let a Cavalier ride them, or not as the case may be, so that's built into the behavior of the creature itself.

Now, say I want a Bullette mount. Or a Dire Bear. Or an Alosaurus. The key word is "suitable", and there's a chart for what mounts are appropriate to start with. After a Cav has a mount for a while, and he "releases her companion from service" (p50), then she can acquire any other creature as a mount when is "suitable".

In one of my campaigns, an Alosaurs isn't ever going to be suitable. Too big, too scary, requires too many peasants for sustenance (lol). However, maybe in your campaign it's perfectly suitable.

What we're telling you is, what you want...you already got.

[default]

Dragonnes (From the Bonus Bestiary) can be taken as animal companions by anyone with Leadership and an effective druid level of at least 10, which gets bumped down by 4. As dragonnes have an int of 6, couldn't we expect something like this for griffins, wyverns- those 'exotic' mounts. They'll just have to deal with having d8 hit dice, and can get any traits as companion Special Qualities.

[Ressy]

default wrote:

Dragonnes (From the Bonus Bestiary) can be taken as animal companions by anyone with Leadership and an effective druid level of at least 10, which gets bumped down by 4. As dragonnes have an int of 6, couldn't we expect something like this for griffins, wyverns- those 'exotic' mounts. They'll just have to deal with having d8 hit dice, and can get any traits as companion Special Qualities.

There's some strange stuff in the Bonus Bestiary, though having Leadership and AC progression meld this way is quite interesting.

Though I'd personally say that the 4 effective lvl hit is a bit much, considering it isn't that much better than other animal companions, and is requiring a feat on top of that.

[Pirate]

Yar!

default wrote:

Dragonnes (From the Bonus Bestiary) can be taken as animal companions by anyone with Leadership and an effective druid level of at least 10, which gets bumped down by 4. As dragonnes have an int of 6, couldn't we expect something like this for griffins, wyverns- those 'exotic' mounts. They'll just have to deal with having d8 hit dice, and can get any traits as companion Special Qualities.

I'd like to refer you to one of my posts earlier in this thread listing variable mounts for varioable combinations of circumstances.

Also, I'd like to refer you to the extended cohort list for the leadership feat located at the back of the Beasiary. The griffon and wyvern and many more are there as cohorts, which can advance by gaining actual levels, which is much better/optimal than the animal companion increases.

They're already there for you, and in an even better way than what is being suggested! :D

[default]

I dunno, griffins just don't strike me as classable creatures.

[Purple Dragon Knight]

...but they are. No minimum ability score requirements anymore.