Horse in the dungeon! Horse in the dungeon!

[DRD1812]

Where do you guys come down on bringing your noble steed into the dungeon? You can't because climbing? Legal but nonsensical? Depends on the dungeon? Tie him up outside?

How do you play it at your table?

(Comic for reference (http://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/the-handbook-of-heroes-01)).

[Azgeroth]

would depend both on the steed and dungeon, example.

your not getting a horse into a kobold warren... straight up, size wont allow it.

your not going to get far in a dungeon with your horse, if there are large drops, shear cliffs etc.

if your mount is a goat, or a mastiff, you can get it into the kobold warren, you might be able to get it up/down those cliff faces (with use of block and tackle(pulleys) or just rope with good str).

also to be concidered, how is your horse going to react to being told to enter a dark narrow underground tunnel with unusual/foul smells and noises? probably not well.. same could be said for a goat, perhaps even the mastiff..

my favourite mount of all is a giant (medium) spider, because it can go just about anywhere...

hope this helps!

[NecroDancer]

Our paladin has been riding his horse for so long he could easily be a centaur. Luckily we have yet to do any intense dungeon crawling but when mobility is an issue I can cast a flight spell on the horse (we can fit multiple people on the horse so the spell gets more bang for its buck).

[Millstone85]

I suppose this comic went with an unicorn to emphasize the "logic is for chumps" bit.

But if you have an unicorn as a steed, then tying him up outside is what would strain my suspension of disbelief. In the context of 5e D&D at least, it is an intelligent and magical creature that is also very brave in the face of danger and evil.

Climbing a rope would still be a problem, though.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I'd say it's fine, as long as there's enough headroom (a horse and rider needs 15ft), but I'd also say that it's likely there won't be enough headroom in a lot of natural caves. Or artificial caves designed to be defensible.

In any case, the real question should be: can I bring my chariot (http://mfov.magehandpress.com/2017/06/hold-your-horses-chariot-rules.html)?

[MaxWilson]

Where do you guys come down on bringing your noble steed into the dungeon? You can't because climbing? Legal but nonsensical? Depends on the dungeon? Tie him up outside?

How do you play it at your table?

(Comic for reference (http://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/the-handbook-of-heroes-01)).

Depends on the dungeon, the mission, and the steed. In general though, even if the dungeon is too cramped or steep for horses, it's a good policy to have horses waiting nearby the exit in case you need to make a getaway from something that turned out to be much tougher than you expected. (C.f. Gygaxian Naturalism, http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2008/09/gygaxian-naturalism.html)

Obviously if you're doing a "dungeon" which is actually a raid on a hobgoblin war camp or a frost giant fortress or something--a "dungeon" purely for purposes of technical jargon--then you can bring your horse along with you. Even some genuine dungeons can accommodate horses, albeit at a cost in Squeezing Into Smaller Spaces (PHB, somewhere around page 164 I think) and difficult terrain in many places (stairs)--so if you don't mind the possible expense of losing a mount (possibly a 400 gp warhorse), you might as well try to bring it with you. If worst comes to worst maybe the monsters can at least be persuaded to eat the horse and not the PCs, unless the monsters are creatures like ghouls which prefer the taste of man-flesh to horse-flesh.

Find Steed is a pretty awesome spell BTW.

[DRD1812]

In any case, the real question should be: can I bring my chariot (http://mfov.magehandpress.com/2017/06/hold-your-horses-chariot-rules.html)?

Depends. What's the chariot's climb skill? :P