Revised Riding Rules (3.5e Variant Rule)

Author: Tarkisflux (talk) Date Created: Aug 2009 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

Rate this article Your rating for this article: Favor Like Neutral Dislike Oppose Submit | Cancel Discuss this article

This variant rule is designed to streamline the ride system, and to make it scale more appropriately to higher CR, more fantastic mounts.

Combat with a View - Revised Ride Rules

The basic combat rules are largely functional, but aren't without problems. Like most of the skill based systems, it doesn't scale at all. If you can afford one, you are just as good at riding a Griffon or a Dire Lion as you are a Light Horse at level 1, despite the fact that these creatures are quite different in power. Intelligent creatures are treated even more bizarrely, since a Dragon mount functions in much the same way as a Heavy Warhorse despite the fact that it's probably smarter than the rider and has it's own motivations, desires, and the sentience to actively work towards them. So we're going to address those deficiencies by making it harder for characters to ride higher CR creatures and by allowing intelligent creatures more leeway, and streamline the riding system in general while we're at it.

Basic Rules

Every round that you are mounted, you must make a ride check as a non-action. Whenever possible, you should be taking 10 on these checks. Doing otherwise slows the game down and increases the likelihood of you suffering a substantial failure when you really don’t want to. The result of your check indicates what you can do with your mount in the round, and how many of your actions that round it takes to accomplish. Most of the time the results don’t matter, because even if you spend a full action controlling your mount you weren’t doing anything more pressing anyway. Sometimes though, like in combat, it matters a lot.

Note that even when you can perform an easy task like Direct with Knees as a free action, your mount only has a limited number of actions. If you use that riding task, and direct your mount to make a double move, that is almost all of what your mount can do in the round. You may still have a standard and a move action left to spend, but you can’t use them to make your mount move any farther or attack someone because all of their actions have been spent. Similarly, if combat breaks out and you are not riding a combat trained mount, it may take you a full round action to use the Direct with Knees ability. Even if you only keep your mount from fleeing and stay where you are, you have used both of your actions and don’t have any left to use any additional riding tasks.

You need to be aware of how your actions and your mounts actions interact in this way. Whenever your mount is out of actions, you can not get it to perform further no matter how many actions you have remaining. And when you are out of actions, your mount will not do anything that you want it to no matter how many actions it has remaining (unless it is intelligent and you ask nicely, but that’s kind of a special case).

Attitude	DC Modifier	Example
Hostile	+25	Will try to kill you, and will then eat you if it's into that
Suspicious	+15	Defensive and suspicious, will attack if provoked
Indifferent	+5	Skittish and wary, but not aggressive without reason
Comfortable	+0	Comfortable with your presence, may even approach
Trusting	-5	Thinks you a member of the pack, may defend you if necessary

The base DC to perform an easy task, like directing your mount with your knees, as a free action is 10 + the CR of the mount + the attitude of the mount. Most trained mounts have the comfortable attitude, though bonded mounts like the paladin’s or animal companion mounts may instead be trusting and make every task easier. Unruly or ornery mounts may be indifferent, and wild mounts are very likely skittish; both cases make riding more difficult. In addition to the attitude modifier, you suffer a +10 increase to the check DC whenever you bring a mount into combat or similar circumstances (exploding buildings, disintegrating ruins, etc.) without proper combat training (the Combat Riding purpose). Mounts without this training are very difficult to control when things are occurring violently around them.

Base DC: 10 + CR + attitude, +10 if in combat or similarly distracted
Check Result:

• DC+10 and above: As a move action, you may perform any extreme riding task. You may perform difficult, moderate, easy, or trivial ones as a free action. You may not perform any riding task more complicated than extreme, though you can perform two in a round if you really want to show off.
• DC+5 to DC+9: As a full-round action, you may perform any extreme riding task. You may perform difficult riding tasks as a move action, and moderate, easy, or trivial ones as a free action. You may not perform any riding task more complicated than extreme, which is fine because there aren’t any.
• DC+0 to DC+4: As a full-round action, you may perform any difficult riding task. You may perform moderate riding tasks as a move action, and easy or trivial ones as a free action. You may not perform any riding task more complicated than difficult.
• DC-1 to DC-5: As a full-round action, you may perform any moderate riding task. You may perform easy riding tasks as a move action, and trivial ones as a free action. You may not perform any riding task more complicated than moderate.
• DC-6 to DC-10: As a full-round action, you may perform any easy riding task. You may perform trivial riding tasks as a move action. You may not perform anything more complicated.
• DC-11 and below: As a full-round action, you may perform any trivial riding task as long as your mount is not in combat or similarly distracted. You may not perform any more complicated tasks. If you are in combat, a situation that would similarly distract and frighten your mount, or it the mount is just particularly ornery (which you should have seen coming), you are instead thrown from your mount.

Trivial Riding Tasks

• Direct Mount - You direct your mount to take a move, double move, or run action in the direction of your choosing. You must use both your hands and your legs.

