I'm a new player and my Gm is also relatively new to the game so there are a decent amount of things we have a question on.
I'm looking to have a Cavalier class with a Pegasus mount. Because this is a new character I have to begin at level 1 so I would choose a horse to start with. I know I can get a Pegasus with the GM's permission (he said that's fine) and with the Leadership feat (I'll be getting it when I can). What I'm not sure of is what the minimum level I need to be to get a Pegasus is (leadership comes at 7 so would that be it?) and what level the Pegasus will be (under leadership it says Cohort level: 6th, so I'm not sure if that means the Pegasus is level 6 or that's just related to the leadership level).
Also, when/if this happens, can I change my mount from my horse to the Pegasus or is there something against this (I'm not a Beast Rider so I'm able to have a flying mount) and if I can change my mount is there a penalty associated with this or am I allowed to keep multiple mounts at once but only use one in a given dungeon?
Since the Pegasus would become my new mount is it affected by the same level up chart that a normal mount is affected by (Druid animal companion table) and if so, what do the bonuses get added to (basically, what are the level 1 traits of a mountable Pegasus) I found a bestiary page of a dungeon monster one so I'm not sure if I'm using those stats (since I'm using leadership and moral alignment of Chaotic good to get it) or is there a special list of stats for a mountable one?
Finally, the Druid page states that (for example) a horse gets a +4 AC through Natural Armor. Is that for the Horse itself (meaning the horse has it's own AC (which at level 1 would 14 without barding) and can be attacked and killed separately from my character) or that that AC bonus applies to my character's total AC (meaning the horse and my character share an Armor check)?
Thanks in advance and sorry if this is too much and/or the wrong page to post this.
I'm surprised no one has weighed in on this yet. I will weigh in although I am far from a rules expert.
Yes, Mike, you treat the animal companion and Cavalier as separate creatures. An enemy may attack either your character or your mount.
You will want to create a separate character sheet for your mount and track his/her HP and abilities separately.
So, you will start with a horse and improve them for every level leading up to level 8. You can get leadership at level 7, but your cohort must be two levels lower than you, so you wouldn't be able to pick a pegasus (level 6) until you are eighth level. Then they would gain XP and level up with you.
I would suggest that you Role-play finding the pegasus and finding a new home for your previous loyal steed. The rules suggest that you need to take 1 week to obtain a new mount. You can only have one mount.
The rules for "charging" in PF are really bad. I suggest that your standard approach for a combat round is as follows -- use your mounts move action to move up to an opponent, attack the opponent with your standard action (lance-reach weapon), use your mounts move action to ride away, use a move action for your character. I suggest getting the trait "accelerated drinker" that allows you to drink a potion as a move action.
It would be a move action to take out a potion, so you would only be drinking a potion once every other round. If you approach combat this way you will feel like your character is mobile. However, since you are not standing in front of your opponents you are not taking attacks away from your allies.
Once you get a Pegasus then your chance of being able to charge (actually it will be the mount that charges -- which is a problem) increases, so you can add that tactic. I suggest that you and your group house-rule charging a bit.
"A monster cohort gains experience points as if it were a character of its cohort level, and when it gains enough XP to advance a level, it should generally gain a key class level (fighter is often the best choice for most cohorts). You can use the monsters on the following table as guidelines when determining effective cohort levels for monsters not on this list."
So when you get to 9th level, you add level 1 fighter to the standard stat block of your pegasus. Your pegasus will get an extra feat every three levels, and a stat point every four levels.
On top of this they get all the benefits of their class. With a very healthy stat block:
Str 18, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 13
You could make the pegasus almost any character class you want. I would stay away from Wizard. :) You could even go with monk to increase their speed -- flurry of blows and all that.
Good luck with this hobby! I hope you have a great game. Start by imagining what you want to do and go from there. My gaming groups have become life-long friends -- so remember that working together is more important than the rules.
with regards to the level of the mount i would use the monsters as pc rules rather than the leadership table. the previous version of the game had sometging called level adjustment which that table uses as it is tve same table as 3.5.
basically use the pegasus cr as its base level and follow the monsters as pc rules.
Thank you both very much for the help, this answers a lot of questions that we had.
Pay careful attention to the Fly skill. Flying works a lot different than most people think it does.
Please explain, besides the Pegasus I'll be getting we have a character who has fly naturally (I believe a strix) so if there's something to know we would appreciate any help.
Also, does a mount suffer an Armor check penalty when barded with something heavier than leather? I can't find anything regarding this and I'm not sure.
Basically with the fly rules, You have to keep moving or Make checks to stay up and yeah, Armor check penalties affect Flight, also your current weight does.
