Well I am curious if its possible to make a character who does really well/reasonably as well off a horse as he is on? If a character is somewhat build to optimize the Lance when on horse back, but then must go inside and cannot use his horse (Unless are we dealing with Small creatures and Medium mounts)
We had a fellow player once who rolled up the Cavalier (Before a lot of the good Archetypes game out and we only had the core book) and he felt useless.. Sure on horseback he was pretty good mowing down baddies but when we had to go inside the crypt or manor house or something he always seemed to be forced to slip to the back because he could not deal as much damage or seem to do much without his horse and charging.
Is there a way to get a build off the ground that can do both well?
would it be possible with a gestalt campaign easier then single class progression? How early could it come online?
Maybe pickup Combat Reflexes and Power Attack and 2-handed fight with a lance when not on horseback?
Using your feats to specialize in one circumstance may make you sub-optimal in other circumstances. For example, a sorcerer with Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus evocation might have really effective fireballs, but less effective stinking clouds or suggestions.
We played Kingmaker from 1st to 8th with a Cavalier/Fighter, and he was very effective out in the fields and down in the dungeons. But that little bit of multi-classing might be the reason. I think he only spent 2 or 3 feats to horseback, and did a lot of Power Attacking and Cleaving, I think. Mostly with a greatsword.
EDIT:
Mounted Archery might work too. Most of the archery feats work on or off the back of a horse.
Well I mean like investing in Mounted Combat, Ride-by Attack, Spirited Charge those are some heavy investments in feats. Thats 3-5 levels of your character.
I know fighter Dragoon gives Mounted Combat and Skill focus (Ride) as bonus feats. Pick up Ride-by Attack at level 1 and you are seemingly off the races for level 3 Spirit Charge to make your Lancer do insane levels of charge damage. But if he gets off that horse.. well he just has his sword and possibly shield and best wish for good rolls.
Its too bad a Centaur cannot count as Mounted for Mounted Combat he would be the best blend as he must always be mounted. I know there is a third party build that can switch back and forth but seems oddly silly.
Focusing on PA makes some sense as it can be applied to any weapon. Power attack with the lance during charges, and with your longsword or greatsword off it. Off horse you deal less damage sure but something extra.
I was curious if a Cavalier would work, but honestly while they have good options for mounted I am not seeing much outside of their mounted options.
Wayang and Monkey Goblin don't have penalties to Strength, you can freely pick those to ride a medium sized mount (boar at level 7th) and never have to dismount.
Monkey Goblins have a penalty to CHA, but that's not that big of a problem considering you can pick an Order that doesn't require CHA for its effects. Order of the Dragon comes to mind. Order of the Shield works too.
Halfling is otherwise nice, if you don't mind the STR penalty.
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The str penalty is nothing of note with Risky striker feat for halflings and Arcane Strike for any race with a SLA making up the difference.
Click my Avatar if you want to see a Halfling build that never dismounts. I went with ranger for the skills and casting myself. I ride a giant gecko for the SPider CLimb ability. Most animal companions can not climb so well as mounts. this gecko is good to go.
You can also make use of the high DEX for TWF and go Roughrider Fighter. You need the Animal Ally featline though.
I thought about the small race idea, but something about it doesnt seem to fit the idea well. though I would so totally play a character that could be insanely awesome.
Of course Beastrider Cavalier can ride a freaken Tiger at level 4 as a medium creature.
Ok just because I mentioned it before... would there be a way to make a Centaur medium sized?
Order of the Sword I believe gives you all the mounted combat feats for free as part of your order ability advancement. That oughta free up your feats for other things.
EDIT: I was wrong, it only grants an extra feat at 8th level, but the list covers all the mounted combat feats. Still, one free feat is better than nothing.
Small races have a ton of benefits over Medium characters if you know what you're doing.
For example, if I made a Monk, since they have terrible AC and attack, I'm more prone to pick a Small race for the size +1 to both.
Same applies to Cavaliering and stuff. If you wanna Theorycraft, be my guest, don't drop an option from a "haunch".
Also, several Cavaliers are meant to work mounted and unmounted. Off the top of my head, the Qabarat Outrider Lashunta archetype trades mounted focus for battlefield control, and the Honor Guard with Order of the Dragon works on and off the mount as THE bodyguard class in the game.
Order of the Sword I believe gives you all the mounted combat feats for free as part of your order ability advancement. That oughta free up your feats for other things.
It gives you SOME feats but not all.
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Maybe pickup Combat Reflexes and Power Attack and 2-handed fight with a lance when not on horseback?
Using your feats to specialize in one circumstance may make you sub-optimal in other circumstances. For example, a sorcerer with Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus evocation might have really effective fireballs, but less effective stinking clouds or suggestions.
We played Kingmaker from 1st to 8th with a Cavalier/Fighter, and he was very effective out in the fields and down in the dungeons. But that little bit of multi-classing might be the reason. I think he only spent 2 or 3 feats to horseback, and did a lot of Power Attacking and Cleaving, I think. Mostly with a greatsword.
EDIT:
Mounted Archery might work too. Most of the archery feats work on or off the back of a horse.
A well built reach build not only makes you effective off your mount, but it can make you even more effective on your mount.
Besides the obligatory power attack and combat reflexes, I am also going to give two suggestions: The lunge feat and the fortuitous weapon property.
Fortuitous is a new thing, but its use is fairly easy to grasp. Once per round when you hit with an AoO, it lets you get in a second AoO at BAB-5. That is basically a full attack (or at least the important part of one later on). That makes anything that tries to get past you in a world of pain, and turns you into a 25' wide obstacle that enemies try to avoid (and waste time trying to circle around). And surprisingly, this property is only a +1!
The lunge feat is less obvious, but still highly important. It does not increase your threatened area for AoO (since it ends when your turn ends), but it lets you position things so that you can easily get off AoOs.
Normally, when you use a reach weapon and you attack an enemy, the enemy ends up 10' away. That means the enemy only needs to take a 5' step to reach you, which means no AoO and they get their full attack. This also means that if you attack first, there will most likely be no AoO.
With lunge, enemies end up 15' away. That means that msot will have to move 10' to reach you. That means an AoO and they most likely lose their full attack. So lunge gives you great offense and defense. So no matter what, you are most likely going to get an AoO against anything that you engage. And as we have already established, your AoO is really frightening.
Another advantage provided by the lunge feat is that you can full attack anything in a 45' circle. So that nets you a decent amount of full attacks.
And fortunately, all of this applies whether you are mounted or not. Yes, your damage will not be as great as when you are mounted, but that is because you get an equal boost to both positions. Compared to everyone else, you will be doing fine.
Where is Fortuitous from?
Just a thought but a mounted archer would still be an archer on foot. It's going to take all of two extra feats for going mounted (mounted combat and mounted archery).
Also: Mounted archery only really comes in if your mount makes a double move or more so even without that you aren't in bad shape if your mount sticks to single moves.
Where is Fortuitous from?
A ton of nice things were made available for martials with that book, no?
Where is Fortuitous from?A ton of nice things were made available for martials with that book, no?
Thanks! :-)