Mounts for level 5-10 characters


Advice


So I was just wondering if there is any info people could give on a good advancement for mounts for medium sized characters around this level. My group’s heavy war horses just get killed in every encounter. Thanks for the info.

Sovereign Court

Cain314 wrote:
So I was just wondering if there is any info people could give on a good advancement for mounts for medium sized characters around this level. My group’s heavy war horses just get killed in every encounter. Thanks for the info.

You could take a level in Druid and then with the "Boon Companion" feat out of the Seeker of Secrets book have a level 5 animal companion to ride as a mount. Among the benefits is that you could give it a 3 Int which means no more handle animal skills, it could be customized with a variety of different feats, and if it dies you can just call another one, or pick a different creature to see how it works out.

If you didn't want to go that route then I'd try and find a large animal that your GM would allow you to capture and train that would have a decent enough CR, say 7-8, to be able to hold up well in combat at those levels.

A few that fit:

Dire Bear
Woolly Rhino
Dire Tiger

If you think a huge animal would work then:

Elephant
Mastodon
Triceratops

If you could somehow score a magical beast then:

Gorgon
Dragonne
Lammasu

Griffons are kind of a staple mount, but the don't have a lot of hit points so you could end up plunging to your death if you're flying around on it.


Anyone else have any success in this department.
Barred heavy wartrained horses are getting one shot


Wand of mount cheaper in the long run.no food no shelter or care.

Sovereign Court

Cain314 wrote:
So I was just wondering if there is any info people could give on a good advancement for mounts for medium sized characters around this level. My group’s heavy war horses just get killed in every encounter. Thanks for the info.

Just curious, how exactly are they all dying every encounter?

That's probably more important to us for making a good suggestion(s) then what level your at. :)


Morgen wrote:
Cain314 wrote:
So I was just wondering if there is any info people could give on a good advancement for mounts for medium sized characters around this level. My group’s heavy war horses just get killed in every encounter. Thanks for the info.

Just curious, how exactly are they all dying every encounter?

That's probably more important to us for making a good suggestion(s) then what level your at. :)

Apl 6

Heavy war horse with studded leather barding has 19 hp and 18 ac.

Many cr 6 - 9 creatures hit that ac without problem and easily deal 19 dmg in one round.


We have similar problems with area of effect spells. Every Fireball dropped on the party is the death of ten horses.

I second Wand of Mount, even CL1 is 2 hours and you would probably never go beyond a CL4 wand (8hrs).


Wow, my post got eaten! I wasn't really sure I should believe people who said that until just now, but apparently what I posted yesterday is gone, gone, gone. Anyway . . .

.

The Leadership feat is a great solution. At level 8 you can get a pegasus or giant eagle, and at level 10 you can get a unicorn or griffon. There are even more choices for small characters.

  • Mounts make great cohorts because they don't speak, coordinate their combat actions with their rider's, don't need as much equipment, and generally take less time away from the PCs than more PC-like cohorts would.

  • Since your cohort levels up, it should never be so weak that it's just snuffed by a single area effect spell. It won't be as powerful as a PC, but it won't be far behind either.

  • When your cohort levels up, take levels of fighter (possibly barbarian or ranger) and you'll keep the mount's HP high. Don't forget that the first class level taken grants max HP.

  • Most group buff spells effect 1 target/level, so an 8th level caster can boost all of the mounts along with the party.

  • Since the mount is sticking around, you can boost it with magic items:
    Mithral Chain Shirt Barding +1 only costs about 3000, and adds +5 AC, no movement penalty, no armor check penalty, +6 max dex bonus.
    Cloak of Resistance +1/+2 only costs 1000/4000

I tried to talk my last group into everyone taking Leadership at 7th level and attracting a Pegasus at 8th, but it didn't work out with some of the character concepts people had in mind. I'd love to coordinate a group like that one day!


Blueluck wrote:
I'd love to coordinate a group like that one day!

...and I'd love a GM who allowed it :p


Having a cohort mount is a great idea. I remember reading the rules for that somewhere but can't find it at the moment. Do you have a link?


Grant Evans wrote:
Having a cohort mount is a great idea. I remember reading the rules for that somewhere but can't find it at the moment. Do you have a link?

Rules are in the core rulebook under leadership feat and more info in beastairy.

This is from what I can tell the only viable option for a class that doesn't come with a mount. It just sucks that you need to eat up a feat, and then probably another for mounted combat.

Scarab Sages

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/rules-for-monsters/monster-cohorts
For levels for mounts for leadership feat.


Use the below chart for animal advancement. Allow evasion when the mount has medium armor and light load. When an animal dies, allow replacement of animals at 500gp per level. For advancement, use the same XP chart as the rider, and grant the same XP as the rider.

