Yes, I realize I might be beating a dead horse (or riding dog, in my character's case) as there have already been a few threads discussing some variation of this question in the past, one as recent as last month. However, in all the posts I read, I noticed that the two cents of any of the developers was conspicuously absent. I guess I'm just hoping that repeated mentioning of it will get one of them to chime in, or better yet, cause them to grant some clarification to mounted combat in general in a future publication.
I guess the basic question is: Can a character's mount also make an attack on a foe while the character is making a Ride-By Attack?
From previous threads, I seemed to find people fairly evenly spread between the following four general answers:
1) Yes. Both the character and his/her mount are making a charge action, thus both get an attack as part of it.
2) Yes, IF the mount also has Spring Attack. (Or Fly-By Attack in the proper cases.)
3) Yes, IF the mount also has Spring Attack. HOWEVER, since a Spring Attack cannot be a part of a charge (a ruling that I personally find to be up for debate), the mount and/or rider must also acquire a home-brew feat in order to coordinate the Spring and the Ride-By Attacks.
4) No. A Spring Attack is NEVER a charge. You lose. Go home. Stop trying to be "creative" with the rules. By the way, you're a cheese-monkey.
Sorry. Was I a little too snarky with that last one?
After discussing it with my group, the consensus seemed to be #3, with both my character and his mount needing to spend an extra feat over and above the Spring/Ride-By. Which I'm totally cool with. It'd just be nice if a more official rule were to eventually get handed down from on high, one way or another.
*Nudge*
You probably won't get an answer . There has been dev response to some of those topics and the response has been that mounted combat rules will be cleared up in the APG.
Ah, thanks. I guess that's what I wanted to know, actually.
Anything cleared up on this subject?
Bumping this, also curious.
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Spring attack and charge cannot be used together.
Spring attack:As a full-round action, you can move up to your speed and make a single melee attack without provoking any attacks of opportunity from the target of your attack. You can move both before and after the attack, but you must move at least 10 feet before the attack and the total distance that you move cannot be greater than your speed. You cannot use this ability to attack a foe that is adjacent to you at the start of your turn.
Normal: You cannot move before and after an attack.
Charge:Charging is a special full-round action that allows you to move up to twice your speed and attack during the action. Charging, however, carries tight restrictions on how you can move.
Spring Attack and Charge are both special full-round actions, and thus cannot be used together.
However, you and your mount each have a full set of actions, so if both you and your mount had Spring Attack and you make the DC 5 Ride check to guide it with your knees, you could attack together as long as the attack occurred when your mount had completed half it's movement.
When you attack a creature smaller than your mount that is on foot, you get the +1 bonus on melee attacks for being on higher ground. 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. Even at your mount's full speed, you don't take any penalty on melee attacks while mounted.
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. When charging on horseback, you deal double damage with a lance (see Charge).
You can use ranged weapons while your mount is taking a double move, but at a –4 penalty on the attack roll. You can use ranged weapons while your mount is running (quadruple speed) at a –8 penalty. In either case, you make the attack roll when your mount has completed half its movement. You can make a full attack with a ranged weapon while your mount is moving. Likewise, you can take move actions normally.