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Min/Max Boards Dungeons & Dragons Discussion D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder Handbooks Mount Handbook

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Prime32
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Topic: Mount Handbook (Read 31317 times)

Mount Handbook
Topic Start: November 05, 2011,
03:10:45 PM

The Mount Handbook

Posts: 2893
Respect: +30

Introduction
Reasons to get a mount
Travel
With a mount you can get places faster. This is eventually outpaced by
teleportation, though teleporting mounts are available.

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Defence
A character can use all available actions to attack from horseback while the
mount moves him out of range of reprisal. This is generally the reserve of
archers and spellcasters, though melee combatants can do it too.
Attack
Being mounted can increase your damage output significantly, as well as get
you to the scene of action more quickly. Most such strategies are related to
charging, but isn't that how it always works? I know, a warhulking hurler can outpace an
ubercharger in damage, but you can use your mount as ammo or something.

Flavour
Face it, nothing says Rule of Cool like riding a dragon into battle.

Links
Rules of the Game - Mounts (1-2-3-4-5)
Archery Handbook (includes a section on mounted archery)
Druid Handbook (for advice on animal companions)
Ranger Handbook (likewise)
Paladin Handbook (for advice on special mounts)
Special Paladin Mount (at GitP)
The Familiars Handbook
Getting the most out of your familiar
The Handle Animal Guide (WotC version here)
Things to do with your move action while mounted
Speed Handbook (for making your mount faster)
Last Edit: January 18, 2012, 12:14:47 PM by Prime32

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Prime32
Over-Underling
Head Moderator

Re: Mount Handbook

Reply #1: November 05, 2011,
03:11:07 PM

Getting a mount
This list is by no means exhaustive; let me know if you've found a good
source.

Permanent
Posts: 2893

The best way to get a mount is to have one by virtue of a class feature or feat.

Respect: +30

Animal Companion (Druid): One of the most powerful options.

Everything about the druid class is hax, were you expecting any less
here? The downside is that you'll need to worry about Handle Animal to
control it, unless you combine it with a familiar or special mount (which
gives it an Int above 2).
Animal Companion (Ranger): Not as good, but still respectable. You
get an animal companion at 4th level, and use only half your ranger
level to calculate its abilities.
Animal Companion (Prestige Ranger): That's better. This PrC gives
you a druid-strength animal companion from lv1. Plus it counts as
ranger for most purposes.

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DrComp

Animal Companion (Urban druid

): Has an alternate list of
animal companions, including such things as warhorses, monstrous
vermin (though they become Int 1 animals), animated objects and
carrion crawlers(!)
CAdv

PrC): As druid, but add 3 to

Animal Companion (Beastmaster
your class level for determining abilities. Stacks with Druid levels for a
very powerful companion.
Dr353

Animal Companion (Shaman

cleric ACF): As ranger; you give
up Turn Undead + literacy.
Buy (gp): You can simply buy a mount with gold - the prices are listed
in the PHB. The warbeast template lets buy any creature to serve as a
mount but they're ridiculously underpriced, so make sure your DM
knows what you're doing.
Celestial Companion (Holy LiberatorCD PrC): Basically the
blackguard's fiendish servant, but celestial instead of fiendish, and its
progression also includes +20ft speed.
Cohort (Leadership feat): The Leadership feat gives you a second
character 2 levels lower than yourself. Yes please.
Cohort (Dragon Cohort feat): Who doesn't love dragons? And in
particular, who doesn't love a 3-point reduction in LA for their scaly
friend? If your mount is a dragon there's no reason not to pick this feat
over Leadership, unless you want an army of followers.
Dragon (Dragon Steed feat):
Familiar (Wizard/sorcerer): Familiars usually aren't powerful (or
large!) enough to make reliable mounts. They don't get many feats, and
their hp is half of the caster's d4 - that's just pitiful. Their ability to
share their master's buffs, however, means that they can take
advantage of most of the ways the caster has around his own fragility
problems - they can do pretty well if polymorphed into something,
blurred, etc.
Familiar (Attain Familiar feat): A duskblade has d10 Hit Dice, so his
familiar can actually have decent hit points. Most non-Core arcane
casters don't have the same number of buffs though. Note that the
familiar from this feat derives its abilities from your caster level rather
than your class level - normal familiars aren't advanced by levels in
PrCs.
Familiar (Improved Familiar feat): While this feat can make your
familiar large enough to serve as a mount on its own (most of your
options are in Complete Warrior, but imps and quasits have access to
Medium alternate forms), it can also be used to open up new types for
alter self and similar spells.
Dr341

Fiendish Animal Companion (Thrall of Baphomet

PrC): Like
the druid's animal companion, but it gains the fiendish template and
your effective druid level is twice your class level (it's a 10-level class).
Doesn't stack with druid levels, but PrCs that advance animal
companions should still be able to advance it.
Fiendish Servant (Blackguard PrC): The blackguard's slightly-weaker
equivalent to the paladin's special mount doesn't have much support,
but it's based on character level rather than class level. Sadly it takes 5
levels and some unusual prereqs to get there, so this doesn't count for
as much as it could. You may be able to convince your DM to let you
count it as a special mount for combinatory abilities, in which case it
gets much better. Going paladin is still easier in most cases though.
Griffin companion (Aglarondian GriffonriderUE PrC): As meaty as a
special mount, with double-speed progression but fewer special abilities.
Also it's ginormous.

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ECS

5N

Magebred
warhorse (Order of Rekkenmark affiliation): Good
at low levels, since you get it essentially for free if you write the order
into your backstory. The free 4th-level bodyguard at lv1 is kind of
cheesy though. Unlikely to get by many DMs.
Dung

Monstrous Companion (Beast Heart Adept

PrC): Pick a Magical
Beast from a short list, and it gains 12 levels worth of animal companion
advancement in 10 levels. It's not an actual animal companion, so
there's no way to advance it further, but the base creatures are stronger
than the standard options. You gain two other companions as you gain
levels, but at a penalty, so they're useful mainly for utility rather than
combat. Your enemies provoke an AoO from you the first time they're
struck by one of your companions per round, which is pretty good for a
mobile type who won't be in a position to make normal AoOs often.
Consider Martial Stance (island of blades) or some other "flexible
flanking" ability so you can use Monstrous Flank more easily.
Party Member (Friendship): If another PC is a horse, then good for
you. After all, real men ride each other. Can be very powerful if you get
the means to share buffs somehow.
Psicrystal (Psicrystal Affinity feat): Usually preferable to a familiar.
Psions and psychic warriors may not be as powerful as wizards, but the
psicrystal's feats, average BAB and hardness give it a big advantage
over the familiar, and share pain is a nice buff. The disadvantage is that
there are no larger psicrystal variants, so unless your character is very
small you will need the metamorphosis spell to convert it into a ridable
form.
Telthor Companion (DurthanUE PrC): Get any animal with HD up to
your class level (including advanced animals) and add the telthor
template from the same book (basically it becomes an Int 3 incorporeal
LM

fey with telepathy; incorporeality means it needs the Ghostly Grasp

feat or a ghost touch saddle if you're not incorporeal yourself). Fey HD
are pretty bad, but the touch attacks compensate for the poor BAB and
PGtF

you could take Otherworldly

to upgrade to Outsider. Be sure to make

WoL

use of bloodlines, Legacy Champion

etc. so that you can keep
advancing it past lv10, because there's no way to combine it with
anything else. Oh, and you get a second companion at higher levels.
Thrall (Thrallherd PrC): Thralls are like cohorts, but always loyal. A
thrall is also one level lower than you rather than two. And if you reach
lv10 in the PrC you get another one! The only downside is that you can't
combine thrallherd with Leadership. This may not apply to substitutes
like Dragon Cohort, but your DM is likely to breathe fire on you if you try
it. If you have a psionic build, try to fit a level of thrallherd in instead of
Leadership.
Wild Cohort (Wild Cohort feat): Functions more or less identically to
a druid animal companion but with no Link, Share Spells or free
Multiattack, while its HD, natural armor bonus and tricks known are 1
lower. Grants access to the Silverwood Arcanist PrC for spellcasters.

Summoned
If you're looking at using a summoned creature for a mount, duration is
important. If you're using your mount for travel rather than just for combat
then a duration of 1 round/level isn't that useful unless you can summon some
kind of robot horse with rockets for legs. Bear in mind that you will have to
spend actions to get on the mount. And watch out for dispel magic.
Class features

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Dr310

Celestial Minion (Sentinel

): This NG variant paladin gets to use
any Medium or smaller celestial animal as their special mount, but the
duration is halved. This opens up some extremely powerful options
(fleshraker anyone?), but isn't compatible with cohort mounts. Plus it's
no use as a mount unless you're Small or smaller. Ask your DM if you
can combine it with prestige paladin.
Dr310

Elemental Minion (Incarnate

): The True Neutral paladin (not to
be confused with the incarnum class of the same name) gets a Medium
elemental as the base creature for their special mount, with the same
halved duration as Celestial Minion. Less abusable than the Sentinel
ability, but much of the same advice applies.
Special mount (Paladin): It's a summon, but it lasts 2 hours per
paladin level and can be used 1/day, meaning that you can basically
keep it up all the time. Of note, according to the DMG you can designate
a cohort as your special mount for +2LA - the rules are unclear on
whether this creature must be summoned or sticks around.
Special mount (Prestige paladin): Requires two levels rather than
five, one of which advances a divine spellcasting class. You have to wait
a few levels to get in - as compensation, your mount's abilities are
calculated as if your class level were three higher.
Special mount (Ranger knightDR317): You know how prestige paladins
count as three levels higher? These guys count as five levels higher. Plus
since it's built for ranger entry, you have easy access to Devoted
Tracker (though it doesn't advance your animal companion in any way).
Oh, and the default mount for Small characters isn't a pony; it's a wolf.
That's style points right there.
Spells
Astral construct (Shaper 1):
Call nightmareBoVD (Demonologist 4, Sor/Wiz 5): An evil spell that
summons a nightmare for 1 week in exchange for a soul.
Gate (Clr 9, Sor/Wiz 9): High-level, cheesy, short duration and
requires concentration. Pass.
Mount (Siyal druid 1, Sor/Wiz 1): Summons a light horse or pony.
You can use this from lv1, and it lasts 2 hours/level. Eventually you can
summon enough of these for your entire party and keep them up
continuously. You can't summon warhorses with this spell, so this is
mainly for travel.
CD

