Mounted Combat & Double Movement


Rules Questions

Liberty's Edge

3 people marked this as FAQ candidate.

My Gnome Cavalier uses a wolf. The Cavalier wants the wolf to make a double move & then the Cavalier attacks (Not a straight line for charge.) Can this be done?

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 4

No, you cannot attack after your mount makes a double move. You can attack if they charge though, you also get the attack bonus and AC penalty. If your mount moves more than 5 feet you can only take a single attack as you have to wait for your mount to reach the target. You can only make an attack during a double move or run if it is with a ranged weapon, since you are essentially attacking while your mount is in motion. These are at a penalty as well.

D20SRD [Mounted Combat]

Liberty's Edge

THOMAS HAMLETT wrote:
My Gnome Cavalier uses a wolf. The Cavalier wants the wolf to make a double move & then the Cavalier attacks (Not a straight line for charge.) Can this be done?

Wolf double moves and cannot attack. The rider can take a single melee attack after the movement; he cannot take a full attack if the mount moves more than 5'. He can full attack with ranged combat (not melee), during the wolf's movement.

Edit: The Rules of the Game articles takes a different position. This position is that you cannot melee attack after mount moves more than single move unless your mount charged. To attack along with mount double move under this view, you would need to make ranged attack or attacks. Making ranged attacks from mount carries penalties if mount is moving more than single move.

Liberty's Edge

Scipion del Ferro wrote:

No, you cannot attack after your mount makes a double move. You can attack if they charge though, you also get the attack bonus and AC penalty. If your mount moves more than 5 feet you can only take a single attack as you have to wait for your mount to reach the target. You can only make an attack during a double move or run if it is with a ranged weapon, since you are essentially attacking while your mount is in motion. These are at a penalty as well.

D20SRD [Mounted Combat]

So, if the Gnome on the wolf, is double moving with a lance the Gnome could make an attack? With penalties?

Liberty's Edge

Howie23 wrote:
THOMAS HAMLETT wrote:
My Gnome Cavalier uses a wolf. The Cavalier wants the wolf to make a double move & then the Cavalier attacks (Not a straight line for charge.) Can this be done?

Wolf double moves and cannot attack. The rider can take a single melee attack after the movement; he cannot take a full attack if the mount moves more than 5'. He can full attack with ranged combat (not melee), during the wolf's movement.

Can you point me to the relevant book & pages? I have searched & not found it (sure I've looked straight at it)

Liberty's Edge

THOMAS HAMLETT wrote:
Howie23 wrote:
THOMAS HAMLETT wrote:
My Gnome Cavalier uses a wolf. The Cavalier wants the wolf to make a double move & then the Cavalier attacks (Not a straight line for charge.) Can this be done?

Wolf double moves and cannot attack. The rider can take a single melee attack after the movement; he cannot take a full attack if the mount moves more than 5'. He can full attack with ranged combat (not melee), during the wolf's movement.

Can you point me to the relevant book & pages? I have searched & not found it (sure I've looked straight at it)

See my edit. otherwise the rules on mounted combat are in the combat chapter under mounted combat. away from books.

Dark Archive

THOMAS HAMLETT wrote:
Can you point me to the relevant book & pages? I have searched & not found it (sure I've looked straight at it)

Core Rulebook, pg 202.

Edit:
Relevant sections :
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.

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.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 4

See, I read it that if you only have enough time for one attack after a normal movement of your mount, then how could you have time for even that after a double move? It tells us specifically what the penalties are for making ranged attacks, so I draw the assumption that they are the only way to attack during a double move or run on a mount. I think the rules are a tad vague in this area and need just one more sentence to clear it all up.

Liberty's Edge

Scipion del Ferro wrote:
See, I read it that if you only have enough time for one attack after a normal movement of your mount, then how could you have time for even that after a double move? It tells us specifically what the penalties are for making ranged attacks, so I draw the assumption that they are the only way to attack during a double move or run on a mount. I think the rules are a tad vague in this area and need just one more sentence to clear it all up.

Yeah, I agree with you, which is why I went back and edited my first post. The mounted combat rules themselves aren't great, but using a general standard that concurrent actions between rider and mount can't exceed the normal allotment of moves goes a long way toward solving the whole thing.

Dark Archive

Scipion del Ferro wrote:
See, I read it that if you only have enough time for one attack after a normal movement of your mount, then how could you have time for even that after a double move? It tells us specifically what the penalties are for making ranged attacks, so I draw the assumption that they are the only way to attack during a double move or run on a mount. I think the rules are a tad vague in this area and need just one more sentence to clear it all up.

I'm pretty sure it means if the mount moves more than 5 feet, you can attack once. It's not really a matter of time, if the mount moved, you can only attack at the end of the movement, thus you can only attack once. It is irrelevant how much the mount moves, only that it moves more than a five foot step. I guess it's confusing how I put it, but those two sections are NOT back to back in the rulebook. I took the first relevant section, and then the second relevant section. There is other stuff in between.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 4

I know. I came to my conclusion based on the SRD and the book. Not what you posted.

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