Found something dumb. Does it work by RAW?

[Zaq]

I feel like I've brought this up in years past... oh well.

Step 0: Get ranks in Ride.
Step 1: Get a psicrystal.
Step 2: Have the psicrystal (which has your skill ranks but which is also a creature that has HD and therefore has feats) take Mounted Combat.
Step 3: Have the psicrystal ride you (on your head, on your shoulder, get a special harness/"saddle"/whatever, you know, like you do).
Optional: Get the psicrystal a ton of bonuses to Ride.

Then, once per round, the psicrystal can make a Ride check to negate an attack against you.

Objection #1: But humanoids are poor mounts!
Answer #1: PHB pg. 80: "If you attempt to ride a creature that is ill suited as a mount (such as most bipedal creatures), you take a -5 penalty on your Ride checks." So you absolutely can ride on a bipedal creature—there's just a penalty, and we can overcome that.

Objection #2: You don't have a saddle!
Answer #2: If you don't want to argue that you can have one specially made (hell, just take ranks in Craft), okay, that's at most another -5. Those add up but they're just penalties, not restrictions.

Anyway. This is obviously dumb. Is there something in the mounted combat rules that prevents it from working, though? I read through them before posting this topic, and it seems to me that if the psicrystal isn't trying to actually do anything with its actions, you (the "mount") wouldn't be restricted in any meaningful capacity.

If it does work by RAW, how can we make it better? What's the best low-investment way to soup up a psicrystal's Ride score?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

RAW it would work. There's even rules in A&EG about goblins riding ogres. A given DM may not allow it on principle, or may make a ruling that the rider must have a higher Int score than the mount or similar.

[RaiKirah]

I'm particularly partial to talking a friend into playing a Dragonwrought Kobold and then taking levels in the Dragonrider (Dr) or Dragon Rider (DCS) classes without previously telling them your plan.

[daremetoidareyo]

Share soulmeld arguably works with riding bracers. And it can push you to do a trick!

[RSGA]

RAW it works, but it pretty quickly becomes an interesting curiosity because of the holes in it. Only once per round, the parenthetical means that it technically is always wasted against a natural 20, and of course it doesn't do anything if the attack doesn't target AC, and the only feat that I can think of that helps with that last one is a regional Faerunian feat for humans. So what you want to do is the usual miss chances and having a good AC.

[Zaq]

RAW it works, but it pretty quickly becomes an interesting curiosity because of the holes in it. Only once per round, the parenthetical means that it technically is always wasted against a natural 20, and of course it doesn't do anything if the attack doesn't target AC, and the only feat that I can think of that helps with that last one is a regional Faerunian feat for humans. So what you want to do is the usual miss chances and having a good AC.

Yeah, but it's honestly not that big of an investment (at least for a nomad or a psychic warrior—or a divine mind, I suppose, if you're aiming for a challenge) if you already wanted a psicrystal (which you might, for Psicrystal Containment, solicit psicrystal, the vigor/share pain trick, and so on). Costs some skill ranks in a situationally useful skill and costs the feat to get the psicrystal itself, and then that's pretty much it. And then you can invest in normal AC and miss chance as well, giving yourself three chances to nope out of a hit instead of two.

[Vizzerdrix]

I am picturing something akin to Navi riding on Links shoulder, screaming "LOOK OUT!" into his ear every 6 seconds. :smallyuk:

[DeTess]

It seems to work by RAW, and as a DM I wouldn't really have anything against this particular trick. We'd just fluff it as the psi-crystal trying to provide you with a timely warning so you can dodge an attack you didn't see coming.

[The Viscount]

I am picturing something akin to Navi riding on Links shoulder, screaming "LOOK OUT!" into his ear every 6 seconds. :smallyuk:

I picture, as I do whenever possible, Master Blaster from Beyond Thunderdome.

Seems a legit strategy. The biggest potential barrier I see is that your DM might say you don't get to select which feats your Psicrystal gets, as some might do for animal companions.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Share soulmeld arguably works with riding bracers. And it can push you to do a trick!

Does Share Soulmeld work with psicrystals? It only lists familiars, animal companions, and mounts with whom you can share spells but that may have been errata'd. Amusingly, that means it's probably legit for the psicrystal to take Share Soulmelds, since you're its mount and it can share spells with you ("sharing" refers to either giving or receiving, according to the dictionary).

[The Viscount]

Psicrystals are basically familiars, and the system is kind of bad at remembering psionics exist. The more pressing problem is that melds don't work as well with creatures with nonhumanoid body shapes, and I don't know that psicrystal meaningfully had an arms chakra.

[Doctor Despair]

I picture, as I do whenever possible, Master Blaster from Beyond Thunderdome.

Seems a legit strategy. The biggest potential barrier I see is that your DM might say you don't get to select which feats your Psicrystal gets, as some might do for animal companions.

You can Psychic Reformation your crystal's feats thoigh, right? Providing you can control its choices after creation, but arguably not during creation

[The Viscount]

You can Psychic Reformation your crystal's feats thoigh, right? Providing you can control its choices after creation, but arguably not during creation

The choice is made by the subject, and it's a little fuzzy on that level of control over your psicrystal. Also you split the XP costs, and I don't know that a psicrystal actually has the XP to spend (unless you're assuming you just spend it all yourself).

[Telonius]

I think this would work until the DM asks you the last time your horse got XP for taking part in combat.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

A.) You can manifest psychic reformation on yourself (and do what you want to with it with your own feats) and share it with your psicrystal. The psicrystal then takes its own feats as it likes. Just ask it to do what you want it to. Most psicrystals are Helpful, at least, and will likely do so.

A1.) Psychic reformation is [Mind-Affecting]. You'd have to overcome that first, likely via metamorphosis.

B.) Psicrystals have no Con scores and cannot have soulmelds as a result. That definitely counts for giving the psicrystal itself the ability to form and bind soulmelds, although I'm not sure if Share Soulmeld works or not. It definitely doesn't for any soulmeld attached to a body part the psicrystal doesn't have.

B1.) Metamorphosis works just fine on a psicrystal and would allow it to form and bind soulmelds if given a form with a Con score. A psychoactive skin of proteus would be the best way for this, since it's permanent until removed or deactivated.

[Psyren]

I think this would work until the DM asks you the last time your horse got XP for taking part in combat.

Yeah, arguing that your character should count as a mount by RAW could have downsides too.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Yeah, arguing that your character should count as a mount by RAW could have downsides too.A player can act as a mount for another player, so long as either they are willing to take massive penalties or resources are expended to minimize them.

And mounts should gain experience for surviving in fights. It'd help their survivability later in the game and encourage getting emotionally attached (as we are wont to do with pets; roleplay time!). Unfortunately, that would mean taking a larger percentage of the group XP.

Honestly, the rules for Leadership/cohorts/pets/mounts/familiars/whatever and level/XP gain really need a rework for them to both be useful and to make sense. Perhaps a separate pool of XP gained depending on what their roles are? That way, it'd have a limited pool to limit the number of extraneous bodies on the battlefield, and it would encourage having mounts and such without taking away from the party's XP pool.

[Elves]

If the mount has animal intelligence, just provide an on/off toggle for whether you want it to gain XP or not. People who want to level up their mount can do so, people who just want a set of hooves aren't punished.