Phantom stag (Druid 5): Basically a phantom steed that can also
fight, and can cast etherealness at high levels.
Phantom steed (Siyal druid 3, Sor/Wiz 3): Lasts half as long as
mount, but the "horse" it creates is super-fast, can go just about
anywhere, and looks cool as hell. It doesn't attack, but it doesn't panic
in combat either. Plus "animals shun it and refuse to attack it", which
might extend to its rider as well. Gets better with the Knight Phantom
PrC (Five Nations) which boosts the CL and gives you extra castings per
day. It normally takes 10 minutes to cast, but Knight Phantoms can cut
this down to a standard action.
Planar ally (Clr 4/6/8): Your ally can remain for a number of days,
though you need to pay gp and xp.
Planar binding (Sor/Wiz 4/6/8): Like planar ally, but cheaper and a
little more dangerous.
Summon monster
Summon nature's ally
Vestiges
Andras

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Transformed
If you don't have a creature you can ride, turn something else into one. Many
transformative spells have restrictions based on creature type, so that should
be the most important thing to bear in mind when choosing a base creature.
Many of the same caveats apply here as with summoned creatures - the
difference is that if the polymorph runs out you'll still have an ally of some
kind.
Some candidates (such as a druid cohort) are capable of transforming
themselves, while others require you to cast spells on them. The Share Spells
ability makes this significantly easier.
Wild shape
Alter self

I am the mount!
If you're getting a cohort/thrall/etc. it's definitely worth considering making
him the rider and yourself the mount. Alternatively, if your minion ends up
significantly more powerful than you (as with the Ubermount and Big Guy Is
With Me builds), it might be more enjoyable to play the minion as the main
character and the "master" as a tag-along.
On a related note, certain races like centaur count as being mounted at all
times due to their anatomy.
Last Edit: February 22, 2014, 04:58:28 PM by Prime32

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Prime32
Over-Underling
Head Moderator

Re: Mount Handbook

Reply #2: November 05, 2011,
03:11:46 PM

Posts: 2893
Respect: +30

Riders in general
One of the things to bear in mind when statting the rider is size. A Medium PC

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requires a creature of at least Large size to carry him around, but a halfling
can ride a mount which is the same size as his other party members. The
value of this cannot be understated - you can't guarantee that your mount will
fit through dungeon halls designed for Medium creatures. Oh, and in Eberron,
halflings ride dinosaurs. The dinos are Medium creatures, so other races can't
ride them. Keep that in mind.

Items
Custom item of master cavalierCC: For 18,000gp, get an untyped +20
bonus on Ride checks for your special mount or similar companion (or
+10 for other mounts). Less than half the price of a +20 competence
bonus item, and stacks with it.
Gloves of the Balanced HandMIC: This 8,000gp item grants TwoWeapon Fighting as a bonus feat, or Improved Two-Weapon Fighting if
you already have it. Two-Weapon Fighting is a prereq for the Ranger
Knight and Revenant Blade PrCs.
HumillianthirDrComp: Two suits of +3 leather armor (one of them
barding) which function as a set - if a paladin wears one and his special
mount wears the other, then he can greater teleport onto his mount
from up to 500ft away as a move action. The total cost is 3,000gp more
than two normal suits of +3 armor.
Quickspur's AllyWoL: A shield that gives you the ability to guide a
mount with your knees without a Ride check and spur a mount without
damaging it, as well a continuous shield other effect targeting your
mount. You also get blur, entropic shield, resist energy and stoneskin as
SLAs that you can share with your mount, and can summon a phantom
steed.
RoS

Rider's shield : This exotic shield's AC bonus also applies to your

mount. Use when you would normally use a heavy shield. You can take
the Exotic Shield Proficiency feat to use it, or trade in your existing
Tower Shield Proficiency.
BoED

Wand of call mount

: Lets you summon your paladin special mount
even if you've used up your 1/day summoning, though it takes 1 round
rather than a full-round action. Note that your mount heals to full health
whenever you dismiss it.
CD

Wand of golden barding : Basically mage armor for special mounts,

except that its AC bonus scales by level (to a maximum of +8 at caster
level 10th). Rather than a wand, you could get a continuous CL10 item
for 20,000gp, or a 2/day command word version for 7,200gp if you're
not worried about dispels. It's a bargain compared to the price of
bracers of armor +8, and cooler-looking too.

Races
Gnome: The gnome paladinDr329 ACF trades Knowledge (nobility and
royalty) for Perform (comedy)... and adds dire badgers to their choices
of special mounts.
OA

Human (Unicorn clan) : Ride is always a class skill for you, but your
favored class is Barbarian rather than being unrestricted like most
humans (if you're one of the two people who use favored class rules in
the first case).
Hound archon: A hound archon with access to a special mount can
choose to use a bronze dragon, which gains an additional +2 HD, +4
Str, +4 natural armor, +10ft speed and improved evasion (...despite
special mounts already having improved evasion). This does not
provide you with the dragon, so you'll have to find one yourself (such

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as via Dragon Cohort or a fellow party member) but it doesn't suffer the
normal +2 LA for cohort mounts. Also hound archons can turn into dire
wolves while bronze dragons can turn into Medium humanoids, which
means you can reverse the roles if you want. Hound archons themselves
suffer from their huge +5 LA; take a level in Ranger Knight and see if
you can convince your DM to treat their racial HD as levels in a divine
casting class for the Holy Mount feat. Or play a gestalt campaign maybe.
Lizardfolk: Lizardfolk paladins can select titan salamanders as special
mounts at no level penalty. Psionic lizardfolk have access to a version
with some psi-like abilities, but they need to be converted from the 3.0
rules; that said, stuff like vigor scales amazingly on an ubermount build
if it's tied to HD.
LupinDr325: An LA +0 Monstrous Humanoid that gains a +2 bonus on
Ride checks, and treats it as a class skill for all classes. Also if you're a
ranger you can choose Humanoid (shapechanger) as a favored enemy.
Salamander: A variant rule in Dragon #314 allows salamanders to add
the fire subtype to their familiars so that they can actually survive in
their normal environment; this isn't amazingly useful in itself, but ask
your DM about extending it to other creatures who live in the Elemental
Plane of Fire or similarly inhospitable locations (as well as to companions
other than familiars). It also clarifies that salamanders are capable of
riding mounts... somehow.

Base Classes
Dr338

Barbarian (Horselord
ACF): Replaces rage with "Battle Ecstasy",
which grants different bonuses and doesn't affect your concentration.
You also get a ranger animal companion, some skill bonuses, and
Improved Mounted Archery as a bonus feat. Take 6 levels in this class at
most, unless you get something awesome from another ACF later on.
Bard (Fey bardUA ACF): Trade bardic music and knowledge for druid
animal companion and some other minor abilities.
BloodlinesUA: Not technically a class, but close enough. Levels in a
bloodline advance every class-level-dependent ability you have at once,
including animal companions, familiars and special mounts; in some
cases (e.g. Celebrant of Sharess 10) this can even allow you to break
the cap and start using the epic advancement rules. Titan Bloodline lets
you wield a Gargantuan warhammer in one hand (which is probably just
poor wording, but cool enough that some DMs allow it anyway). Celestial
Bloodline grants Smite Evil, which lets you qualify for Devoted Tracker if
you gained a special mount from an unusual source. All major bloodlines
grant 2 fixed bonus feats, which are occasionally useful for prereqs.
Cleric (ElysiumSpC planar domain): Counts as both your domain
choices, and can only be selected if you're Neutral Good. Grants smite
evil as a paladin of your cleric level (including daily uses), helping you
qualify for Devoted Tracker.
Dr353

Cleric (Shaman
ACF): Trade turn undead for a ranger animal
companion. It's normally painful to give up access to Divine and
Devotion feats, but a mounted character won't get much benefit out of
Travel Devotion anyway.
UA

Cleric (Champion ACF): Trade turn undead for smite evil + aura of
courage. Useful mainly for meeting the prereqs of Devoted Tracker.
UA

Druid (Deadly Hunter ACF): Trade wild shape and armor/shield

proficiencies, in exchange for the monk's AC bonus and fast movement,
a ranger's favored enemies (and swift tracker at lv8), and Track as a
bonus feat. This is an excellent trade for mount-focused builds, since it

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lets you meet prerequisites for ranger PrCs and you probably weren't
taking enough druid levels to get wild shape anyway.
Dr347

Druid (Focused Animal

ACF): Lose trackless step, woodland
stride and wild shape(!). In exchange you get +2 to your effective level
for your companion's abilities. As above, not all mount builds take
enough levels in druid to feel the loss of wild shape, but otherwise ouch.
As a side bonus you can speak with animals at will, which is great for
roleplaying interactions with your mount.
Druid (Sidhe ScholarDr339 variant): Your animal companion gains +2
to Dex and Cha, and +1 hp/HD, but it refuses to enter any settlement
larger than a thorp.
Druid (Urban companion City ACF): Gain a slightly-improved familiar
in place of an animal companion; among other things its hp are 3/4 of
yours rather than half.
Monk (Holy monkDr310 variant): Trade your lv1/6 bonus feats for
Aura of Courage and Smite Evil, plus paladin Turn Undead at lv4.
Another way of meeting the prereqs for Devoted Tracker.
Monk (Shinto monkDr358 fighting style): At 6th level, gain an animal
companion as a druid of 1/3 your monk level. Given the bonus feats
provided by this style, consider on a Saint and/or Cha-based build.
Paladin (Berronar ValkyrieCoV RSL): A set of racial substitution levels
for female dwarves. The one at lv4 replaces Turn Undead with a
3+Cha/day form of Pounce, which also grants you and your mount the
Mobility feat while using it. You can only attack creatures that threaten
one of your allies though, and the attacks must be made with a single
weapon.
Paladin (Hunter of FiendsDr349 ACF): Trade Smite Evil for Favored
Enemy (evil outsider) and Track as a bonus feat; instead of Knowledge
(nobility and royalty) as a class skill you gain Knowledge (the planes)
and Survival. A big help for paladins who want to use ranger-based feats
and PrCs; the favored enemy bonus even scales by paladin level. See if
you can convince your DM to adapt it to "Hunter of Celestials" for a
paladin of slaughter, so that you can be a NE paladin/druid.
EtCR

