Mount spell and its use in Pathfinder Society

[Kaapelikala]

Hello all,

As we all know, the Mount spell can be theorethically used for multiple different non-travel things, such as activating traps, flanking for the Rogue, blocking hallways, bribery, portable cover and whatnot.

My question is that what are the Pathfinder Society legal ways to use the Mount spell (and to an extent, Summon Monster line and Summon Nature's Ally line)?

[BigNorseWolf]

*headscratch*

Don't see what being in/out of society has to do with this one

[Ryzoken]

Every way you can think of as adjudicated by the GM.
There are no specific rules against corner uses of the Mount spell (or any similar spell, for that matter.)

[BretI]

The horse and pony both have the docile property. They are not trained for combat.

You would need a Handle Animal check in order to get them to stay in combat. You would need a ride check if you were riding it when you got into combat.

I would assume the mount has the Riding package of tricks.

Handle Animal Skill, CRB pg. 98 wrote:

Riding (DC 15): An animal trained to bear a rider knows the tricks come, heel, and stay.

Since the range on the Mount spell is close, you could summon it on the other side of what you believe to be a trap and have it Come to you with a DC 10 Handle Animal check. It would be a DC 20 Handle Animal Check to get it to go someplace that you are not at.

[Scrapper]

or just summon one to scare off a pack of goblins...

[Kaapelikala]

BigBadWolf wrote:

Don't see what being in/out of society has to do with this one

PFS is supposed to be played by the book and as such there shouldn't be any houserules for things (AFAIK).

BretI wrote:

Stuff about Handle animal

That's what I have been thinking as well and it would be how I would like to GM it. Still I am wondering. Can I use the summoned horse (or a dog or imp) as a trapfinder, doorstopper, arrowblocker, meatshield or other similar things without an alignment shift - especially if the deed is done for the safety of the party members? In a home game it is either "go ahead" or "never" - PFS it should be either or across the board.

[Ryzoken]

Kaapelikala wrote:

BigBadWolf wrote:

Don't see what being in/out of society has to do with this one

PFS is supposed to be played by the book and as such there shouldn't be any houserules for things (AFAIK).

I don't intend to be rude or demeaning with this question, but have you played a game of PFS?

While it's true that rules should be adjudicated by RAW where possible with the adjustments made by FAQ and campaign management, it is literally impossible to issue rulings on every corner case imaginable, and thus it is to the GM of any table to adjudicate grey areas of the rules and corner cases. This is what we call Table Variation, and is an unavoidable aspect of organized play.

So, your Mount spell will summon a non combat horse that you'll then need to ride/handle animal/other to get to do what you want it to do, based on the GM's call. As far as what happens after that, it's GM call.

Happy gaming!

[Nefreet]

I concur with everything that Ryzoken stated, as well as this:

In PFS you're still somewhat expected to roleplay your character and contribute to the feeling of a fantasy environment, including thinking and acting in-character. It's the best practice for respecting the play experience of everyone at the table (including the GM).

If you regularly resort to using tactics that would be construed as "cheesy" or "metagamey", and especially if those tactics do not change from character to character, you'll probably earn an undesirable reputation amongst your local PFS players.

Getting a wand of Mount and using it primarily to detect pits is the sort of practice expected of the Aspis Consortium, not the heroes trying to defeat them. And the last thing that the already underprivileged Rogue needs is to be replaced by a docile farm animal =P.

There's just a certain level of verisimilitude that should be strived for, even if the bar isn't set that high.