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View Full Version : Paladin special mount and cohort rules?



schreier
2016-12-29, 01:49 PM
I've seen several threads, but no real resolution on the answer ... on page 199 of the DMG, it says
"PALADIN COHORT MOUNTS
At the DM's option, she may allow a paladin or other character with a special mount class feature to combine the special mount with the cohort feat. The special qualities, such as the empathic link and shared spells make this quite potent and worth a minimum of a +2 level adjustment to the cohort mount ECL"

The way I read that is that if you take Leadership or Dragon Cohort, add +2 (as a minimum), then the cohort mount gains the special features. If you look at the table on the Paladin listing, it has: Bonus HD, Natural Armor Adj., Str Adj., Int, and Special. It specifically lists "empathic link" and "shared spells" as "special qualities. I read that as meaning only the "Special Column" -- so:
5th-7th - Empathic link, improved evasion, share spells, share saving throws
8th-10th - Improved speed
11th-14th - Command creatures of its kind
15th-20th - Spell resistance

So it would not include the HD, Armor, Str or Int aspects ... that seems reasonable to me. I would take the "mount" class levels (paladin, etc ...) to determine the special abilities, but otherwise it is stat-ed out as any other cohort. Obviously, the character can not have another mount in that case ...

What do you think?

schreier
2016-12-29, 10:11 PM
Just figured I'd bump one time to see if anyone had any thoughts?

TristanS
2016-12-30, 04:05 PM
That is a very reasonable interpretation. I don't see a more RAW reading honestly, even though it is not clear. I can't imagine including the HD, Armor and Strength bonuses - that seems way overpowered.

So this would be best for a multiclassed characted (get a higher HD "mount" without having to focus on paladin levels) right?

schreier
2017-01-01, 07:58 PM
Thanks for the feedback ... looks like I'll stick with the +2 to LA adjustment from the cohort for mount ... I do not think it would include the summoning ability, since the cohort is kind of full-time, although I'm not sure about that since the summon ability seems inherent in the mount feature