Paladin (Lightbringer
ACF): Trade your first weekly use of remove
disease for a continuous death ward effect on your mount. If you have 6
levels of paladin this is always worth it.
CoV

Ranger (Fangshields
RSL): +2 to your effective druid level for
determining your animal companion's abilities (making your companion
equivalent to a druid's at the level you get it). Cannot be selected by
PGtF

members of the Humanoid type (the Otherworldly

handy here).

feat comes in

UA

Ranger (Planar ranger ACF): Your animal companion gains the

celestial or fiendish template for free.
City

Ranger (Urban companion

ACF): See the druid version of the ACF
above; your effective druid level is still halved for determining your
familiar's abilities, but you get more benefit from the hp thing than a
druid does.
Scout (Light cavalryDr346 ACF): Gain a paladin special mount at 5th
level, except that it can't share spells or command creatures. Your fast
movement and free movement class features apply to your mount
instead of you; you don't get camouflage or hide in plain sight, but both
of you gain trackless step. If you're using this ACF, pick up smite evil
somehow (a paladin dip is the easiest way but there are others); that
way you can qualify for both Swift Hunter and Devoted Tracker.

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DR351

Sorcerer (Blood of Eberron

ACF): Replace familiar with ranger
animal companion, Natural Spell feat works for any kind of
shapeshifting.
MoI

Totemist : Grants access to the Riding Bracers soulmeld, which

provides Ride and Handle Animal bonuses. At lv2 they can bind it to
their Totem chakra, granting the Evasion and Link abilities to any animal
or Int 1-2 magical beast that they ride.
UA

Wizard (Animal companion ACF): Gain a ranger animal companion

in place of a familiar. Sorcerers can select this option too, but Blood of
Eberron provides more benefits.
Wizard (Enchanter variant: CohortUA): Trade your familiar for a
cohort, as the Leadership feat (does not stack with the Leadership feat).
Note that these specialist wizard variants are banned by many DMs.
Wizard (lv5 "High One Warrior-Wizard" substitution level):
Combine your familiar with your special mount, as long as you have at
least 2 levels of paladin. Interestingly, if you traded your familiar away
for another ability then you gain one for the purposes of this effect, so
you might as well take the animal companion ACF above then combine
all three with Devoted Tracker.

Prestige Classes
CAdv

Animal Lord
: 10 levels of full animal companion compression and
full BAB. Okay, but not particularly exciting. There's a 3.0 version in
Masters of the Wild that gets limited spellcasting, but it's not usable
without some rewriting.
UE

Aglarondian Griffonrider : Get a griffin companion with its own

progression OR select a griffin as your special mount and advance it.
Note that granting your mount Evasion doesn't do anything in the latter
case, since it already has Improved Evasion. You can also use Mounted
Combat multiple times per round. The capstone works like Spirited
Charge, but stacks with it. Sadly incompatible with special cohort
mounts.
Celebrant of SharessPGtF: An exalted PrC which can be entered at lv5
rather than lv6. Grants a cat familiar as a wizard/sorcerer of double your
class level (doesn't stack with wizard/sorcerer levels, but should stack
with PrCs which advance familiars explicitly), as well as some random
stuff like rage, pounce, quasi-bardic-music and limited spellcasting. It's
not much by itself (the chassis is pretty bad), but it has potential in
combos.
DragonriderDrac: A 5-level class that grants Improved Maneuverability
and Flyby Attack to a dragon you ride. It doesn't offer any advancement
though, so it's mainly for cohorts.
Dragon RiderDLCS: Upgrades your Leadership feat to Dragon Cohort
(without losing your followers), and grants the dragon extra abilities
based on your class level (similar to a double-speed special mount, but
stacks with it). Also the dragon's Frightful Presence enlarges as if it were
one age category older, and it adds half your class level to its save DC that's a huge bonus. Finally, the two of you get immunity to flanking.
The +10 BAB prereq is stiff though.
UA

Faith Scion : If you're using the rules for legendary weapons, this
class will advance a ton of abilities at once. Oh, and you also get a
hammer.
CW

Halfling Outrider
special mounts.

: Dual advancement for animal companions and

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Dr315

Harmonium Peacekeeper
: A 5-level class that grants a paladin
special mount at +4 effective level, stacking with existing mounts. When
you un-summon your mount you and your companions can return to its
home plane with it, and then plane shift to other places from there. The
prereqs are pretty easy to meet, as long as you're lawful.
FC2

Hellbreaker : Not explicitly mount-focused, but at lv4 it gets the

Stowaway ability, allowing you to share in any teleportation effect used
within 30ft. Useful if you have a teleporting mount, such as a blink dog.
UA

Human Paragon : Lv1 lets you add one skill as a class skill to all
classes. Picking up Ride or Handle Animal like this can be very useful for
some builds.
Knight of the Blue MoonCoS:W: A class intended for paladin/sorcerers.
Provides 5/5 spellcasting advancement and a special mount that stacks
with paladin levels. If you don't have a familiar then your
wizard/sorcerer levels also stack for determining its abilities. Could
make a good combo with High One Warrior-Wizard.
Knight of the Iron GlacierFrost: Advances your special mount and
replaces it with a "war megaloceros", a megaloceros (CR4 Animal with
Improved Grab, Scent and a mini-dungeoncrasher ability) with the
warbeast template already applied. This is basically a 1-level dip class.
Knight of the Flying HuntCoV: You get a pegasus... and it never
improves from its base stats. Your other class features are two bonus
feats from a short list, -2/-4 reductions to your Armor Check Penalties,
and "someone buys you magic armor" (it's not great armor either). I
could see maybe a 1-level dip in this class before heading into Windrider
levels, but that's it.
Moonsea SkysentinelCoV: Grants you a 9 HD dire hawk as a mount
(Large and with maximum hp), which gains an additional +1 HD/+2
natural armor/+2 Strength for every three class levels you possess
beyond 1st. You can use shield and immediate-action 1-round spell
turning, which affect both you and the hawk, and both of you gain
scaling bonuses to saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities.
Dr317

Ranger Knight
: Grants an interesting collection of abilities, most
notably a special mount at +5 effective level, favored enemies, and
upgrading Trample to a full attack (devastating for dragon mounts). You
can also treat medium armor as light armor for the purposes of all
armor-restricted abilities while mounted. While there's four prereq feats,
it's pretty easy to gain them through ranger levels and magic items
(such as battle bridle and gloves of the balanced hand).
CC

Sanctified One (Ehlonna) : Must be an NG worshipper of Ehlonna.

1/day as a swift action you can summon a griffin or unicorn that's
immune to fear and grants you a +5 bonus on Ride checks. It gains +2
HD and AC per class level (and the AC bonus is sacred, not natural,
meaning it applies to touch attacks) - a very fast progression,
particularly if you can extend it through bloodlines or Legacy Champion.
However, the summon only lasts 1 hour, so it's not much use for travel.
Silverwood OutriderWeb: Grants benefits for Wild Cohorts, animal
companions or special mounts. However, since it does not actually
advance their abilities, there is little reason to use this for an animal
companion. With a special mount it makes even less sense, since special
mounts are intelligent and don't need to be handled or learn tricks. A
one-level dip makes Ride a class skill for all classes, which even applies
retroactively - don't take any more levels than this unless you have a
Wild Cohort.
Vadalis BeastkeeperDragonmarked: Get the magebred template for your
animal companion or special mount, some mounted combat bonus feats,

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and limited spellcasting (including polymorph and a version of heal

mount which also works on animal companions). What's more, you can
enter this PrC at lv5 rather than lv6 like most PrCs. A good choice for
use with the Holy Mount feat in Ubermount builds.
Wild Plains Outrider: Advances either animal companion or special
mount. Also has an exception for the paladin's multiclassing clause, if
your DM enforces it.
MotW

Windrider
: Grants bonuses to your "chosen mount" similar to a
double-speed special mount. If you're a paladin, then you instead
designate the chosen mount as your special mount and add your
windrider levels to your paladin levels for determining its abilities
(...maybe, it's not very clear). Stacks with every other type of
companion, and can even be applied to fellow PCs. Also your mount
gets something similar to Divine Grace, using your Cha bonus. Finally,
since it has limited spellcasting it can be used with the Holy Mount feat.

