Unicorns... I know

[RagnaroksChosen]

So odd question for a Goody two shoo type game comming up...

is there any particular way to make a good super mount for a 8th level character. Having the mount be a Unicorn.

I'd be playing a male character... I know there is a PRC for females from Dragon but that's a no go.


All I got so far is paladin 5 elf/ druid 1/ mabye some cavalier... not sure where to go from there...

Obviously going to take Devoted tracker..

[gbprime]

Well first off, you can't mix Paladin and Druid since one requires Lawful Good while the other forbids it.

Check out page 13 of ye olde Defenders of the Faith. It has a great list of alternate mounts for a Paladin, similar to how a Druid upgrades their animal companion. At level 8, for example, you could get a Dire Lion. You can also take the feat Celestial Mount from Book of Exalted Deeds to upgrade your mount to the Celestial template.

But a Unicorn... all the fluff says human or elf female.

[Alleran]

Real men ride dragons. It's like the ultimate status symbol.

And I'm fairly sure unicorns are limited to females, by and large.

[Gotterdammerung]

Unicorn isnt a bad chassis for a charging mount. If you can convince your GM to let the fluff about a unicorns horn striking like a lance translate into horn = lance.

There is a rule somewhere that mountlike creatures who can wield a lance can take spirited charge and gain the benefits (kinda like they mounted themselves.)
I don't remember where the rule is though. I just remember it was meant to solve the confusion from centaurs trying to build lance charge builds.

So if you can get the same reach as your mount and if you can get your GM to say that a uni horn is the same as a lance for spirited charge, then you can do some share spell rhino's rush mounted nonsense.

This is assuming you can get him to ignore the whole Unicorn's only like holy girls fluff.

But word of warning, there are better ways to use your mount slot. For instance, take a look at page 99 of FRCS The Underdark. The Stone Flyer is a great example of your mount improving your power, options, and versatility.

[RagnaroksChosen]

Unicorn isnt a bad chassis for a charging mount. If you can convince your GM to let the fluff about a unicorns horn striking like a lance translate into horn = lance.

There is a rule somewhere that mountlike creatures who can wield a lance can take spirited charge and gain the benefits (kinda like they mounted themselves.)
I don't remember where the rule is though. I just remember it was meant to solve the confusion from centaurs trying to build lance charge builds.

So if you can get the same reach as your mount and if you can get your GM to say that a uni horn is the same as a lance for spirited charge, then you can do some share spell rhino's rush mounted nonsense.

This is assuming you can get him to ignore the whole Unicorn's only like holy girls fluff.

But word of warning, there are better ways to use your mount slot. For instance, take a look at page 99 of FRCS The Underdark. The Stone Flyer is a great example of your mount improving your power, options, and versatility.

Yes we are ignoring the only girls stuff seeing as the Alternate class feature for elves (boy and girl) is unicorns...


Edit:

Though I do belive my group rules it as a lance... because some one else did one with another monster that had a horn... which was much less lance like.

and he grabed them so I am going to say yes.


Edit edit:

O i agree that a unicorn is subpar... its a fluff thing.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Real Amazons ride unicorns. They're both sexist. :smalltongue:

You have to get your character genderbent for this to work unless you've talked to your DM.

Edit: Ninja'd!

[Anarchy_Kanya]

Beloved of Valarian, Book of Exalted Deeds.

You're welcome.

[RagnaroksChosen]

Real Amazons ride unicorns. They're both sexist. :smalltongue:

You have to get your character genderbent for this to work unless you've talked to your DM.


I don't disagree about the gender thing... however pg 155 of RotW says that elves get them regardless of gender... So By RAW unicorns for elf paladins are not female only...

Edit:
Sub par indead :(
I think if i explain the situation it may help... we do this thing with game sometimes where we will pull a "concept" from a hat... (concepts can be any thing from a theme to a class or a feat) any way I drew unicorn... thought a mounted paladin build would be good.

other 2 players pulled
"healer" who is going cleric/the one that gives you turn undead/ then combat medic i think.
"Holy purification" I think he is going some sort of FR cleric thing Kosuth or what not. so I don't know if he is using the fluff I know he is using some of the class diety stuff i think.

