| 6 people marked this as FAQ candidate. 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Under the rules I have found three different answers for this and I wondered if anyone has an "official" answer.
In the bestiary entry for Ponies, it says that:
A light load for a pony is up to 100 pounds, a medium load is 101–200 pounds, and a heavy load is 201–300 pounds. A pony can drag 1,500 pounds.
Note that a Pony's listed Strength is 13.
In the carrying capacity rules in the "Additional Rules" section of the Core Rulebook, it shows that for a humanoid creature the carrying capacity for a 13 Strength is 50 lbs./51–100 lbs./101–150 lbs. But since it also says below that:
Quadrupeds can carry heavier loads than bipeds can. Multiply the values corresponding to the creature's Strength score from Table: Carrying Capacity by the appropriate modifier, as follows: ... Medium ×1-1/2...
So if we multiply the STR 13 values by 1.5 the result is a light load for a pony is up to 75 pounds, a medium load is 76-150 pounds, and a heavy load is 151-225 pounds.
But wait...
A little further on in the chapter is the overland movement section.
In "Table: Mounts and Vehicles" we see an entry for Ponies. It only shows two movement rates, one for normal movement, and one for reduced movement (which will reflect a medium or heavy load). In that entry is shows the range for a medium and heavy load to be 151-450 lbs., meaning that light would be 150 lbs or less.
So which is right?
A: Bestiary rules (100 lbs, 101-200 lbs, 201-300 lbs.)
B: Carrying Capacity rules (75 lbs, 76-150 lbs, 151-225 lbs.)
C: Overland Movement rules (150 lbs, 151-300 lbs, 301-450 lbs.)
Historically, real Earth Ponies can carry an adult human and still run, though it is unlikely the same pony could carry armor and still do so. So I am inclined to go for the last value, but I am not sure.
Well spotted I hadn't linked all those together before. I would play it as B: except that removes their usefulness for dwarves in one fell swoop.
The Overland rules would seem to be far out as it is 3x same as for a Large size quadruped.
A: Bestiary and change the rule to Medium quadruped is x2 not x1-1/2 seems most in keeping with intended use.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Friendship.
I would say it depends wether they are light, normal, or heavy horses based ponies. We probably have different prices for them all over the place too.
Anyway, the issue here is the bestiary entry, a STR 13 pony would never carry a dwarf with all his gear, that would weight at least 200 lbs, which would put them already under heavy load.
If we want those numbers to match, they need STR 15. That would give them (light - 66 lbs. or less) (medium - 67–133 lbs.) (heavy - 134–200 lbs).
Light 99 (could round up to 100)
Medium 199,5 (round up to 200)
Heavy 300 (exactly what the bestiary says)
Drag 1500 (5 times heavy load, again, exactly what is listed)
A light load for a pony is up to 100 pounds, a medium load is 101–200 pounds, and a heavy load is 201–300 pounds. A pony can drag 1,500 pounds.
You will notice that the light horse (listed in the bestiary) also doesnt have enough strength to match the overland movement table. Light horses need at least 19 STR (light load 174, medium load 349,5 and heavy load 525), which would nearly match what is listed.
Light horse (175–525 lbs.)1
Following the same logic, Heavy horses need 21 STR to carry exactly 690 lbs as heavy load.
Or maybe those load limits are based on adding saddlebags on top of their STR to increase their carry limit.
The light horse has 16 str in the bestiary, while a heavy horse has 20.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm afraid that there is a much larger problem that has been missed:
Everyone knows that Dwarves ride Ponies rather than Horses, right? I mean that is pretty common across all fantasy trope.
Dwarves are Medium.
Ponies are Medium.
Without special feats it is an inappropriately sized mount for a Dwarf and just plain not possible.
Fear not! I have a solution:
Ponies are basically dwarf Horses, right? Like, literally, they are dwarf horses. It makes sense that they would have the Slow and Steady racial feature that Dwarves have. If you give them that it makes the table make sense. Also, even though they are not an appropriately sized mount for a Dwarf that wouldn't stop a Pony from being able to bear the weight of a Dwarf with it's Slow and Steady feature. It would probably put it under a medium or heavy load but such things do not matter to those with Slow and Steady.
So my solution is: Ponies all have Slow and Steady. Because they are Dwarf Horses.
Under the rules I have found three different answers for this and I wondered if anyone has an "official" answer.
...
So which is right?
A: Bestiary rules (100 lbs, 101-200 lbs, 201-300 lbs.)
B: Carrying Capacity rules (75 lbs, 76-150 lbs, 151-225 lbs.)
C: Overland Movement rules (150 lbs, 151-300 lbs, 301-450 lbs.)
(A) overrides (B) because specific overrides general.
(C) is an odd duck. But it may take into account the effects of masterwork saddle and saddle bags.
/cevah
A Pony's carrying capacity is 7.75 gallons, usually beer, or about 66 lbs.
It would make sense for there to be a separate modifier or an exception for creatures that are bred to be beasts of burden, which would make sense. A pony is medium and has STR 13, but a real-life pony can carry more than a lion can, even though a lion is STR 21 and Large. They use their strength in different ways.
Actually, STR 13 really doesn't make sense for a pony. A "realistic" stat block would put that figure much higher.
A pony is just a small horse. But small is a relative term; they tend to be short-coupled and have shorter legs, but are not half the length and height of a typical horse, as is implied in the size rules for the game. Officially a horse of 14.2 hands high or less is a pony; if it is 14.3 hands it is a horse. There are many breeds which taxonomists disagree whether they are horses or ponies. If they are to be considered medium creatures then they must be understood to be at the upper limit of possible size for a medium creature. The problem is solved if we apply the modifier for a large creature instead.
I've been doing some research and have found that ponies are typically considered to be sturdier and heartier than horses, which explains why they were kept despite their small size. They are also stronger proportionally (i.e. relative to their body weight) than horses, and a pony can be expected to be able to pull a load equal to about 4.5 times its weight.
The ponies of the Pony Express would carry a load of 165 lbs. (75 kg). Not all the mounts used by the Pony Express were ponies, though many were, and they were more common on the mountainous portions of the route. And they had to be able to run.
The United States Pony Clubs inc. is an organization that promotes sports involving ponies. The mounted games require the rider to weigh-in before a game, and these are the limits:
12.2 hands high and under: 117 lbs
13.2 hands high and under: 150 lbs
14.2 hands high and under: 190 lbs
So clearly a limit of 150 lbs is fairly reasonable. Some ponies ought in fact be able to carry more, but these are mentioned in the description as "variant" ponies (like heavy horses).