Feats
PGtE

Aereni Focus
: 1st-level-only version of Skill Focus for elves, which
also makes that skill a class skill for all classes (and counts as Skill
Focus for prereqs). Useful if your classes don't normally have access to
skills like Ride or Handle Animal.
SoX

Blessed of Vulkoor : A 1st-level-only feat for drow which gives extra

SLAs, and lets them use Small to Huge monstrous scorpions as animal
companions depending on level.
Dr357

Bonded
: When you attack in the same round as a creature you
have trained with the Handle Animal skill, you both gain a +1 bonus on
attack and damage rolls. When making ranged attacks, said creature
also doesn't cause you to take a penalty for firing into melee.
Double TeamDr357: Once per round you may make an attack of
opportunity against a creature your bonded companion struck
with an attack.
Protective TalonsDr357: Once per round, if you would be struck
by a ranged attack while your bonded companion is within 5ft,
you may substitute its attack roll +1 for your Armor Class against
the attack.
SereenDr357: At the start of each round your bonded companion
can take a -2 penalty to attacks and AC in exchange for granting
you concealment against one opponent.
Celestial MountBoED: Special mount gains celestial template. For an
ubermount with huge numbers of HD this can be worth adding for the
Spell Resistance, but normally the bonuses aren't really significant. Note
that it requires 4 levels of paladin, meaning prestige paladin can't be
used for the usual 2-level dip.
Cloak DanceXPH: Take this if you find that you have move actions to
spare while mounted. You gain concealment as a move action, or total
concealment as a full-round action.
DR346

Close Cohort
: If you have Leadership your cohort is one level
lower than you, rather than two levels. It isn't much of a stretch to
apply this to alternatives like Dragon Cohort. Talk to your DM before
trying to combine it with thrallherd.
RotW

Co-ordinated Strike
: +1 attack bonus against any foe your animal
companion or special mount has struck in the same round. I'd just take
Knowledge Devotion instead. Heck, Weapon Focus is better than this.
DotU

Despana School
: Grants bonuses when fighting alongside creatures
you've summoned (including auto-flank), making this neat for paladins,

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knight phantoms and so on. You need summon monster to qualify,

which means either an arcane casting dip or ex-paladin/blackguard.
Devoted Tracker: Lets you designate your special mount as your
animal companion. The possibilities are endless. Forms the basis of the
ubermount build when combined with a way to advance both at once
(such as bloodline levels or certain PrCs).
Drac

Dragon Cohort
: Like Leadership, but better. Well, if you wanted a
dragon anyway. A blackguard can denote a Dragon Cohort as his
fiendish companion by lowering his effective character level, though
given that paladins do this through Dragon Steed it's possible this was a
typo and they meant that feat instead.
Dragon Hunter BraveryDrac: You project a 30ft aura that grants +4
Will and +4 effective HD for resisting the frightful presence of dragons,
and your special companion can't be affected unless you are. An
extremely situational feat, and even in a dragon-heavy campaign it's
unlikely that you'll have enough HD to actually ignore frightful presence
(ironically, your mount might).
Dragon SteedDrac: You gain a dragonnel as a mount; it doesn't advance
as you gain levels, but it has good stats at the level you qualify for it. If
you already have a special mount, then you can instead attract a
dragonnelDrac or a few different types of dragon as your special mount
by lowering your effective paladin level. Note that dragonnel and spiked
felldrakeDrac special mounts are possible without the feat.
Exalted CompanionBoED: Adds some good-aligned magical beasts to
your list of potential "animal" companions. Note that this lets your
companion qualify for exalted feats without combining it with a special
mount.
Fast RiderDR285: Your mount gets +10ft speed when it has no less than
a light load.
CoR

Feral Animal Companion

: If you are evil, your animal companion
gets +2 Str and Con. Also its bite is diseased and it's harder for others
to handle, but those are little more than fluff.
Dr326

Flexible Mind
: Adds two skills to your list of class skills. You must
be chaotic to select this feat.
CP

Gestalt Anchor : +2 to Ref and initiative is pretty nice but your mount
needs to take a [Host] feat, and you need to either do the same or be a
kalashtar. Choose the latter if possible. See also Psymbiot.
MM4

Githyanki Dragonrider
: A githyanki with this feat gains +2
Diplomacy/Ride vs red dragons, and both it and its mount gain +1
AC/Reflex.
MoE

Heroic Companion
: Any kind of special companion or homunculus
you possess can draw from your pool of action points, and you gain +1
action point per level. Obviously, make sure you're using action points
RoE

before taking this feat (or use a spell like unfettered heroism
gives a temporary pool).

that

Holy MountDR325: All levels in divine spellcasting classes count as

paladin levels for determining your special mount's abilities. Paladin's a
pretty weak class compared to most divine casters, so this means you
don't have to take many levels in it. Gets better with cleric X/prestige
paladin 2 builds. Nasty when combined with Devoted Tracker.
Horse NomadDr349: An lv1-only regional feat that grants +3 Ride and
proficiency with lances, scimitars and composite shortbows. Which you'll
usually be proficient with anyway. And unlike Skill Focus it doesn't help
with prerequisites.
Improved Familiar:

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CoR

Improved Fiendish Servant

: Adds about a dozen fiendish animals
to the list of creatures a blackguard can use as their fiendish servant, all
Dn100

of them superior to the standard choices. See also Nightmare Steed

below.
Improved Psicrystal: Ignore the extra personality. What you're
interested in is the +1 level for determining abilities, which means
+1HD, which means extra attack bonus and feats for your psicrystal.
Basis of the "Big guy is with me" build.
Leadership: Source of mount with its own gp supply.

LifebondLM: An undead creature who takes this feat chooses one living
creature, and gains +2 saves/+4 turn resistance while it's within 60ft
(or penalties for 24 hours if it dies). Could also be useful in the other
direction, for an undead mount ridden by a living character.
Monstrous Animal CompanionDr326: Adds a large number of creatures
to your available animal companions, of various types.
Mounted Combat: The basic riding feat, and a prereq for most others.
It's pretty easy to get a higher Ride check than your mount's AC
(especially touch AC), so it's a useful effect.
Mounted FightingDr346: +1 attack/damage while mounted. Better than
Co-ordinated Strike, but still very weak (particularly since you can't take
it at low levels).
Mounted FuryWeb: If you can rage, your mount can rage with you. The
benefits are obvious. Note that you must be riding your mount when you
start raging, and the mount stops raging if you dismount.
Mounted MobilityHoB: Basically the Mobility feat with different prereqs,
and it applies to your mount as well as you. While better than standard
Mobility, it doesn't count as Mobility for prereqs, and that's the only
reason anyone takes that feat in the first place.
Natural BondCAdv: Practiced Spellcaster for animal companions increase your level by 3 for the purposes of determining its abilities, to a
maximum of your character level. It's a reasonable stretch to allow this
to apply to Wild Cohorts as well. This gets interesting when applied to
beastmasters, who have a level cap 3 higher than normal. It gets really
interesting if you can use it to get higher-level companions faster.
Dn100

Nightmare Steed
: From Polyhedron #159, included with Dragon
Magazine #100. Allows a blackguard to attract a nightmare as their
fiendish servant. Badass as hell, and much stronger than Improved
CoR

Fiendish Servant .
Obtain Familiar:
CW

Phalanx Fighting : Consider this if your mount can hold and use a
shield (via race or feats). See "feats for mounts" for more details.
Psicrystal Affinity: Source of potentially impressive mount, but only if
transformed.
CP

Psymbiot : Grants benefits if both you and your mount have

manifester levels of 3. The latter can be handled by having your mount
take a combination of Hidden Talent and Practiced Manifester, or a
[Host] feat, which also qualifies you for Gestalt Anchor.
SaddlebackPGtF: 1st level only. You can always take 10 on Ride checks.
Once per round you can reroll a Reflex save as a Ride check - this
applies to either you or your mount, or both if you must both save
against the same effect. Your mount probably has Improved Evasion, so
the second one is more useful when used on yourself. Still, on a clumsy
character the ability to reroll Reflex saves at a higher bonus is hardly
shabby, and taking 10 is useful too.

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ToM

Shadow Familiar

: Functions like Obtain Familiar, except your

ToM

familiar also gains the dark

template. It requires 3 levels in
shadowcaster, and levels in classes that can use shadow mysteries
count as arcane spellcasting classes for determining its abilities. Also
ToM

grants access to the Master of Shadow

PrC.

MoI

Shape Soulmeld (Riding bracers) : +4 insight bonus to Ride and

Handle Animal checks, or more if you invest essentia. At character level
MoI

12th you can take the Open Lesser Chakra (arms)

feat for a +2 to
melee damage and AC while mounted and not wearing an item on your
arms slot.
Share SoulmeldMoI: If you can already shape soulmelds, chances are
good that at least one of them will benefit your mount.
Shared FuryRotW: Basically the same as Mounted Fury, but for an
animal companion within 5ft.
SlowUA: Both the trait and the flaw of this name reduce your speed. A
dwarf PC or one wearing heavy armour who takes both will find himself
with a speed of only 5ft per round. However, as long as you stay on a
mount your own speed will never come up, meaning that you essentially
get Improved Toughness and a second feat for free.
Spider CompanionDotU: Adds monstrous spiders of various sizes to
your list of animal companions.
Steady RiderWeb: You can always take 10 on Ride checks, including the
use of Mounted Combat. Inferior to Saddleback, but a decent substitute
if you can't fit that in.
Strength of the ChargerOA: Odd feat. Bonus to hp and Fort saves
while mounted equal to mount's Con modifier.
Swift CallBoED: You can summon your paladin special mount as a swift
action rather than a full-round action. Whether this is useful will vary
heavily from table to table. In any case the call mountBoED spell provides
an alternate summoning method, so you can save the swift one for
emergencies.
PGtE

Talenta Dinosaur Bond

: Grants +4 Ride/+1 AC/+1 Reflex to a
rider, and +1 AC/+1 Reflex to their mount... as long as you're a halfling
riding a dinosaur. Pity it doesn't count as Skill Focus for prereqs.
DR325

Theurgic Bond
: Allows levels in animal companion classes to stack
for familiar abilities or vice versa. The "vice versa" is the more
interesting here, since familiars don't get nearly as much as animal
companions.
DR325

Theurgic Mount
: Arcane version of Holy Mount. Probably weaker
unless you have combined your mount with your familiar. The Fey bard
variant which receives an animal companion can use this to great effect
with Devoted Tracker.
LoM

Thrall Bred
: Choose one creature with more HD than you. You gain
a +1 bonus to saving throws and damage rolls while they're within 30ft
and doing okay, and a -2 penalty when they're not. Ubermounts will
easily have more HD than their riders, so why not? Doesn't work the
other way around since it's Humanoid only.
Totem CompanionECS: Adds a specific magical beast to your list of
animal companions.
Tunnel RidingRoS: Your mount does not take the -4 attack/AC penalties
for squeezing through Medium passages. The alternatives to this are
having your mount take the Tunnel Fighting feat, or being a Small
character with a Medium mount.

