dragonish mount instead of familiar and steed?

[follacchioso]

Hello,
I'm going to play a few sessions as a Vengeance Paladin 6 / Warlock Pact of the Chain 4 character.

I was thinking that, instead of going around with a little zoo of of familiar and steed, I could ask the master to "combine" them into a single creature, e.g. a better steed.

question 1: is it worth it?

Advantages:
- the steed would have better characteristics and survivability, so I don't have to worry too much about re-summoning them over and over again
- It would be cool to drive some fancy creature into battle. I was thinking about a steed with dragonish features, from the pseudo-dragon familiar
- If I choose a pseudodragon, I would have advantage on perception throws when mounted

Cons
- obviously, if the adventure leads me to a place where I cannot bring my steed with me, I loose both benefits
- can't send the steed to scout in advance

question 2Which characteristics would you grant to such a creature?

It would be good to "combine" a pseudodragon and a steed, to get a dragonish war horse.

However, how many HPs? Which characteristics and features would you grant?

[Seclora]

I would have a look at the Guard Drake in Volo's for some idea of how that would look

[supergoji18]

Here's a mythical creature that sounds like what you want. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longma) Try taking some inspiration from it.

[follacchioso]

Great, thanks for the answers! But do you think it will be worth it, or I am betting too much on mounted fight?

[Seclora]

That depends on the campaign and the DM. If you'll be outside, mount is handy. If you do a lot of dungeon crawling, or urban adventuring, then a mount is going to be beneficial, but still flavorful if played right. I'd go for it, but be ready for the possibility that it never gets ridden in battle.