Here's a question that came up in our group recently: A Ranger has a small cat as an Animal Companion. In this case, it's a Lynx. For the sake of detail, the Lynx is approx. 4ft long, 28in at the shoulder and weighs roughly 60lbs.
Over long distance travel where horses are required, the companion obviously could not keep up for the entire day's ride. Horses can carry two riders plus gear, and hunters can ride horses back to camp with their kill slung over the back etc. so encumbrance is not an issue.
The group was uncertain as to the answer - and the question that came up was, can the lynx ride on the horse with the Ranger? Would there need to be any special considerations made, such as an exotic saddle, or modified ride checks? If it couldn't ride with the ranger, then what would be the best recommendation for transporting it?
I'm curious to see what the community thinks about this, being that our general consensus was that it's possible but no one's certain.
Thanks!
Small cats start out small don't they? I don't think its out of the question that a small creature, regardless of shape, could be put on the horse and kinda sorta ride it.
You'd need some sort of dedicated "saddle".
Teach it to ride as a "trick".
Although the bigger trick is going to be finding a horse that will allow a 4' fanged, clawed vicious predator to lounge around on its back for hours...
Small cats start out small don't they? I don't think its out of the question that a small creature, regardless of shape, could be put on the horse and kinda sorta ride it.
Yeah, the size is small. The size I gave however is the final, adult size of the Lynx. As a house rule we avoid the small/medium size jump when advancing HD according to the rules and go off of what the actual size should/would be. It'll stay small for its entire life, just become tougher and hardier as its HD goes up.
Not use the alternative rule for sizes? I'm not about that kind of fluff but it makes sense if you want to keep things simple.
I'm sure teaching a horse to let a cat lounge around on its back is easier than teaching them other things. Going through deep dark caves where dwarves dug too deep comes to mind.
Teach it to ride as a "trick".
Although the bigger trick is going to be finding a horse that will allow a 4' fanged, clawed vicious predator to lounge around on its back for hours...
Good point! Indeed, the horse is being trained to tolerate it. And the idea is between it being a mystical animal companion, and the ranger being able to train and handle animals, that he can pull that off. I had the same question, and chalked that part up to being the "fantasy" element.
I'm a country boy. Let me tell you horses don't like big cats. They don't like dark places either, but all you usually have to do to get past that is blindfold and lead them into them, once there they will generally follow their master.
But a big-ass predatory cat on its back? That's gonna be some handle animal check right there.
You'd need some sort of dedicated "saddle".
I was considering that. It would only make sense that it would need a space to accommodate its form.
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Nab a Cart.
Find it's stats here.
15gp is pretty cheap. No need for expensive saddles, or special tricks.
Nab a Cart.
Find it's stats here.
15gp is pretty cheap. No need for expensive saddles, or special tricks.
But thats... so simple! I wanted to figure out how to throw a cat on a horse! I guess the cart would make more sense though. Battle cart for all your supplies and loot?
Nab a Cart.
Find it's stats here.
15gp is pretty cheap. No need for expensive saddles, or special tricks.
Well, The idea was to avoid a cart. The party had one for a while and it got old really fast. For one thing, it slowed the party down while on the move, and it limited where they could go. There's a great deal of heavy woodlands and mountainous terrain in the region, so it got abandoned and parked for long periods of time, or else it took a lot longer to get to places. Besides, the players wanted the Ranger to be as swift and as mobile as possible.
Want it more battle friendly? Nab a Chariot.
I'll suggest that, but it might be debatable whether or not it's faster and more maneuverable over terrain and through woodlands than a cart.