The below table is basically 15 levels of a druid's animal companion stretched over 20 levels. Rangers have a slight disadvantage at early levels if they are wanting to ride their animal companion, however as the stats for the companion go up faster, and mundane mounts don't get the level adjustment, the disadvantage for the mounted companion doesn't last very long.

Animals adjusted in this way should be able to survive combat handily without turning their riders into juggernauts and don't invalidate the special mounts and animal companions already in the rules.

              HD    BAB     FORT   REF   WIL  SKILLS  FEAT  NA   STR/DEX  T RICKS  SPEC
1st          2      +1       +1      +1     +0      2          1     +0       +0               1      —
2nd         3      +1       +2      +2     +0      3          2     +0        +0               1      —
3rd          4      +2       +2      +2     +1      3          2     +0        +0               2      —
4th          4      +2       +2      +2     +1      4          2     +2        +1               2      —
5th          5      +2       +3      +3     +1      4          3     +2        +1               2      —
6th          5      +2       +3      +3     +1      5          3     +2        +1               3      Ability score increase
7th          6      +3       +3      +3     +1      5          3     +4        +2               3     —
8th          6      +3       +4      +4     +2      6          3     +4        +2               3     —
9th          7      +3       +4      +4     +2      6          4     +4        +2               3     Evasion
10th        7      +3       +4      +4     +2      7          4     +6        +3               4     —
11th        8      +4       +5      +5     +2      7          4     +6        +3               4     —
12th        8      +4       +5      +5     +2      8          4     +6        +3               4     —
13th        9      +4       +5      +5     +3      8          5     +8        +4               4     Ability score increase
14th        9      +4       +6      +6     +3      9          5     +8        +4               5     —
15th        10    +5       +6      +6     +3      9          5     +8        +4               5    —
16th        10    +5       +6      +6     +3      10        5     +8        +4               5    —
17th        11    +5       +7      +7     +3      10        6     +10     + 4              5     —
18th        11    +5       +7      +7     +4      11        6     +10     + 5              5     —
19th        12    +6       +7      +7     +4      11        6     +10       +5             6     Improved evasion
20th        12    +6       +8      +8     +4      12        6     +10       +5             6     Ability score increase


The above table should also be applicable to non standard mounts like gryphons. Just start them out at a level that equals their CR and you should be good.


High level characters with regular warhorses kind of remind me of the Confederate general Nathan B. Forrest, who reportedly killed 31 yankees in hand-to-hand combat and had 30 horses shot from under him. He said he finished the war a horse ahead.


Cain314 wrote:

So I was just wondering if there is any info people could give on a good advancement for mounts for medium sized characters around this level. My group’s heavy war horses just get killed in every encounter. Thanks for the info.

Leadership is good if you want a strong customizable mount, but if you just want a war horse with a longer life span then I had the idea of buying a horse and applying levels or warrior or animal, or some other no-frills NPC class, to it using rules for buying slaves. That seemed like a good way to get some levels onto a mount in such a way that you are just buying a animal more highly trained than usual. Lords of Madness charges (CR, minimum 1)squared, x 100 gp, and on page 291 of the Bestiary you can find a table for converting creature HD into CR.

Scarab Sages

Don't level the horses :P You'll have a party with a herd of attack horses. Players... are strange like that...

Instead, suggest they dismount their horses before combat. Seriously, levels 5+, attacking a horse that's being ridden is kind of pointless for the most part. The horse dies, the pc does what he was going to do anyways, and then the party just walks to their next destination.

Or better yet, stop buying horses if your dm keeps pointlessly killing them. Like anything else, relying on the same tactic time and time again isn't interesting for anyone.

Use the money you save on horses to get better gear so your caster can survive to get teleport.


Perhaps a bit pricy for this level but possible: An Obsidian Steed (it's one of the figurines of wondrous power)

You could reduce the price by taking away it's special powers. The good thing is, when the horses are killed they turn back into statues.


Magicdealer may be right about some players trying to buy a herd of attack horses, but if they are paying [(CR-1)squared, x 100 gp + 300 gp] per horse and are dealing with CR 9 encounters then they will have to pay a ton of gold per horse. So if they do send them up into battle as an attack force, the group will probably go from losing hundreds of gold per fight in horses to thousandths, and that should teach them to protect their mounts pretty fast. Non the less, Magicdealer and Karuth both make good points that as you get higher in level, magical transportation methods becomes more affordable and practical than mounts.

Liberty's Edge

You might find the Beast Masters article in Kobold Quarterly 18 interesting ... :)

Kobold Quarterly 18

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