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Kangaroo! Not that it is especially helpful, just hilarious. Always worth it, in my opinion.
You could put the Horseshoes of Speed on your pony.
You could wear the Boots of Striding and Leaping to increase your own base speed to that of most other players/races.
Put a harness on the back of one of the larger players, and they wear you like one of those backpacks for carrying babies... seen that in a meme, with a Halfling. I had a Kobold that would climb up on the Dwarf. It probably wasn't very legit, but it was fun and flavorful. The Drawf even had extra large pauldrons added to his full plate to give me a little wiggle room whilst up there... actually, his miniature just happened to have these huge pauldrons, so he just incorporated it into the game to fluff our little strategy. It didn't actually change anything or give me any sort of bonus when I was up there.
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Skill Focus (any know)-> Eldritch Heritage (Arcane)
Choose a flying familiar and give it the Mauler archetype. You probably want to replace its starting feat with Hefty Brute for carrying capacity.
That name change would be too funny. Absolutely splendid, thank you for that.
I'm pretty sure just about anyone can buy a battle-trained Bison to ride. They are a little meatier than your average horse, and can wear barding... even if they cannot wear armor, you can always sew it to their flesh (if you're into that sort of thing). Same speed as a pony, though... so a wee bit slower than a horse, but that's why we give it the Horseshoes of Speed!
Hitch a light chariot to your barbarian.
Jokes aside, you could probably ride behind the cavalier in his saddle. If your DM doesn't want to create rules for two people riding together, then a chariot would give you access to larger, faster mounts, and increase their speed once they've accelerated.
And of course, the wasp familiar feat works well enough for a mauler mount. There's also the option of racial heritage bat-kin + bat shape if you have 2 extra feats for some reason.
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A yak (uses bison stats) only cost 24 gp and has more hp and str than a warhorsehow much are the combat trained ones? {75GP?} Do PC's buy the domesticated ones as outlined in the monster's description? I believe domesticated -> docile quality.
Cheaper than a horse with more HD. Not so good saves or speed.
buy several, use the stampede ability the bison has
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Is this for mounts that PC can rent, or as animal companions?
This is what cavaliers and paladins can pick:
- Medium: Axe Beak, Camel, Elk, Giraffe, Horse, Giant Seahorse, Giant Tortoise, Yak, Zebra
- Small: Antelope, Boar (requires 4th level), Capybara, Dog (requires 4th level), Eohippus, Kangaroo, Lizard (Giant Gecko), Pony, Ram, Reindeer, Stag, Giant Weasel, Wolf, Wolfdog
Yes... you can ride a giraffe or a tortoise. Also, yaks can easily be used for other bovines, even if they're different from cattles and aurochs.
Oddly enough, the wolf is the only animal available for Small riders which can grow Large. If a Medium rider wants one, it will have to wait until 7th level.
there are several ways to go
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In game you have magical options. I prefer Phantom Steed:C3 but there's Wicker Horse:C2
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I looked at Wicker Horse, and it says "A horse made of tree branches is continually affected by barkskin, as cast by a magic-user with a caster level equal to yours."
That sure brings back memories . . . haven't heard Wizards called that for a LONG time . . . .
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This probably isn’t the answer you’re looking for, but if the players in question aren’t able to invest in Nature Soul and Animal Ally, consider borrowing a page from history: proper knights (and cavalrymen at least as far back as the Hellenistic era) went on campaign with multiple horses and had squires to tend to them as well as their equipment (plus one or more auxiliary fighting men to back them up).
Past a certain level, I imagine it’s affordable for most player characters to hire an entourage that can, among other things, bring a spare horse to their master as needed. The trope adventuring party starts looking more like a small mercenary company (or band of brigands), and the GM needs to think about whether or not to tailor encounters accordingly, but there are options out there.
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To put it in perspective, it would cost 324 gp to buy and outfit a heavy, combat trained horse (minus barding, as it doesn’t come with armor proficiency). It would cost another 5cp a day for feed. An adequately trained guard or groom would cost you 3 sp per day.
So, for about 1,684 gp (give or take a copper), your character could buy and maintain a trio of mounts and a like number of hirelings to look after them (plus wash your clothes, guard your possessions, pull watch for the night, help you take your armor on and off, etc.), and three light horses of their own to keep pace. Round it up to 1,800-1,900 gp, and you can give your hirelings some weapons worth a damn.
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If you just want backup horses, it could be easier and safer to buy a bag of backup horses with Carry Companion cast on them at 60gp a casting.
But the OP isn't just looking for an overland mount. They specifically asked about scaling HP b/c this person is looking to use their mount in and around combat. A horse is "ok for now" per the OP, but in the future this creature will essentially be a moving target for villains.
Mark, I get that. I was simply offering a mundane workaround the non-scaling HP problem with mundane horses: to have more than one available. It's definitely not optimal, and I think what you propose is excellent, but I offered it as the simplest solution when magic isn't affordable or available.