[RagnaroksChosen]

Beloved of Valarian, Book of Exalted Deeds.

You're welcome.


Female only though?

[gbprime]

I think if i explain the situation it may help... we do this thing with game sometimes where we will pull a "concept" from a hat... (concepts can be any thing from a theme to a class or a feat) any way I drew unicorn... thought a mounted paladin build would be good.

So where does the not-being-female come from?

[Zeta Kai]

Beloved of Valarian, Book of Exalted Deeds.

You're welcome.

Again, that's a female-only option.

[Ursus the Grim]

All I got so far is paladin 5 elf/ druid 1/ mabye some cavalier... not sure where to go from there...


Is this class makeup set in stone? Because I don't see what's keeping you from going Paladin/Ranger/Wild Plains outrider and getting yourself the classic Supermount.

I believe Exalted companion lets you pick up a Unicorn, plus Natural Bond.

Aside from inexcusable cheese, of course.

[Gotterdammerung]

Since you seem to have a reasonable GM, You can probably get him to refluff the devoted tracker feat to be a pld/druid combination feat. Might bypass the LG and N synergy problems, and have more appropriate prerequs for a druid.

If you get that you can probably work in prestige paladin variant to get your mount with fewer paladin lvls.


I dunno, supermount builds usually end with halfling outrider so that you can raise all pet strength at the same time.

[RagnaroksChosen]

Is this class makeup set in stone? Because I don't see what's keeping you from going Paladin/Ranger/Wild Plains outrider and getting yourself the classic Supermount.

I believe Exalted companion lets you pick up a Unicorn, plus Natural Bond.

Aside from inexcusable cheese, of course.

is ranger 1 better then druid 1? figured druid 1 was better...

Thought i new the super mount.

[Ursus the Grim]

is ranger 1 better then druid 1? figured druid 1 was better...

Thought i new the super mount.

Druid is better, but considering the alignment clash. . . hang on, I'm refining a suggested build for you.

[RagnaroksChosen]

So where does the not-being-female come from?

We have a strong opposition to gender bending...
No offence to any one who is a gender bender just groups personal preference.. two players ruined it for every one..

[Fouredged Sword]

I say you tell your DM that elves are so girly that Valarian mistakes them for women.:smallbiggrin:

Then take that PRC.

[skycycle blues]

There's nothing RAW that would prevent men from riding Unicorns. Healers get them too.
Wild Plains Outrider is cool.
Druid would be good, but there isn't anything (outside of Homebrew) that I'm aware of that allows you to keep all of your class features because of the alignment restrictions.

[Ursus the Grim]

So, a Unicorn, according to the DMG is available for Paladins from level 6.

Here is my suggestion. Keep in mind, that I'm about to head to bed, so its likely that I missed something.

Strongheart Halfling
1 Paladin - Mounted Combat, Skill Focus (Handle Animal)
2 Paladin
3 Paladin - Mounted Archery
4 Paladin
5 Paladin
6 Ranger - Devoted Tracker
7 Beastmaster
8 Halfling Outrider

This gives you an effective Paladin Level of 6 and Effective Druid Level of 5.

This should allow you to have a Unicorn with the following adjustments.

+2 HD, +4 Natural Armor, +1 Strength and Dexterity, Int 6, Empathic Link, Improved Evasion, Share spells and Saving Throws by virtue of being a Mount. +2 HD, +2 Natural Armor, +1 Str, Link, Share Spells, Evasion by virtue of being an Animal Companion.

Your next level (9) should be taken in Halfling Outrider again, and if you pick up Natural Bond at that level, your effective Paladin level goes up to 7, but your Effective Druid Level shoots up to 9, which gives the Unicorn another +4 HD and NA, and another +2 Str and Dex.

