So the party is coming up on an encounter with a 10th lvl CE Wizard. The Wizard has the Ride feat. The mount is a Nightmare, they've been a team for several years.
I'm planning on having him riding the Nightmare (it looks cool and free concealment) and while I'm fine with using the normal mounted combat rules, the Nightmare itself has a 12 Int and 18 Wis. This makes me think it should be able to act on it's own within parameters set up by the 2 in prior engagements. This frees up the Wizard's actions at the cost of precise movement. This would be suboptimal for a mounted melee combatant build, but for a Wizard who cares only for being in range of spells, not a huge deal.
AoO would still be provoked by the mount moving, in so much as that the mount's movement would be the triggering action and the AoO could be taken against the mount or the rider.
Really just wondering if anyone has seen comment on this situation yet. RAW rules seem to imply that when ever you turn a creature into a mount they immediately lose all individual thought and initiative and you might as well reduce their mental stats to 2.
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Not sure why it matters in this case. Monsters and NPCs don't operate by the same rules as PCs anyways. Just go with whatever makes for a cool, balanced encounter that you think they'll enjoy.
It doesn't, really.
I mean, keeping things consistent and there's always the chance that a player comes up with a way to get an intelligent mount, and I won't have a good way to put the kabosh on it. That kinda matters, but otherwise it really doesn't. I can hide behind GM fiat all day every day if I choose, although that may lead to a lack of players.
PF2 operates on the premise that the PC is the primary actor on the stage. As a consequence, any "pets" are restricted by the minion rules.
A mount is different, in the sense that it is serving as a moving platform for the PC, basically giving him greater mobility but without taking any actions of its own.
If you want the mount to have its own actions, then it should follow the minion rules, costing its owner an action to direct it and granting only two actions for the minion.
If you take away the minion restrictions, you're basically giving the player two characters to play. If that works for you, fine, but that's not the basic premise of PF2.
So thanks to Wheeldrake I just read the passage on minions again.
"Sapient minions act as they please"
...which basically falls in line with my original post. Thank you.
(On a side note I am counting the Nightmare and the Wizard as two entities for XP, not that the Nightmare is worth a whole lot by itself at this point.)
It doesn't, really.
I mean, keeping things consistent and there's always the chance that a player comes up with a way to get an intelligent mount, and I won't have a good way to put the kabosh on it. That kinda matters, but otherwise it really doesn't. I can hide behind GM fiat all day every day if I choose, although that may lead to a lack of players.
If it is an intelligent mount, that makes it an NPC, which means you control it. You can put the kabosh on it in a variety of ways in character. Alternatively, consider that it doesn't have to gain XP and level up, which means at a certain point riding it becomes a liability. For example, if you are flying around on a nightmare, when someone targets it and kills it you're gonna fall.
Druid mounts and all that silliness.
Mounts (flying and otherwise)have always had the liability of not directly leveling up, it's part of the rider's job to protect the mount or replace it.
Druid mounts and all that silliness.
Mounts (flying and otherwise)have always had the liability of not directly leveling up, it's part of the rider's job to protect the mount or replace it.
Right, but if the mounts too weak to contribute to combat, the PC is at best gaining some mobility, and even then only if the mount acts in an optimal manner. As an example, a mount intelligent enough not to be a minion is also probably smart enough to avoid getting into dangerous situations in the first place, which means they won't be much use for a melee type at least.