Are you looking for suggestions based on optimization, thematic appropriateness, or something else?
Also, Are there any good ways to increase the mounts carrying capacity? Other then enhancing their strength by leveling them up..
If your mount has hooves, the Horseshoes of Great Burden are an option; if your mount can utilize a shoulder slot, there's no reason that Muleback Cords can't be used.
Oh, and I just found the Burdenless armor quality if you can craft barding for your mount.
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If you're playing in an Eberron-like setting, a smaller dinosaur mount would be a possibility. The iconic option of a velociraptor requires 7th lvl.
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if you have the option for a Golden Retriever mount, why would anyone ever choose anything else!?!
Him best good boi mount!
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If you think that you're going to get to do a lot of charging, a ram might be a good choice. Visually, a halfling peaking out from behind two curved ram horns looks really fun. The GM might also let you get away with using magic items that use hooves, also.
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^that's a good one too! Also great for um, well...anything disposal!
A dog is actually a better mount than a pony. Their starting stats are better and they gain more when they hit 4th level. So from a survivability point the dog is the better choice.
Since you are going for a Halfling take the childlike feat and pretend to be a human boy. From a roleplaying stand point doing the whole a boy and his dog kind of fun. As a Halfling cavalier you are probably going to have a decent CHA so take keeper of the veil to get disguise as class skill and bonus to both bluff and disguise.
There is also the Halfling specific order of the Paw that requires a wolf o dog as a mount.
Giant Chicken (medium creature.) Use Axe Beak stats.
YMMV with DM allowance. Rule of Cool absolutely allow.
This won't come up in most campaigns, but if your GM is a stickler for tracking feed for your mount, a wolf or dog requires meat, which is more expensive than basic animal feed.
EDIT: Scratch all that. Paizo put out a splatbook at some point that introduced specialized feed for different mount types that costs the same as the animal feed found in the PHB.
If you'd like a couple off-the-beaten-path choices, you might consider one of these.
1. Kangaroo: You get 50' movement and, unlike the wolf, will stay Medium throughout your pet's career. And you're riding a kangaroo, which is its own brand of fun.
2. Capybara: While slower, you get a swim speed. Also, you're riding a giant beaver, or dire prairie dog, or whatever you want to call it.
Well, it works with Kangaskhan in Pokemon... and the typical human there is slightly larger than a halfling. So yeah, that could work :D
Also, Are there any good ways to increase the mounts carrying capacity? Other then enhancing their strength by leveling them up..
Hefty Brute should solve that problem. Your companion is treated as a size larger for the purpose of CMB/CMD, carrying capacity, and special attacks. So if your companion is medium or bigger it doubles its carrying capacity.
Another mounted option you can consider is a Daring Champion with a Mauler familiar through Eldritch Heritage. Shimmerwing Dragonfly (with Hefty Brute) would give you 60 ft Fly speed, no need for Handle Animal, and Daring Champion means twice your level to damage.
Wolves may need to be fed meat. Dogs on the other don’t need a strictly meat diet. Have you ever looked at the ingredients of dog food? Most of it has very little meat in it. My dogs eat just about anything including carrots, cucumbers and apples. They also love rice and vets often recommend feeding them rice when they are having digestive problems.
The biggest advantage to a dog as a mount is that you are going to have less problems taking it places. And I am not just talking about it physically being able to fit in places. People are not as worried about dogs as other animals. You are going to have less problems taking a dog into a city that you are a lizard or giant chicken.
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Merellin, how many combats in your games have taken place indoors in a specifically dog-friendly establishment where the presence of said dog made the difference between victory and defeat for the party?
Wanting to know for a friend...
Think maybe too much decision-making weight is being given to that .05% chance in any given campaign.
And for my own suggestion - the Giant Chicken... yea, it's odd. But the iconics, NPC's and PC's all have what we might think of as odd and unique things, it what sets them apart for story-purposes.
...how many combats in your games have taken place indoors in a specifically dog-friendly establishment where the presence of said dog made the difference between victory and defeat for the party?
In our last game? Zero for sure. In the one before that? Maybe every other for the first half of the game, so 25% on average. The game before that? All of them, easily.
It really depends on the game. Pathfinder has so much *stuff* available that any game that would include even half of it would tend to be of the more fantastical, over-the-top variety. In world of bird-man cowboys and fox-lady pirates, I doubt a wolf in town would be that odd.