[ericgrau]

I'd say leadership => unicorn cohort is the simple method you can tack on to any build but you need to be level 10 for that. I'd ask your DM to delevel the unicorn by 2 levels, losing perhaps 1 HD, 1 LA and 1/4 of the special abilities, all to be gained back in 2 levels. And then it can continue to level up after that.

[missmvicious]

Yup... go Celestial Mount route. I agree with GBPrime.

That way you can carry a small Weapons and Armor/Items and Alchemical shop on your horse's back and send it away at night while you sleep, so no one can steal your stuff while your guard is down. Summon it when you wake up, pack up your tent, slap it on the unicorn's back, and off you go, with every item you could possibly need. Did that with the one Paladin I created. It was great, since I loaded him down with the heaviest armor I could, and the heaviest weapon, but didn't want him to become over-encumbered. He pretty much just kept his ranged weapons, backup melee weapons, a spare shield, ammo, food rations, tent, various kits, and all his miscellaneous traveling accouterments on his Celestial Warhorse and never suffered movement penalties that went beyond the armor's limitations. Everyone thought it was goofy, but I showed them when a pesky little thief stole all their supplies. Yet here I was, not missing one CP, because everything I owned was in another plane of existence. Who's laughing now?

But, unless you "fixed" the Paladin like I did with my house rules, you can't be a Paladin/Druid gestalt. Paladin's can only have one alignment (LG), and Druid's have to be Neutral in at least one category. You ask me, it's a stupid rule. From a fluff standpoint, a Druid is really just a Paladin of Nature, so I don't see why they couldn't cross over, ignoring the RAW. If you make a strong enough case to your DM, he may allow it. But from an ethics standpoint, you really shouldn't try to make this build without clearing it with the DM, because it's technically a broken character. And if you're trying to get away with another bend in the rules (having a Unicorn mount) without clearing the first break... it may cause some issues with the DM.

[Serpentine]

Did... Did everyone forget the Races of the Wild elf Paladin substitution levels? :smallconfused: Get a unicorn mount at level 5.

Some of the advice I got for a similarish build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198102) might help.

Also: unicorns rawk (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188304).

[missmvicious]

Did... Did everyone forget the Races of the Wild elf Paladin substitution levels? :smallconfused: Get a unicorn mount at level 5.

Some of the advice I got for a similarish build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198102) might help.

Also: unicorns rawk (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188304).

Cool! Didn't even know about that. Being a 3.5 DM is like being a Pokemon Trainer in a world where all the Pokemon are out-of-print books...

Even if you catch em all, you're still probably only going to be good at using 5 or 6 of them.

[Coidzor]

IIRC, there's a BoED spell that summons a unicorn to serve for a year, similar to the one Healers get, though, of course, that's not going to scale. I think there's also two where one has a similar deal with a single bariaur ranger of X level and the next one is a group of such (around the level of a cohort's cohort). Which would make fairly sweet mounts, as far as non-flying ones go.

As far as elves having a substitution level that allows them to get a unicorn, well, can we really blame the unicorns for not being able to tell the difference? :smallamused:

It's most unfortunate that the Neutral variant Paladin didn't have special mount as a class feature and had something else instead, as that'd be the minimal kludging necessary entry if it existed to PrC Paladin that on to a druid base. Especially with the Holy Mount feat. Then again, predominantly Druid characters have better things to do than ride around on things that are not fractal bearsplosions.

If you can make a custom class to do this, I'd suggest a pared and toned down druid (possibly spirit shaman casting) with turn undead and maybe a domain(In general I'd say no on the domain, but since you'd be wanting to go a mount-focused build with it, the real potential of turn undead isn't quite accessible) instead of wild shape. So you don't run into the fractal bearsplosion issue. Combine with a splash of tweaked PrC N Pally and you've got a champion of nature.

Ranger Knight of Furyondy (dragon magazine) would be nice if not for the feat-intensive pre-reqs, especially combined with Beastmaster. As it is, you'd need some way to depart from the feat paradigm in order to get enough to qualify in a reasonable time frame and get the mount-stacking up.