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RotW

Underfoot Combat
: When sharing the space of a creature two
sizes or more larger than you, you gain soft cover (+4 AC). For Small
riders with Large+ mounts (or Medium riders with Huge+ mounts, Tiny
riders with Medium+ mounts, etc.).
ECS

Vermin Companion : Adds some vermin to your list of animal

companions. Unlike standard vermin they have Int 1.
Dr358

Wedded to the Light

: Grants the familiar of a Good character a
few extra abilities; among other things it can sacrifice itself to resurrect
you, and you both get fast healing. Can be selected as a wizard bonus
feat.
Wild CohortWeb: Animal companion on the cheap, with entry to two
interesting PrCs.
Winter's MountFB: Special mount gains cold subtype and +2 Con. If
your mount already has the fire subtype this will make it immune to
both cold and fire. Otherwise, the fire vulnerability offsets the extra HP
somewhat.
Last Edit: July 27, 2014, 02:14:13 PM by Prime32

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Over-Underling
Head Moderator

Re: Mount Handbook

Reply #3: November 05, 2011,
03:13:22 PM

Posts: 2893
Respect: +30

Equipment for mounts

Would a fighter go into battle naked? Well, why should his steed?

Saddle
You take a penalty for riding bareback, so this is important. Of note in Core are
the military saddle (which keeps you from falling out) and the exotic saddle
(required for unusual mounts).
Equestrian's SaddleA&EG: A military saddle that grants the rider a +10
circumstance bonus on Ride checks. Only 2,000gp, but only works for
horses.
A&EG

Howdah
: A platform mounted on a Huge or larger creature,
allowing them to carry up to four Medium creatures (only one counts as
the rider), and also granting them cover.

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Armour
After saddles, the first thing you'll want to look at is barding. The costs of a
suit of armour for a quadruped are doubled, and every size category above
Medium doubles it again. Since most mounts are Large quadrupeds, that's 4x
the cost before enchantments. Since speed is probably one of the reasons you
have a mount in the first place, it's best to stick to light armour. If you want
more AC you can go with a mithral breastplate.
Grotesque BardingDr349: Grants +2 Intimidate in exchange for -1 on
attack rolls, and lets "the animal" attempt to demoralise enemies as a
free action whenever it attacks. At the insane price of +50gp! It's not
even magical, though the wording might limit it to animal companions.
Spiked BardingDr349: Works like spiked armour, but if worn by an
animal that knows the attack and perform tricks, can be used to
increase grapple damage and damage enemies who grapple it.

Weapon
Not many mounts can use these, but an amulet of natural attacks or necklace
of natural weapons can help out.

Other
Feathered Wings (graft)FF: May turn your mount evil, but the fly
speed is incredible for its price and the Diplomacy penalty is usually
meaningless.
Hand of the Mage: 600gp necklace grants at-will mage hand for
mounts without hands of their own. Cheap enough that its effects can be
added to another item without becoming too costly.
SS

Horseshoes of Flame : Good Boccob these are ridiculous. 90ft fly

speed (good), +1d4 fire damage to hoof attacks, +2 Dex, +10 Int, +6
Cha. For 30,240gp. According to the rules they work only for "an
ordinary horse", though this is ill-defined. Does a warhorse count as an
ordinary horse? What about a legendary horse? If your mount has ranks
in Use Magic Device they can use them regardless. Heck, with UMD his
rider can use them - no-one will care how silly he looks if he's a wizard
running around with a +10 bonus to Int.
Horseshoes of Speed: +30ft enhancment bonus to base land speed for
3,000gp is a pretty good deal.
Horseshoes of a Zephyr: You float just above the ground, meaning
that you can cross water and quicksand and don't leave tracks. Might
also allow your mount to avoid traps based on pressure plates. 6,000gp.
Phoenix cloakMIC: Grants fly speed based on land speed. Nice upgrade
to a fast land-based mount.
Ram HelmetDr349: A nonmagical item that grants a gore attack and a
+2 bonus on Strength checks to break down a door. Both function only
as part of a charge, and only when used by an animal that knows the
attack trick and is ordered to use the helmet.
Shielding BlindersA&EG: When worn by a horse, grants immunity to
gaze attacks.
Shrink CollarA&EG: A 10,000gp item that shrinks the wearer to Small
size.
Steel TalonsDr349: Coverings for the talons of any bird of prey which
grant that natural attack a +1 circumstance bonus on damage rolls. Can
be enchanted or made of special materials, and the benefits transfer to
the talons.

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Feats for mounts

Not all mounts can get feats, but they can be extremely useful. While PCs need
feats as prerequisites for prestige classes, most mounts do not have class
levels; thus their choices are a lot more open. Keep an eye out for short-range
aura effects, and feats which grant entry to alternate magic systems. This
thread has some advice on these.
Note that you can swap out any of the feats a mount comes with as long as
they aren't bonus feats.

Aberration BloodLoM: Some interesting feats in this chain. See also

Mourning MutateDR359, which is treated as Aberration Blood but has a
different set of options and does not require you to be humanoid.
DeepspawnLoM: Gain two tentacles. Combine with the gloves of
manSS item to allow the mount to use its tentacles as hands. You
also qualify for the Extended ReachSS feat and extend tentacles
spell (which can be made permanent), but there are other ways to
get reach.
Inhuman ReachLoM: +5ft reach. Now psicrystals can threaten
adjacent squares even in their natural form. See also Deformity
(tall)HoH, which grants much the same benefits but only for
Medium creatures.
WaterspawnLoM: Your mount now works just as well in water as
on the ground. Nice - this is a blue feat for aquatic campaigns.
Also it gets resistance to cold 5 for some reason.
Airy Gallop: An obscure source (link), but an interesting way to get
pseudo-flight. Requires "Con -" for some reason, meaning an undead or
construct mount.
PlanH

Air Heritage
: +30ft fly speed. Nifty. Also +2 to Jump and Balance
while unburdened.
Drac

Awaken Frightful Presence

: More potent than the Frightful
Presence feat, the real gem here is combining this with Dreadful Wrath
to get a massive radius and increased DC. If you have Frightful Presence
and Dreadful Wrath the bonus should apply to both of them. You have to
be a dragon to take the feat though.
ToM

Bind Vestige
: While the image is hilarious, make sure your mount is
actually capable of carrying out the binding ritual. If it can, this can be a
pretty good choice.
DotU

Constant Guardian
: Take a -2 penalty on attack rolls to grant
someone in 10ft a +2 bonus to AC. If you don't plan on attacking, go
nuts.
Cumbrous Dodge: If you are immune to fatigue (eg. if you are an
undead or construct) this is essentially +2 free AC. Requires Dodge, but
there are good alternatives like Desert Wind DodgeToB and Expeditious
DodgeRotW.
DarkstalkerLoM: Hide from unusual senses like blindsight and scent. A
good feat, but not very useful to a mount unless its rider has
Darkstalker too. The ability to flank creatures with all-around vision is
nice in combination with Martial Stance (island of blades) though.
Draconic AuraDM: Gets you a 30ft aura (benefiting both rider and
mount) from the lists in Player's Handbook 2 and Dragon Magic. If your
mount has the Dragon type or dragonblood subtype (see Dragontouched
below) the bonus scales by level (up to +4). Otherwise it stays at +1.

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Ubermounts have large amounts of HD, so they'll hit this cap pretty
quickly. You can gain more than one aura, and switch between them (or
use two at once if you have the Double Draconic Aura feat from the
same source).
DM

Dragontouched : Gain the dragonblood subtype. Qualifies you for

feats which grant various things like wings, though since some of those
are lv1-only you'll need to take flaws to get them. If your type is Dragon
you already count as dragonblood, so you don't need this feat.
Dreadful WrathPGtF: 1st-level only, gain a form of Frightful Presence.
It's a regional feat, so you may have trouble getting it approved by the
DM. Can be a great help to a rider with a fear-based build.
Frightful PresenceDrac: Check how many HD you have before taking
this feat. If you're a combo cohort-mount-companion you should have
enough for this to be useful a reasonable percentage of the time, but
usually most monsters are too high level for this to work. Dreadful
Wrath has a lower radius but no HD limit, and is usually preferable.
Combining the two feats can be effective.
Illithid HeritageLoM: This feat chain requires a power point reserve.
Wild Talent will get you that, though it will make the feats which expand
your Powers Known useless.
Illithid GrappleLoM: Improved Grab is interesting, but you can
only use it on creatures within one size category of you. That
means horses can't use this feat on halflings, while psicrystals can
hardly use it on anything. See also Deepspawn above.
Illithid BlastLoM: A character without levels in a manifesting class
can still qualify for this feat with the Hidden Talent and Practiced
Manifester feats.
Illithid LegacyLoM: Likewise for this feat, though Greater Illithid
Legacy is out of your reach (unless you take a [Host] feat as
well). While psionic charm and read thoughts can be useful, you
won't have enough pp to use them unless you take the Psionic
Talent feat a few times or get an external source of pp. Your rider,
on the other hand, can use the rules for manifesting powers from
another mind.
CW

Mage Slayer : Normally the kind of thing you always wanted to take,
but were never able to fit in. Nothing says
to mages like this feat
chain.
Martial Stance/Martial Study

ToB

: Kung-fu ponies. Hurrah!