But if the GM is going for a more specific, more subtle or muted tone, where the crazy-epic-magic-fantasy-awesomeness is less in your face all the time, then it could be an issue.
Still, I would generally agree. Whether or not your mount is socially acceptable is, almost always, a fairly small matter.
...the Giant Chicken... yea, it's odd. But the iconics, NPC's and PC's all have what we might think of as odd and unique things, it what sets them apart for story-purposes.
I mean. To a point. If your character stands out because they ride a big rooster...and that's it, I'd call that a gimmick. They might stand out, but there are much more deeply satisfying ways to tell a story about a character.
But again, it really depends on the game. A halfling knight on a giant rooster could actually be a really awesome concept.
No one really bats an eye about potential mammoth riders, in fact, specific builds and rules for that. Dino riders... Giant lizard riders... Large cat riders... Spider riders... Would a giant chicken be any more unusual?
I'm really starting to sound like a dog that won't give up it's bone, so this'll be the end of my input - honestly, I am not trying to single-handedly champion the inclusion of giant chickens as a commonality across all Golorian... lol
https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Chocobo
However, I assure you Chicken Boo jokes would be made...
...Would a giant chicken be any more unusual?
Oh, most certainly not. Dinosaurs, mammoths, and all that definitely fall into a similar category. Granted, maybe a little more seemingly joke-y, but not necessarily.
I ran a desert-y halfling paladin with a giant scorpion mount back in the day. Definitely an entertaining--if not wholly practical--element.
https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Chocobo
However, I assure you Chicken Boo jokes would be made...
I literally went there in my campaign, reflavoring Axe Beaks as Chocobos. They're the preferred cavalry mounts in a certain elven nation.
I know I said why would you pick anything else but a Golden Retriever, but now I change that to Kangaroo, and yes you would ABSOLUTELY ride in it's pouch, lancing and bouncing your way to victory!
I must say that the Kangaroo is the coolest choice that has been mentioned thusfar. How silly and fun. Don't even need a saddle.
Dragonfly is probably the most optimal, though. Or a Giant Wasp, or anything else that flies.
Kangaroo, or anything that flies, opens up fun stuff like Branch Pounce/Death from Above... which seems like it would do well with Cavalier charge shenanigans.
Merellin, how many combats in your games have taken place indoors in a specifically dog-friendly establishment where the presence of said dog made the difference between victory and defeat for the party?
Wanting to know for a friend...
Think maybe too much decision-making weight is being given to that .05% chance in any given campaign.
And for my own suggestion - the Giant Chicken... yea, it's odd. But the iconics, NPC's and PC's all have what we might think of as odd and unique things, it what sets them apart for story-purposes.
I mean, It might not be nececarily the one single thing that stands between victory or death, But if the party is in a tavern and relaxing some and get suddenly attacked, Having the dog sleeping under the table help out in the fight might be useful. Though I doubt any taverns would allow you to bring a pony or giant chicken!
...snip...
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chicken+boo&&view=detail&m id=D07A39E8B4F5ACC67F98D07A39E8B4F5ACC67F98&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2F videos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dchicken%2Bboo%26FORM%3DHDRSC3
All this talk of a halfling riding a goat, and nobody even gives an off-hand mention of Peewit? Such a smurf! Even if he is a disbarred bard rather than a knight.
However, I assure you Chicken Boo jokes would be made...
Chicken Boo? As in the Animaniacs' version of Sir Bearington? What a fun idea to sneak a mount indoors!
@mardaddy Oh my.. Giant chicken mount sounds awesome! Axe Beaks do look like a good choise, Even if they grow to large size at level 4..
With an animal companion, you always have an option for a different upgrade (a boost to Str & Con, IIRC?) instead of increasing size. So you don't need to make your Axe Beak ever grow larger than Medium.
BTW, axe beaks are not normally allowed as cavalier mounts without a special feat or archetype, or GM permission. (I have one in PFS thanks to a scenario-related boon, and am enjoying it a great deal. Somehow it's less weird when it's a tengu riding it...or maybe it's just that they're equally weird?)
Any time you use the word 'smurf' in your post, it changes your profile picture for that post.
Any time you use the word 'smurf' in your post, it changes your profile picture for that post.
Heh, neat ^^ I kind of suspected it'd be something like that, so thanks for the explanation!
Any time you use the word 'smurf' in your post, it changes your profile picture for that post.
No smurfin way?
Smurf!
Edit: That's amazing