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^It's also a good stopgap for somebody who intends to get Animal Ally and Boon Companion eventually but who needs something before that is possible. It works in terms of flavor as well -- if you manage to keep your temporary warhorse in good condition up to the point at which you get Animal Ally, eventually you bond with it and it becomes your Animal Companion.
But the OP isn't just looking for an overland mount. They specifically asked about scaling HP b/c this person is looking to use their mount in and around combat. A horse is "ok for now" per the OP, but in the future this creature will essentially be a moving target for villains.Mark, I get that. I was simply offering a mundane workaround the non-scaling HP problem with mundane horses: to have more than one available. It's definitely not optimal, and I think what you propose is excellent, but I offered it as the simplest solution when magic isn't affordable or available.
There are also ways to keep your companion out of danger, like the Carry Companion spell.
The only house rule I would allow for companions without breaking much of the game is how item slots work. Some creatures have LESS slots, when in reality, they are substituted. Magic items can buff a companion to regular levels.
I mean... how many of you have "forgotten" that a mount's barding can be enhanced like a suit of armor :P ?
The only house rule I would allow for companions without breaking much of the game is how item slots work. Some creatures have LESS slots, when in reality, they are substituted. Magic items can buff a companion to regular levels.
I mean... how many of you have "forgotten" that a mount's barding can be enhanced like a suit of armor :P ?
Adjusting the slots for the slot deprived is fair, but I don't think anybody's forgotten that animals can wear magic items and have those items upgraded just like a regular character.
I just think that with some storytellers being more... driven... by the wealth by level concept, it makes outfitting your companions and/or familiars a difficult proposition. In theory, any gold you don't spend on you lessens your survivability even though it makes complete roleplay sense to spend some gold on a pet or buddy that's always with you.
I don't know that I'd add/subtract more than one magic item slot for animals. I would not alter what abilities go in what slot as there are price adjustments for that. The amount of that adjustment could be tweaked. The alternative is to make it slotless as an ioun stone and then imbed the stone in the creature.
Several animals are missing the [feet] slot, when they could get something similar, like anklets and greaves.
hmmm, it's a mix but of course some people take it too far putting too much of their WBL into their mount. Usually an attack on a mount is an attack that isn't made against the PC. That can be worth it in and of itself at low or high levels. In example an attack against your 326GP outfitted heavy war horse with mage armor is the cheapest defense other than a spell like displacement or blink. The fact that many character's of level 1-3 have less HPs than the same horse.
If you're casting those spells on your companion or familiar, you're not casting them on yourself, unless it's from a wand. It's a little different from catsing them on your allies, because those don't stack with what they have.
I don't know that I'd add/subtract more than one magic item slot for animals. I would not alter what abilities go in what slot as there are price adjustments for that. The amount of that adjustment could be tweaked. The alternative is to make it slotless as an ioun stone and then imbed the stone in the creature.
I mean... that's fair for the most part, but some animals really get short shrift like the serpentine(3), plant(2), and vermin creatures(2) in that list you linked. Piscine(3) also jump out but that's only an issue in games with a strong aquatic theme. Otherwise it's a non-issue. Then again, making something a bad option just because you don't expect it to be used often seems like bad design to me.
It could just be me overthinking it, though.
hmmm, it's a mix but of course some people take it too far putting too much of their WBL into their mount. Usually an attack on a mount is an attack that isn't made against the PC. That can be worth it in and of itself at low or high levels. In example an attack against your 326GP outfitted heavy war horse with mage armor is the cheapest defense other than a spell like displacement or blink. The fact that many character's of level 1-3 have less HPs than the same horse.
That's also a good point, but is it a bit of a corner case? Or is it just good tactics? Possibly both? Cavaliers beefing up their mounts make sense, as do druids and hunters and to a lesser extent rangers. And those are class features that can (but not always depending on the build) make a big difference in what they do.
Then again, if you're making the point that a character with handle animal and grabbing a mount with trample dominates at low levels, you're not wrong, but that too can be countered with things like terrain to break up movement and/or visibility... so I'm just rambling at this point.
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I don't know that I'd add/subtract more than one magic item slot for animals. I would not alter what abilities go in what slot as there are price adjustments for that. The amount of that adjustment could be tweaked. The alternative is to make it slotless as an ioun stone and then imbed the stone in the creature.Several animals are missing the [feet] slot, when they could get something similar, like anklets and greaves.
My last group, the GM ruled that my boar companion could wear rings like anklets. He could still only have 2 of them. That was very helpful for me as I could give him a Ring of Sustenance and Deflection.
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The game establishes how many magic items are feasible can be worn by a biped, and in what number. Absent a FAQ that establishes why, e.g., a snake companion should get less items than, e.g., a gorilla companion, the only cap to animal companions and magic items are concerned should be the creativity of the player and GM and the numerical cap imposed on player characters. A snake companion, for example, may only feasibly be able to accommodate a couple different types of items, but there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it being lined by thin bracelets—so long as they number fifteen or less, only two of them replicate ring powers, only one of them replicates boot powers, and so on.