Mounted Combat

[Silva Stormrage]

Hello, I have a bunch of questions about mounted combat.

What happens when a druid rides his animal companion? I remember reading about some kind of bonus to ride but can't find it anywhere now.

Can a small creature rides a large horse with no penalties? If not what are the penalties?

Is it possible to have multiple creatures riding the same mount? In this case 2-3 small creatures riding a large horse. If so what do the other "passengers" also have to make ride checks?

If multiple riders is allowed, what happens when they all have mounted combat feat? Do they all get to roll ride and the highest goes to the mount's ac?

What are the penalties for shooting a short bow and riding on a mount?

Are there any ac bonuses for moving on a mount, seems like there should be something.

[John Campbell]

Hello, I have a bunch of questions about mounted combat.

What happens when a druid rides his animal companion? I remember reading about some kind of bonus to ride but can't find it anywhere now.
You get a bonus to Handle Animal with your animal companion, but not, to my knowledge, Ride.


Can a small creature rides a large horse with no penalties? If not what are the penalties?
You can't quick-(dis)mount a mount more than one size category larger than you.


Is it possible to have multiple creatures riding the same mount? In this case 2-3 small creatures riding a large horse. If so what do the other "passengers" also have to make ride checks?

If multiple riders is allowed, what happens when they all have mounted combat feat? Do they all get to roll ride and the highest goes to the mount's ac?
I don't think there are any explicit rules for the situation, but I'd rule that there's one designated rider in control of the mount, and anyone else on the mount is just a passenger. The rider makes all Ride checks to control the mount, and rider and mount get benefit of the rider's mounted feats, while the passengers are just along for the ride, not providing feat benefits, and neither able to nor required to make Ride checks (except for those to stay on).

And unless the mount has some kind of special saddle designed for multiple small riders, any extra passengers would be taking the -5 bareback penalty on the checks they do have to make.


What are the penalties for shooting a short bow and riding on a mount?

You can use ranged weapons while your mount is taking a double move, but at a -4 penalty on the attack roll. You can use ranged weapons while your mount is running (quadruple speed), at a -8 penalty. In either case, you make the attack roll when your mount has completed half its movement. You can make a full attack with a ranged weapon while your mount is moving. Likewise, you can take move actions normally
The Mounted Archery feat halves these penalties, but it's so not worth it. There's no penalty for making a ranged full attack while your mount's making a single move or less, and it's pretty trivial to get a mount's speed up where its single move is more than a typical Barbarian's charge range.


Are there any ac bonuses for moving on a mount, seems like there should be something.
Not as such, but with a DC 15 Ride check, you can drop down to use your mount as cover as a reactive non-action.

[AslanCross]

I'd like to add that while longbows cannot be used on a mount, composite longbows can be used.

Also, using a mount as cover is one of the best uses of Ride, ever. It makes goblin worg riders a force to be reckoned with.

[Silva Stormrage]

Okay thanks for the help. Was trying to make a group of Halfling Druid Mongol type warriors for the DND army thread and needed a bunch of questions answered about mounted combat. Thanks for the help :smallbiggrin:.

[Coidzor]

You can also use Ride to deny an enemy an attack that exceeds your mount's AC by doing a ride check and if your ride check beats their attack roll they miss. But that's 1/round, I believe.

[John Campbell]

Need to have the Mounted Combat feat for that.

Pathfinder's Trick Riding feat lets you use Mounted Combat twice per round (among other, less useful, benefits).