Coolest Mounts

[MrStabby]

I am trying to flesh out a bit of one of my worlds at the moment and I am trying to work out some of the nations and their armies. As part of this I was thinking it could be cool to give them some unique cavalry mounts and to make their fighting doctrine match this style.

I don't want to go overboard with this - whilst it isn't the most deadly super serious campaign I think more than about two of these features might swing it too far towards the silly side.


With this in mind, what beasts would make the coolest mounts? At present my short-list is, from the MM miscellaneous creatures section:


Halfling / Vulture - a mountain kingdom with elite warriors mounted on vultures for hit and run raids on the winding passes of their geography.

Halfling / Giant spider - spider climb is great for mountains and the webbing can make for a great ambush tool.

Human / Rhinoceros - the epitome of heavy cavalry that break combat lines with a charge. Plains based where there is space to manoeuvre.

Elf / Sabertooth - its all about the harassment - pouncing then disengaging to pounce again.

Dwarf / Polar Bear - slow but tough. Not about a charge but about grinding out a prolonged combat.

Ogre / Mammoth - Not many mounts are big enough for a large creature; it seems a shame not to use it. A lance armed ogre on a mammoth could be pretty terrifying.

Gnome / Giant wasp - I love the idea of the sound this makes and the gnomes extracting the poison for their weapons. I suspect I would make these gnome druids - or at least build them with some spellcasting ability.


Human / Giant Scorpion - Barbarian raiders coming out of the desert at night, grabbing enemies whilst their riders assist. Image-wise they may need a smaller rider to the tail gets clearance over the riders head to sting.


X / Giant toad - great for a swamp theme and the ability to leap difficult ground and obstacles would make common anti-cavalry defences less effective. Great for amphibious assaults. The swallow mechanic is great against enemies that don't outnumber them by much - taking some out of the action is a pretty big effect. Mounted combatant feat may need some help with the swallow rule - being able to force the swallowed person to attack the rider rather than the frog that swallowed it seems a bit of a stretch.

Ogre / Giant Crocodile, X/crocodile - Mainly because it is another huge beast I mention it. I think the mammoth is cooler as a concept for ogres (and more in keeping with their planned geography) and for aquatic mounts I would prefer the giant frog. Still, if there is a more amphibious themed one the CR5 badass mount might be good for a leader.

Goblin / Direwolf - Pack tactics, knockdown and some great speed should make these pretty good mounts for mounted goblin rogues.

Elf / Awakened Tree - Not quite a standard mount but as a feature of their military I was thinking of mobile treehouses used as weapons platforms. Too silly?



Which of these (or others) would be the most characterful, fun and faction defining options?

[Joe the Rat]

I actually like giant goats (or rams) for dwarves. Mountain capable.
Gnomes on Dire Corgis. Which are just lowrider mastiffs, statwise.
Chocobo comparisons aside, large flightless (or mostly flightless) birds would add some variety. Savage Halflings on axebeaks, or forest elves on giant cassowaries.
Give the lizard folk all of the dinosaurs.

[Addaran]

Goblins usually ride Worg, since they are smart and speak Goblin. =P

Love your idea of Ogre on Mammoth. That would be so scary.

The gnomes with giant wasp is pretty original and fun. The buzzing sound would strike fear in enemies.

Tribals halfling who do ambushes with the giant spider, i love it! Might use it one day.

Rhino charges might need something tougher then humans, either dwarf or half-orc.



A bit silly, but giant crab riding halfling! Use it as a floating moving plateform to attack ships. Would make for some cool/unusual pirates.

edit: Oh and for bad guys, a flight of goblin or kobold warlocks that are lifted by their imps. No really a mount, but they hang from one hand while shooting eldritch blast with the other. Would make your arm sore, so use it only just before the attack to get in the air then rain down eldritch doom.

[eldamir]

dwarves on subterranean giant lizards might be fun.

a raiding party of roc-riding giants would be terrifying to encounter

and of course, X/wyvern (aka dragonriders)

[ATHATH]

War elephants are ridiculously cheap for their combat ability, and can be easily maintained by some castings of Create Food and Water. Slap a gondola on one and snipe some people while your elephant runs others over.

[MrStabby]

I actually like giant goats (or rams) for dwarves. Mountain capable.
Gnomes on Dire Corgis. Which are just lowrider mastiffs, statwise.
Chocobo comparisons aside, large flightless (or mostly flightless) birds would add some variety. Savage Halflings on axebeaks, or forest elves on giant cassowaries.
Give the lizard folk all of the dinosaurs.

I think the axebeak thing could work well. Visually appealing, low level enough to be seen in big enough numbers and fast enough to add some dynamism into encounters.


Goblins usually ride Worg, since they are smart and speak Goblin. =P

Love your idea of Ogre on Mammoth. That would be so scary.

The gnomes with giant wasp is pretty original and fun. The buzzing sound would strike fear in enemies.

Tribals halfling who do ambushes with the giant spider, i love it! Might use it one day.

Rhino charges might need something tougher then humans, either dwarf or half-orc.



A bit silly, but giant crab riding halfling! Use it as a floating moving plateform to attack ships. Would make for some cool/unusual pirates.

edit: Oh and for bad guys, a flight of goblin or kobold warlocks that are lifted by their imps. No really a mount, but they hang from one hand while shooting eldritch blast with the other. Would make your arm sore, so use it only just before the attack to get in the air then rain down eldritch doom.

Thanks for the input. It is easy to know what you like and what you think will work but harder to know what other people will find appealing. Getting the alternative views is good.


dwarves on subterranean giant lizards might be fun.

a raiding party of roc-riding giants would be terrifying to encounter

and of course, X/wyvern (aka dragonriders)

Dwarves on lizards could work - it would certainly add something different to encounters. I am not sure if it is reasonable for them to be mounted whilst tunnelling but as a unit it could be a good addition to the world.

The rest are probably suitable for a higher level than I think my campaign will go.

Thanks for the input.

[Maxilian]

A society of Gnomes that lives in a Swamp and use as a mounts Giants Toads, their elite warriors also have Potions of Growth to give to their mount so they can swallow their enemies (To take as prisioners or just a small snack) :smallbiggrin:

[Maxilian]

I actually like giant goats (or rams) for dwarves. Mountain capable.

Same, mostly cause i love how they look, the look awesome, even more with armor.



Gnomes on Dire Corgis. Which are just lowrider mastiffs, statwise.


But... THEY ARE BEUTIFUL! (Also they are a really cheap mount)



Chocobo comparisons aside, large flightless (or mostly flightless) birds would add some variety. Savage Halflings on axebeaks, or forest elves on giant cassowaries.

Axebeaks is one of my most wanted mounts, but there's alway a mount that i found more interesting, like a Boar (or Giant Boar depending the size of the race mounting it)



Give the lizard folk all of the dinosaurs.

Sadly the only ones that can actually use a Pterodactyl are small races (unless you get something to make them bigger)

Also... A Gorilla being mounted by a Halfling that... would be awesome
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/a8/9d/ab/a89daba90335a8b5febcd9c5aedd32f0.jpg


(Though one of my most wanted mount with my first character was a Lion)

I wanted to be something like this:

http://i.imgur.com/8weKPdW.jpg

[eldamir]

Dwarves on lizards could work - it would certainly add something different to encounters. I am not sure if it is reasonable for them to be mounted whilst tunnelling but as a unit it could be a good addition to the world.

I would see the lizard mounts as being used for patrols - either around their subterranean cities or in contested areas.