Easy Riding Tasks

• Direct with Knees - You direct your mount to take a move, double move, or run action in the direction of your choosing. You only need your knees and legs to direct him, leaving your hands free for other tasks, like attacking your foes.
• Remain in Saddle - You remain in your saddle after your mount unexpectedly rears, bolts, or otherwise tries to throw you. Sometimes holding on while your mount takes you for a ride is all you can do.
• Strike a Foe - You direct your mount to use a standard action to attack a foe of your choosing. Your mount may not take a full attack action, and does not threaten an area and can not make attacks of opportunity.

Moderate Riding Tasks

• Assault a Foe - You direct your mount to take a full attack action against a foe, or foes, of your choosing. Your mount also threatens its natural area and can make attacks of opportunity, though it suffers a -4 penalty to these attacks if its intelligence is 3 or less.
• Into Harm’s Way - You direct your mount to shift into the path of a strike aimed at you. If your ride check for the round is greater than your opponent’s attack roll, the strike hits your mount instead of you, dealing all appropriate damage. Precision damage is negated in this case. This shift is an immediate action for your mount. Because this happens outside of your turn, you must be able to perform a moderate riding task as a free action to be able to use this ability.
• Leap - You direct your mount to make a jump as part of its move action. You must make a jump check as usual to see if your mount clears the gap or hurdle, but you may use half of your ride bonus in place of the mount’s jump bonus if you like.
• Regain the Saddle - This task is used to properly place yourself in the saddle after taking cover, standing up, or being knocked from it but not falling off of your mount. It is of no use in any other situation.
• Ride in Cover - You slip over the side of your mount and ride there, using it as cover against all attacks originating on the other side. As you aren’t in the saddle, you can not use the Direct Mount or Direct with Knees riding tasks, and are unable to direct your mount from this position. It will keep moving as you last directed it to until you either regain the saddle or call it to a stop. If you become unable to maintain this cover position on a later round, you must use the Regain the Saddle riding task or you immediately fall from your mount.
• Spur Mount - You cause your mount to push itself just a little bit harder. For the duration of this round it gains a 25% bonus to its base speed, rounded up. It also suffers subdual damage equal to its number of hit dice.

Difficult Riding Tasks

• Direct from Cover - You slip down onto the side of your mount and ride there, using it as cover against all attacks originating on the other side. You are unable to use the Direct Mount or Direct with Knees tasks from this position, but you can still direct your mount as you need to while using it as cover. If you become unable to maintain this cover position on a later round, you must use the Regain the Saddle riding task or you immediately fall from your mount.
• Stand on Mount - You stand up on your saddle and continue riding there. As you are not properly mounted or riding in cover, you can not use the Direct Mount, Direct with Knees, or Direct from Cover riding tasks and can not direct your mount from this position. It will keep moving as you last directed it to until you either regain the saddle or call it to a stop. If you become unable to maintain this standing position on a later round, you must use the Regain the Saddle riding task or you immediately fall from your mount.

Extreme Riding Tasks

• Direct with Toes - You stand up on your saddle and continue riding there. Wile standing you can not use the Direct Mount, Direct with Knees, or Direct from Cover riding tasks, but you can direct your mount with your toes instead. If you become unable to maintain this standing position on a later round, you must use the Regain the Saddle riding task or you immediately fall from your mount.

Sentient Mounts

<words go here>

Revised Riding Feats

As this revision has incorporated the benefit previously granted by Mounted Combat feat, please use one of these revised feats instead.

Standard Feat System

Mounted Combat [Fighter] You are a skilled rider and combatant, and have brought the two together.Prerequisites: Base Attack Bonus +1Benefit: When making a ride check or a swift mount / dismount check, you may use your Base Attack Bonus + your Dexterity Modifier + 3 in place of your normal ride modifier. You may take 10 on this replacement riding check at any time, even under pressure or in combat. Normal: You must invest in the ride (or other equivalent) skill to be a competent rider.Special: A fighter may select Mounted Combat as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Tome Series Scaling Feat System

Mounted Combat [Combat] You are at your best when fighting with an ally that you are sitting on. Benefits: This is a combat feat that scales with your Base Attack Bonus.

• +0: When making a ride check or a swift mount / dismount check, you may use your Base Attack Bonus + your dexterity modifier + 3 in place of your normal ride modifier. You may take 10 on this replacement riding check at any time, even under pressure or in combat.
• +1: While mounted, you may take a charge attack at any point along your mount's movement, so long as your mount is moving in a straight line up to the point of your attack.
• +6: While mounted, you may break up the attacks from a full attack action such that they occur at various points during your mount's movement.
• +11: You may use your replacement ride check in place of your mount's Balance, Jump, Climb, or Reflex Saving Throws.
• +16: Any time a spell effect would target your mount, you may elect to have it target you instead. Any time a spell effect would target you, you may elect to have it affect your mount instead.
  
  

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Variant Rules