ToB

Martial Stance (island of blades) : When you and an ally

both threaten an opponent, the two of you are treated as flanking.
Nice if the rider has sneak attack. This works just as well on
riders, but the rider is likely to have fewer spare feats.
SS

Mighty Roar, Greater : The standard Mighty Roar is inferior to

frightful presence of any kind, but the improved version renders
enemies panicked for 2d6 rounds. Must be an animal or magical beast of
at least Large size, meaning that this will mostly see use with druids and
paladins.
MindsightLoM: Near-perfect detection abilities for mounts with telepathy
(including psicrystals) - you are aware of the location of anything with a
mind in range of your telepathy, as well as its Int and type. The rider
can't see them, but his mount can direct him to the right square. Plus it
can alert the rider to ambushes.
Mourning MutateDR359: See Aberration Blood
Natural Spell: For druids who transform into mounts. Any sane druid
would take this feat, but it bears repeating.

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PGtF

Otherworldly
: Your type changes to Outsider, which gives a former
Animal good BAB, +6 skill points per level, and possibly another good
save. Particularly good for Fey like the durthan's telthor companion. Not
as useful for Magical Beasts, who have full BAB already and will lose hit
points in the deal. If your DM is worried about the fluff prereqs, they can
also be met by having a celestial present at your time of birth (see
Champions of Valor p22).
CW

Phalanx Fighting : If you get your mount some way to hold items
then you two can use this feat. Note that an unarmed strike is a light
weapon, so a heavy shield is all that's required for the tasty +3 AC/+1
Reflex bonus.
Prehensile TailSS: Now your mount, too, can wield a weapon! If your
mount does not have a tail slap, Draconic TailRotD will get them one.
PsymbiotCP: This is a feat which grants some nice bonuses when a
creature with ML3 is within 10ft. The restriction is that it can't be "any
psionic creatures crafted, projected, or summoned by you". There's
nothing to stop the summoned creature from using the summoner to
fuel the feat though, making this a good choice for Hidden Talent
psicrystals.
RapidstrikeDrac: If you have a "pair" of natural weapons (two claws)
etc. you can make an extra attack with them. You can take this feat
once for every pair of weapons you have.
Improved RapidstrikeDrac: Every time you take this feat you
can make four extra attacks per turn. Seriously.
ReverberationSS: Ability Focus for sonic attacks. Except that it stacks
with Ability Focus.
Shape SoulmeldMoI: There are a lot of interesting options here, though
for some purposes it's better for the rider to take Share Soulmeld
instead.
CC

Travel Devotion : This is a great feat, but your mount will need some
way to turn undead to make use of it properly.
SS

Virulent Poison : +2 DC for extraordinary poison attacks which stacks

with Ability Focus.
BoED

Vow of Poverty
: This is just plain ridiculous if you can get it
allowed. Normally the cost of this feat is that you must give up all your
magic items and gold, but most mounts don't have their own supply of
gold anyway. If you ride a cohort, thrall, or other party member, this
feat will hurt you more than it helps.
Wild Talent: Opens the door to psionic feats, which can be good. If you
have a psicrystal, take Psicrystal Containment and have your psicrystal
take this feat (and Psychic Meditation, if you want) - now your psicrystal
can take a move action to restore your psionic focus, allowing you to
theoretically expend four psionic focuses per round.
XPH

Hidden Talent
: A 1st-level-only variant of Wild Talent which
appears only in the XPH (it's not in the SRD), this feat also gives
you the ability to manifest a single 1st-level power at manifester
level 1, with Charisma as your base manifesting stat (if you can
already manifest powers this functions like Expanded Knowledge
instead). With the Practiced Manifester feat you can increase your
ML to 5.
[Host] featsCP: Can be even better than Hidden Talent - these
feats grant you a 1/day psi-like ability with ML equal to half your
HD. Or rather, two psi-like abilities, but you can only use one of
them per day. Also qualifies you for Gestalt Anchor, which is

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pretty cool with a kalashtar rider. Otherwise, don't take one of

these unless you need a manifester level to meet a prereq
BoVD

Willing Deformity
: This is a vile feat, so you must be evil to take
it. +2 Intimidate in Book of Vile Darkness, increased to +3 in Heroes of
Horror. This chain grants some interesting abilities on its own, but the
Intimidate bonuses also synergise with a fear-based build.
BoVD

Deformity (gaunt/obese)
: These feats are, naturally,
opposites of each other. One gives +2 Dex and -2 Con, the other
grants -2 Dex and +2 Con. Some skill bonuses as well. An undead
mount can take the (gaunt) feat and ignore the penalty, since it
lost its Con score when it became undead. There aren't many
feats which grant +2 to an ability score.
Deformity (madness)BoVD: -4 Wisdom in exchange for immunity
to mind-affecting effects? This is pretty awesome if you don't
have that immunity from your type already.
Deformity (tongue)BoVD: Blindsense 30ft. Mindsight is better,
but not everyone has telepathy.
Last Edit: January 06, 2014, 08:23:11 AM by Prime32

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Re: Mount Handbook

Reply #4: November 05, 2011,
03:14:11 PM

Posts: 2893
Respect: +30

Mounted combat (melee)

Melee combat from horseback comes down to jousting. Charge the enemy as
hard as possible, and be out of range before they can strike back. For this the
Ride-By Attack feat is essential. One major obstacle for you is your inability to
make more than one melee attack per round. There are PrC abilities which can
help this though, and if you have some form of Pounce it applies to your
mounted charges.
A rider is considered to be in all of his mount's squares at once, which means
that you threaten squares as if you were a creature of the mount's size but
with your own reach.

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Items
A&EG

Knight's Sword
: A bastard sword that gets the lance's mounted
damage bonus. Overpriced unless you really need to use a bastard
sword for some reason.
Lance: While mounted, you can wield a lance in one hand and your
charge attacks deal double damage. Note that just because you can, you
don't have to wield it in one hand. Most charger builds benefit more
from a two-handed weapon and Power Attack.
Lance of BraveryA&EG: A +2 lance that makes its holder and their
mount immune to fear.
Lance of FaerunMoF: A +2 holy lance of evil outsider bane, that also
grants the Spirited Charge feat. At over 98,000 gp it's very expensive
though.
Lance of the Unending ChargeA&EG: A +2 lance of mighty cleaving
that lets you make "cleaving charges" - when your Cleave feat triggers
as part of a mounted charge, you can move up to your mount's speed in
the same direction before making the bonus attack.
Lancer's SpursCC: If you wear these boots while riding your special
mount, the mount gains the benefits of an amulet of mighty fists +2 (at
half the price!) and their natural attacks become good/evil-aligned
depending on your alignment. If you ride a mount that's not your special
amount, the bonus is +1 and there's no alignment effect. Since this
replicates the war-mount spell in the same book, see if you can convince
your DM to let it trigger the spell's synergistic effect with master cavalier
and phantom charge.
MIC

Battle Bridle
: 9k, grants Mounted Combat and a +5 bonus to Ride
checks. If you already have Mounted Combat you get Ride-by Attack
instead. A melee character should upgrade to Riding Boots when it
becomes possible.
MIC

Riding Boots
: For 12,000gp you get +5 to Ride checks, Ride-by
Attack as a bonus feat, and a boost to the power of Spirited Charge if
you have it.

Feats
Bladebearer of the ValenarRoE/PGtE: Elf-only feat that's functionally
equivalent to Exotic Weapon Proficiency (double scimitar), but you also
get to share feats like Weapon Focus between scimitars, falchions and
double scimitars, and they deal +1 damage while mounted. There's
another minor bonus which applies if you're using action points. But
most significantly, this is a prereq for Revenant Blade (see below).
Cavalry ChargerCW:
Devastating ThunderDr332: The save DC is good, but the fear doesn't
last long and can't be used more than once.
Ride-by Attack: While not as good as Fly-by Attack, this is much easier
to qualify for than Spring Attack, and you get more total movement out
of it (a charge as opposed to a move action). Note that you must
continue in a straight line after you attack, unless you or your mount
has a "crooked charge" ability of some kind. The downside is that, well,
by RAW it isn't actually possible to keep moving in a straight line after
charging except in a small number of situations, since this would result
in you moving through your enemy's space. The designers probably
intended either that you could end a charge in any space from which

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you could attack the target, or that you could make an overrun attempt
as a free action as part of using this feat (it seems to have been written
before those rules were finalised), but make sure you clear up this issue
with your DM.
Spirited Charge: Double damage on mounted charge, or triple damage
if you use a lance? Boo-yah!
PGtE

Spirit of the Stallion

: +1 on melee attack and damage rolls, but
only if you're an elf riding a Valenar horse (which is a specific creature,
not a fluff thing). It's better than Weapon Focus, but there are much
better things you could be spending feats on.
Talenta WarriorRoE: Like Bladebearer of the Valenar but for halflings;
the weapons are Talenta sharrash, Talenta tangat, and Talenta
boomerang.
Trample: This feat was clearly written with horses in mind - it's not
clear what happens when something like a snake is entitled to a free
"hoof attack", though it should probably be taken to mean their primary
attack (the Ashworm Dragoon PrC goes with this interpretation). If you
can use this feat with a mount with a nasty primary attack then this can
be decent, particularly if you have access to Fell Trample. Usually,
though, it's better to just have your mount trip the enemy while you
attack it. Consider having your mount take Improved Trip instead.
Tremendous ChargeDLCS: When making a mounted charge with a
lance, use your mount's Str modifier for damage in place of your own.
Basically lets you dump Str entirely.
Valenar TramplePGtE: A variant of Trample which lets both you and
your mount attack, and counts as Trample for prerequisites. Nice.
However, it has the same restrictions on use as Spirit of the Stallion.

