Paladin mount

[Mulletman258]

As a first time paladin, what kinda of mount does experienced Paladins recommend?

[LoyalPaladin]

As a first time paladin, what kinda of mount does experienced Paladins recommend?
I believe in the DMG they tell you what paladin mounts you can take by level. I just (on Saturday) took a Dire Wolf as my mount... they get Scent and can carry a decent amount. But you can't ever go wrong with a good old warhorse. See what your DM will allow!

[Othniel]

As a first time paladin, what kinda of mount does experienced Paladins recommend?

Probably depends on what game you're playing (3e, 3.5e, d20, etc).

In a recent Pathfinder campaign, I played a Paladin (Shining Knight archetype), took the Monstrous Mount feat (and Monstrous Mount Mastery later), and picked up a Griffon mount. It was really fun.

Standard warhorse is easier to manage, and nothing to sneeze at though.

[Flickerdart]

As a first time paladin, what kinda of mount does experienced Paladins recommend?
The alternate mount formula is: you can choose anything that is able and willing to be ridden (which generally means it's 1 size larger than you and horse- or bird-shaped), with CR equal to your Paladin level minus 3 (or minus 4 if it can fly). So even at level 5 when you first get the mount, you can pick from a bunch of CR2 creatures that aren't the standard heavy warhorse. In core, this is the Bison, Large Monstrous Spider, or Large Viper. The latter two aren't very paladinny (plus you'd need a real fancy saddle to ride a snake) but a bison is a very strong choice that's comparable to the heavy warhorse.

The real fun stuff happens when you hit level 6 because your CR cap is now 3, meaning two things. First, you can ride a Centaur, which is basically like a whole second character - the ability to have your mount hold its own weapons is super useful! If you (or your DM) doesn't like the idea of a Centaur submitting as a mount, you can also pick a Lion, Unicorn, or Dire Wolf. Second, you can use CR2 flying mounts! By default they are just the Dire Bat and Hippogriff, but you can also apply the Half-Celestial template to any CR1 creature (such as a Light Warhorse) to advance it to CR2 and give it flight. Half-Celestial is amazing because it also gives great bonuses and spell-like abilities to your mount. Just make sure that your mount only has 5HD (this is including the bonus HD from being a paladin mount) or else the CR increase will be +2 and then you can't have it until the next level.

[Red Fel]

As a complete alternative, you could take the Charging Smite ACF. You'd lose the Special Mount, but gain bonus damage on a smite while charging. Further, if you miss with a Charging Smite, it doesn't use up your Smite attempt, which is very useful when conserving a precious daily resource.

I find the Charging Smite ACF is a great tool for someone who's going to wind up in caverns, castles, and other places where a horse (or griffon, or wolf) might not otherwise fit.

If you still want a mount, the Drakkensteed ACF replaces your Special Mount with a Drakkensteed - basically, a clever sub-dragon. If you'd rather spend a feat, you can take the Dragon Steed feat, which gives you a Dragonnel as a cohort, and if you have a Special Mount (which Paladins do) it becomes your Special Mount, as well. Note that the Drakkensteed has better land movement, but the Dragonnel has better flight and is more intelligent.

[endur]

As a first time paladin, what kinda of mount does experienced Paladins recommend?

I agree with the other posters.

The key questions are going to be ... what race is your character? what mounts are you already using? what mounts do others use in your party/your campaign?

If everyone else is riding a horse, it might be expected that you also ride a horse. On the other hand, you might be in a campaign where unicorns, pegasi, griffons, etc. are mounts that heroes use.

[atemu1234]

I believe in the DMG they tell you what paladin mounts you can take by level. I just (on Saturday) took a Dire Wolf as my mount... they get Scent and can carry a decent amount. But you can't ever go wrong with a good old warhorse. See what your DM will allow!

And you can call yourself Jon Snow.