Really i suggest reading the Skill :)
How this works depends on the deal you have with your gm re: cavalier mount and cohort. By RAW, they are two different things. You get a mount as described in the Cavalier class. You could have a mount at level one as per the Cavalier class and a cohort at Lvl 7 when you qualify for it (Lvl 8 before you qualify for Pegasus). If you have something different worked out with your gm, then that's whatever it is. By RAW, they are two separate things, and trying to combine the roles is problematic. For a fair compromise, try talking to your gm about switching to a Pegasus when you are of an appropriate level. Maybe your trusty mount sprouts wings when you hit Level 8. Leave Leadership out of it unless you want two mounts, which is not so terrible either.
thebigragu-I'm already allowed to switch (GM said it's alright as long as I quality with leadership, level and successful checks), so now what I'm not getting is the diference between a mountable cohort and a mount (the description here http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/leadership---final actually says I can "garner the aid of a pegasus as a mount")
Mojorat-I meant with any regular action that it does, I guess it's an obvious question which is why it was never addressed but I figured I would ask. I know flying is affected (under barding it says medium and heavy armor prevents a mount with flight from flying).
Doomed Hero-How does flying work different? I've read through the fly skill description and unless I'm reading the wrong thing (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/skills/fly.html#_fly) it seems to be basically what we thought (albeit with more movement restrictions and angles and such but that's not too different)
Mike, the rules for Animal Companion advancement are on the Druid page. Cohorts from Leadership gain levels totally differently, and that is detailed on the Leadership page. I'm not clear on how you're "switching." If you use the cohort rules for your Pegasus, then you are adding that cohort, not replacing your animal companion. Volunteering to lose your animal companion when you take the Leadership feat does not help you at all, unless you plan to make it more powerful. Maybe your Pegasus comes already advanced along the animal companion track, and you keep advancing that way (essentially ignoring all the cohort mechanics)? By trying to house rule a combo, I think you will either shoot yourself in the foot by losing a good animal companion, or your gm will screw up and give you an overpowered mount. Just my two coppers.
There is another option if you do a search of the blogs there is one with a hippogriff mount it could be retooled.
Mike Grate wrote: Also, does a mount suffer an Armor check penalty when barded with something heavier than leather? I can't find anything regarding this and I'm not sure. Standard armor check penalties apply no matter who's wearing armor.
Encumbrance is something you have to worry about as well. Armor for a horse/pegasus mount weighs a lot more than armor for a human. Also add into that the weight of the rider AND the rider's gear that's being carried.
Taking the Beastrider archetype will probably serve you best. Switch to Pegasus at level 7 or 8, and don't bother taking Leadership. That's the most direct solution.
"A beast rider cannot choose a mount that is not capable of bearing his weight, that has fewer than four legs, or that has a fly speed (although the GM may allow mounts with a swim speed in certain environments)."
How do you get around the flying prohibition?
So I think I'm starting to get this but correct me if I'm wrong on something:
A Pegasus (cohort) is different from a horse (animal companion). They both level up via different charts/curves (AC-I'm guessing a normal xp gain since there doesn't seem to be anything saying otherwise, Cohort-divide cohorts level by mine and multiply by the xp I gain, the result is the amount of xp the cohort gains). Also a cohort must be 2 levels or lower than me. However, I can still use them both as a mount assuming I work everything around their specific needs (exotic saddle and new, light barding for the Pegasus).
Here's where I'm back to confused:
"...as well as the creature's effective cohort level for the purpose of determining a character's requisite Leadership score and character level in order to enlist the aid of the creature."
This is a direct quote from the Leadership page (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/leadership---final). I might be reading this wrong (I'm sure I'd like a definite correction) but where is says "effective cohort level for the purpose of determining a character's requisite Leadership score" that tells me that the creatures listed (including the Pegasus) require the leadership feat and, specific character level and leadership score but are not considered Cohorts due to their specific nature (high intelligence, moral alignment etc.) and would therefore be leveled up with the standard system. Maybe I'm looking so deep into this at this point that I missed completely but a definite ruling would help.
Here I mentioned this earlier but this will simplify things.
Look up a ranger archetype called sable company marine. Look at its hippogriff mount erase hippogriff and write in pegasus. Then change the attacks to the same as a horse.
All problems and questions are solved. Adress the difference between a cohort and a mount later.
Good advice, Mojorat. Probably the best option unless he has his heart set on cavalier.
There is also the Empyreal Knight paladin archetype, although the mount grows wings pretty late at 12th level.
I'll look into those but for now I'm still looking at Cavalier.
I think my intent was misses. I was implying he talk to his dm and just scoop the stats for his pegasus. Since its stronger than a normal ac you can just give up something or invent a feat called "my cavalier can have a pegasus at 4th level" you don't have to call it that :p.
That is a workable option, I'll see what can be done.
I'm going to Skype with my GM to hammer this out completely, thanks for the help everyone.
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