Classes
Ashworm DragoonSand: Grants an ashworm as a mount, which
advances as you gain levels. You can choose to designate it as your
special mount if you have one, but this causes it to lose its poison.
Grants Trample and Spirited Charge as bonus feats, or grants unique
bonuses if you already have them, and lets you use Mounted Combat
2/round.
Bone Knight5N: Grants a special mount which stacks with paladin
levels, and applies the skeleton template to it. Also you get armour
made out of bones.
CavalierCW: This class takes your Spirited Charge feat and turns it up to
eleven. Unfortunately, you can only use its insane damage multipliers a
limited number of times per day.
Crinti Shadow MarauderSS: A 5-level PrC which grants Sudden Strike
+2d6, and lets you and your mount teleport short distances or shadow
walk. The last level gives you access to the amazing Shadow Pounce
ability, which lets you make a melee full attack as a free action after
teleporting, as long as your target was in line of sight beforehand. Could
CC

be a nice combo with the phantom charge

spell.

RoF

Great Rift Skyguard : A PrC for gold dwarves, which focuses on

jumping off a flying mount (allowing you to charge as a standard
action), and training your mount to grab and resaddle you as a standard
action in the middle of a move. You get some class features which
improve the stats of a pre-existing hippogriff, but they're not a single
progression so bloodlines don't help - over the first 8 levels this results
in a hippogriff with +4 HD, +6 natural armor, +3 Str, +6 Int, Spell
Resistance 20 and DR 5/magic (converted from 3.0).

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OA

Kishi Charger

:
5N

Knight Phantom : Gish class - 9/10 spellcasting, full BAB. Your

phantom steed advances faster (+10CL!) and you also get it as a 1/level
spell-like ability. Importantly, the SLA version takes only a standard
action to cast rather than the normal 10 minutes. You also get some
phantom-themed abilities.
PGtE

Revenant Blade
: If you have ranger levels, levels in this class stack
for your animal companion and caster level (the wording is very
specific). Also you get three floating feats from a short list, and can treat
both ends of a double scimitar as two-handed weapons. You must be an
elf, which limits things somewhat (look into wood elf or wild elf for more
melee-friendly ability modifiers).
WaveriderSS: Grants something similar to a special mount, just as
strong as a paladin's but based on your character level rather than class
level. However, you must possess the aquatic subtype, and you're
limited to a small number of aquatic creatures. This is slightly less
restrictive than it sounds, since some of your class features let you jump
out of the water like a flying fish to attack. Tridents gain the "double
damage while mounted" bonus of lances, and you gain a version of the
Spirited Charge feat that stacks with it. You also get the Full Mounted
Attack ability.
Last Edit: November 27, 2013, 07:34:26 PM by Prime32

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Re: Mount Handbook

Reply #5: November 05, 2011,
03:14:35 PM

Posts: 2893
Respect: +30

Mounted combat (ranged)

Ranged combatants have a significant advantage - they can make full attacks
while mounted, effectively giving them two sets of actions per turn. Your
attacks, however, take place between your mount's two actions. (eg. your
mount moves, you attack, your mount moves again) If your mount is taking a

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full-round action to move (such as running or charging) you make the attacks
at the halfway point.
Note that you cannot use longbows while mounted (they're too long and get in
the way). You can use shortbows, composite shortbows and composite
longbows fine though.

Items
Archery SaddleDr349: Grants a +2 bonus on Ride checks to guide a
mount with your knees, and reduces the attack penalties for mounted
archery by 1.

Feats
Dr315

Bareback Soul
: You take no penalty on Ride checks for riding
bareback, and automatically succeed at checks to guide your mount with
your knees. You also gain a +1 competence bonus on ranged weapon
attacks while mounted.
Mounted Archery: Halves the attack roll penalties for making ranged
attacks from horseback. A must.
CW

Improved Mounted Archery :If you have Mounted Archery

you take only a -2 penalty for attacking while your mount is
running, and no penalty otherwise. Also, you can attack at any
point in your mount's movement.

Classes
Dr325

Bowman Charger
: You get Improved Mounted Archery as a bonus
feat, plus Weapon Specialisation, Improved Critical and Greater Weapon
Specialisation in the composite shortbow - it qualifies you for Ranged
PHB2

Weapon Mastery
I guess. Your mount meanwhile gains Dodge and
Mobility, which means it qualifies for Spring Attack and Improved Flyby
Attack. The initiative bonus and Riding Dervish ability are interesting,
the second largely because it makes you immune to AoOs, but the
abilities which let your mount use your saving throws are inferior to
basic paladin stuff. Oh, also you can double your mount's speed while
charging, and gain bonuses to Ride and Handle Animal.
PGtF

Shaaryan Hunter
: Poor prereqs, not-very-useful abilities, and
doesn't advance your mount.
Last Edit: September 13, 2013, 09:56:05 AM by Prime32

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Re: Mount Handbook

Reply #6: November 05, 2011,
03:14:57 PM

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Mounted combat (spellcasting)

The biggest obstacle to any wannabe cavalry mage is that it's hard to focus on
a spell while being jostled about. Your mount must take no more than one
move action per turn, so that you can do your thing before or after it's done.
Otherwise, you have to make a Concentration check or lose the spell.
If you use a lot of spells requiring ranged attack rolls, the advice in the ranged
combat section also applies to you. Given that this increases the feat
investment needed to pull the combat style off, it's recommended that you
don't learn/prepare many such spells. You can take the hit to accuracy in many
cases since you roll vs touch AC, but who knows when you might have to cast
a spell while running?

Items
CM

Steadying Robe : You no longer have to make Concentration checks

to cast spells while being jostled around. And for only 1,000gp? Very
nice. By item-stacking rules you could make this slotless for 2,000gp, in
case you're a gish who doesn't want a robe taking up his armour slot.
Otherwise, most robes can be crafted as cloaks without an increase in
price.

Feats
MiniHB

Mounted Casting
: You gain a +10 bonus on Concentration checks
made to cast spells while mounted. Nice, but pointless if you can get
Mounted Spellcasting instead. Due to the wording, however, you might
be able to interpret this as a bonus to all spellcasting-related
Concentration checks (including casting spells while taking damage), as
long as you are on a horse while you make them.
Web

Mounted Spellcasting
: Superior to Mounted Casting, this feat lets
you cast spells while mounted without having to make Concentration
checks for movement. Requires 5 ranks in Concentration though, so
you'll have to wait until 2nd level.
DotU

Spiderfriend Magic
: Your spells can't harm Vermin allies. Even if
your mount is a Vermin you might not need this, but if you do use spells
which could harm your mount it's great. Ignore the "you can suppress
this feat for 1 round as a swift action" part - you can already suppress it
just by not considering someone an ally.

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Classes
LoM

Abolisher
: 8/10 divine spellcasting PrC that gets bonuses against
aberrations. Stacks for both animal companion and wild shape (or grants
a more limited version of wild shape if you don't have it), but apart from
wild shape it's basically an inferior version of Gatekeeper
PGtE

Mystagogue

CArc

Alienist
: Summoning-focused PrC which advances your familiar and
grants it the pseudonatural template after 5 levels (don't get too
excited; it's the Complete Arcane one, not the Epic Level Handbook
one).
ArachneF&P:
Arcane HierophantRotW: Dual-progression arcane/druid, which
advances your familiar+animal companion and combines them (if you
don't have a familiar then you gain one for this purpose; effective level
= levels in arcane spellcasting classes + AH levels). You can enter as a
non-druid via the spirit folk (bamboo)UA race or a wildrunnerRotW dip,
which meets the Trackless Step prereq (Cleric/Fey bard could be an
interesting option).
Bonded SummonerMiniHB: Give up your familiar in exchange for an
elemental that scales from Medium to Elder as you gain levels. The cut
to your spellcasting ability is massive though.
Fiend-bloodedHoH: 9/10 spellcasting PrC intended for sorcerers.
Doesn't advance your familiar, but grants it the fiendish template at lv1.
FleshwarperLoM: 9/10 spellcasting PrC which advances your familiar,
makes it an aberration and grants it four bonuses from a list; Size
Increase in particular is powerful if your familiar is unusually large
already.
PGtE

Gatekeeper Mystagogue
: 9/10 divine casting PrC focused on
fighting aberrations. Grants a druid animal companion that stacks with
existing levels, and which also gains the Slippery Mind ability and can
treat its natural weapons as byeshk for overcoming DR (DR/byeshk only
appears on aberrations from the Eberron setting). You also get the
ability to shoot swift-action arcs of energy that debuff aberrations
standing between you and your companion, but this is useless for a
mounted character for obvious reasons. Despite being druid-based, this
PrC could also work pretty well on a ranger.
5N

Knight Phantom

: Gish class - see melee section.

BoED

Lion of Talsid
: Full spellcasting, full animal companion
advancement, and wild shape that stacks with your existing wild shape.
You also get Pounce and the Exalted Companion feat (see Riders in
General above).
ToM

ToM

Master of Shadow
: Requires the Shadow Familiar
feat to enter
(and thus 3 levels of shadowcaster), though it can advance any kind of
spellcasting. Shadowcaster 3/Warlock 2 maybe? You dismiss your
familiar, and in exchange get a Medium shadow elemental that works
more like an animal companion, including bonus HD equal to your class
level -1. Check with your DM whether "Size Increase (Large)" means it
just grows to Large size or becomes a Large shadow elemental; the
latter has +4 HD and better stats, and has precedent in the Bonded
SummonerMiniHB PrC. Also the elemental is incorporeal so you'll need
some way to deal with that, like the Ghostly GraspLM feat.
Nar DemonbinderUE: Summoning/binding-based PrC with unusual
spellcasting advancement (similar to sublime chord). Grants a familiar

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from your wizard/sorcerer levels plus your Nar Demonbinder levels, and
it can be an imp or quasit as if you had the Improved Familiar feat
(which, in alternate form, are suitable for use as mounts by Small
creatures).
FoE

Planar Shepherd : This druid PrC is infamous for its huge power
boost to the power of wild shape, but it also gives full spellcasting and
animal companion advancement. I guess you could enter as a Wild
Shape ranger if you wanted to tone things down a bit.
Silverwood ArcanistWeb: Requires Wild Cohort. Grants faster handling,
Mounted Spellcasting as a bonus feat, and Share Spells. Full spellcasting
advancement.
Talontar BlightlordUE: 8/10 casting PrC that applies the blightspawned
template to your animal companion at lv1, making it a Plant with Str
+4/Con +2/Wis -2/Cha -2 plus the standard immunities.
Triadic KnightCoV: A 5/7 divine spellcasting PrC that grants a paladin
special mount (stacking with existing paladin levels), one use of Smite
Evil, and the ability to expend three uses of Smite Evil for triple the
damage bonus. Seems like a good follow-up to cleric/prestige paladin.
Vermin KeeperUnd: Full spellcasting PrC that expands Wild Shape to
vermin forms, and gains a vermin companion at lv3. An lv10 Vermin
Keeper's vermin companion has the abilities of an lv12 animal
companion, though it loses the Mindless trait of standard vermin.
WavekeeperStorm: 9/10 divine spellcasting and animal companion
advancement, as long as your companion is aquatic or has a swim
speed. You also get a powerful quasi-wildshape which lets you turn into
a water elemental, granting you all of its abilities and feats.
Wizard (martial wizardUA): Select your bonus feats from the fighter
list instead of the wizard list; Scribe Scroll is also replaced by a fighter
bonus feat. A useful ACF for meeting prerequisites.
LoD

Zhentarim Skymage : *snorts milk out nose* This would be

powerful even without the mount it gives you... which can be basically
anything. Oh, and you can share spells both ways, meaning that you can
ride a dragon and have him share his buffs with you.

Spells and Powers

Augment FamiliarCW (Hexblade 1, Sor/Wiz 2): For as long as you
concentrate and +1/round level thereafter, your familiar gains +4 Str,
+4 Con, +2 to all saving throws, and DR 5/magic. An unusually powerful
buff for its level, even if it doesn't last very long.
Enhance FamiliarCA (Sor/Wiz 3): Similar bonuses to augment familiar
(+2 attack/melee damage/AC/saves), but stacks with items and lasts
long enough to keep up all day.
Fortify FamiliarCA (Sor/Wiz 4): For 1 hour your familiar gets 2d8
temporary hp. For 1 hour/level it gets +2 natural armor and light
fortification.
Holy MountDr299 (Pal 3): For 1 round/level your special mount gains
the celestial template, and a +2 sacred bonus on attack and damage
with its natural weapons.
SpC

Holy Spurs
(Pal 1): As a swift action, grant your special mount a
+40ft enhancement bonus to land speed for 1 round. Basically a
CAdv/MiniHB

slightly-stronger version of swift expeditious retreat

. Note that
an earlier version of this spell in the Miniatures Handbook is lv2, which
isn't really worth it.

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CP

Inspire Mount (Psychic warrior 1): Your mount gains an untyped

+20ft speed, and you can discharge the power to attempt negating a hit
on your mount as if via Mounted Combat (or gain a +10 bonus on your
check, if you already have it). Comes with some decent augment
options.
CC

Master Cavalier (Blackguard 2, Clr 2, Pal 2): You gain +10 on

Ride checks for 10 minutes/level, or +20 for your special mount "or
similar class ability".
BoED

Mind Bond
(Pal 3): Your special mount gains a +1 bonus on attack
rolls/3 paladin levels, and its bonuses for flanking with you are doubled.
A spell that gets better if you have the ability to flank a creature without
being on opposite sides of it.
One Mind IIIDr299 (Pal 4): For 1 round/level your special mount gains
a +1 competence bonus to attack rolls per three paladin levels (max
+5); the effect can be discharged to grant it a damage bonus on one
attack equal to your paladin level.
Phantom ChargeCC (Blackguard 4, Pal 4): As a swift action, you and
your special mount or fiendish companion teleport 5ft/2 levels; the spell
can explicitly be cast in the middle of your mount's move. If you're
under the effect of master cavalier and war-mount, your mount also
gains a fly speed equal to its land speed (average maneuverability) until
the duration of one of those spells expires.
Spirit SteedECS (Deathless domainECS 4, Siyal druid 4, Valenar
bard 4, War (Valenar) domain 4): For 1 hour/level, gives an animal
+30ft speed, Run as a bonus feat (stacks with the existing feat if they
have it), and no consequences for hustling (effectively doubling its
speed over long distances). Afterwards it becomes fatigued.
Steed of the SeasStorm (Pal 2): A version of water breathing that can
only be cast on your special mount, which also grants it the aquatic
subtype (with the amphibious special quality) and a swim speed equal to
half its land speed.
CC

War-mount (Blackguard 3, Pal 3): Grant your special mount or

fiendish companion a +2 enhancement bonus on its natural attacks, and
they strike as good/evil weapons depending on your alignment.
CD

Winged Mount (Blackguard 4, Pal 4): A version of fly with a

somewhat better duration that targets your mount. There's also a
paladin-only version in BoED which can only target your special mount.
OA

When Two Become One (Shugenja [water] 3): Basically a lowlevel version of the fusion power for riders and mounts.
Last Edit: March 20, 2014, 09:30:02 AM by Prime32

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Re: Mount Handbook

Reply #7: November 05, 2011,
03:15:18 PM

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Posts: 2893
Respect: +30

Non-standard material
Here's some material which is useful for mounts but is unlikely to be allowed in
a standard game:
Awakened Animals: Dragon Magazine #293 provides ECLs for every creature
in the 3.0 Monster Manual, including awakened versions of animals. Note that
some creatures which are Animals or Magical Beasts in 3.5 had the defunct
"Beast" type in 3.0, monsters didn't have a consistent number of feats per
level (by the conversion rules you add more if there's too few and convert
some to bonus feats if there's too many), and Awaken didn't change the type
of animals it was cast on (while turning plants into Constructs).
Bone RiderTome: A PrC that gets you a kickass undead mount which can be
combined with your cohort. Since this is part of the Tome rules, you're much
more free to use any monster as the base. I recommend an ooze or
something, since it gains an Int score and you're immune to negative effects of
being in its presence.
Fey druids: Leader of the Pack feat is of special note, doubling the effects of
bardic music on your animal companion. Fey Blood feat reduces MAD in some
builds.
Mighty Steed: A feat found in the Dragonlance supplements Bestiary of Krynn
and Knightly Orders of Ansalon. A mount with this feat counts as one size
category larger for determining carrying capacity and the minimum size of
its rider. That is, it lets a Medium character ride a Medium mount, and lets a
kobold with Slight Build ride a pseudodragon.
Pathfinder
Archetypes (animal companion): Totem guide is the most interesting
of these, particularly in the hands of a character who can't access its
spells normally. They add new feats to those the animal companion can
select, but they weren't restricted in the first place so just ignore that
part.
Archetypes (familiar): Valet is the only one of these that's any use for
a mount.
Mammoth Rider: A PrC that advances animal companions and grants
them extra bonuses. Can be pretty nasty, but note that animal
companions work differently in PF.

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Trick Riding: A feat that upgrades Mounted Combat. Not bad. Note that
due to differences in skill systems, it would require Ride 12 ranks in a
3.5e game.
ACG

Undersized Mount
: A feat that lets you ride mounts of the same
size as you. Combined with Mighty Steed, it lets a kobold ride a
psicrystal (provided he can buff its carrying capacity).
Last Edit: August 30, 2014, 06:35:34 PM by Prime32

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Tips for new players

My homebrew and other works
Got a question for the mods? See here.

Prime32
Over-Underling
Head Moderator

Re: Mount Handbook

Reply #8: November 05, 2011,
03:15:40 PM

Builds
World record Ubermount
Supermount! (original thread)
The big guy is with me (psicrystal build)
Posts: 2893
Respect: +30

Quote from: Sample Ubermount

LG Ranger 4/Cleric 1/Prestige paladin 2/Vadalis beastmaster 10/Beastmaster 3
Feats: 1: Mounted Combat, 3: Skill Focus (Handle Animal), 6: Devoted Tracker, 9: Natural
Bond, 12: Dragon Cohort, 15: Holy Mount
At lv20 your companion is any dragon available as a cohort with a net -1LA reduction,
+20HD, +24 natural armor, +10 Str, +6 Dex, +10ft speed, Empathic Link, Multiattack,
Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Share Saving Throws and Spell Resistance. On top of that
it gets +4/+2 to two physical ability scores, your choice of +2 natural armor or +10ft
speed, and Alertness, Athletic, Endurance or Improved Natural Attack as a bonus feat.

Quote from: Arcane Ubermount

Elf Paladin 2/Wizard (High One warrior-wizard, UA animal companion, martial wizard)
6/Ranger knight 1/Fleshwarper 10/Wizard +1
Feats: 1: Aereni Focus (Ride), 3: Track, 6: Natural Bond, 9: Graft Flesh, 12: Devoted
Tracker, 15: Theurgic Mount, 18: ?
Flaws: Any two
Bonus feats (flaws): Mounted Combat, Trample
Bonus feats (wizard): Two-Weapon Fighting
Your companion is a Special mount 23//Familiar 17//Animal companion 6, resulting in
+12HD, +23 natural armor, +6 Str, +2 Dex, +10ft speed, Empathic Link, Multiattack,
Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Share Saving Throws and Spell Resistance, plus four
Aberrant Familiar abilities (Size Increase can be very powerful on something that's already
big). You have a free feat slot for Dragon Cohort if you want. Also you cast spells as a 16thlevel wizard.
If you drop the Graft Flesh feat and replace the Fleshwarper levels with wizard levels, then
you gain access to 9th-level spells and your mount gains an additional +2 to HD/natural
armor/Str/Dex.
You can get rid of the reliance on flaws by using items (such as Battle Bridle and Gloves of
the Balanced Hand) to meet prerequisites.

Last Edit: April 20, 2013, 04:39:00 PM by Prime32

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Tips for new players

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