classes for the mount

[TGWG]

hello i'm playing a human fighter who specializes in mounted combat, and I was thinking of "awakening" my mount and make it take PC classes. which one should I go for? I want a class that will give him good saves and is melee oriented. I've considered the eight basic classes from player's handbook but I can't decide. Is there a beter class out there?

fighter: in theory it sounds like a good idea but the fighter bonus feats don't realy work well if the person using them has no hands.

druid: this might be a cool idea, wild shape would be cool, and you get an animal companion

paladin: same as the druid, but with better melee ability. but what riding animals can a warhorse choose?

Monk: strangely a good idea. bonus to speed, great saves, "unarmed strike," but it doesn't realy fit if you understand what I mean

Cleric: just doesn't fit.

ranger: don't realy know. Do hooves count as a light weapon?

rogue: how do you pick locks with only hooves? how do you sneak attack with only hooves?

bard/wizard/sorcerer: not gonna happen

[Tor the Fallen]

Monk would be best, I think. Speed, passive bonuses survivability.

[Temp]

Better options "out there"? I would say the Crusader: Keep itself alive, keep you alive, use White Raven Maneuvers... it would be awesome.

And your mount is a horse? That rules out pretty much everything spellcasting related... so no Bard (which would otherwise be awesome).

Be sure the Mount gets the Shock Trooper/Leap Attack combination happening; the AC hit won't matter as much if Mounted Combat is thrown into the mix.

Definitely get a Barbarian level. Pounce is great if you have a Charger build.

Monk2/Hexblade4/Paladin of Tyranny3 would be neat for a survivalist; Snag Evasion, Mettle, Shadow Companion and Aura of Whats-it as class abilities.

Use skill points for Mobility skill tricks/prereqs. Those are handy for a mount.

[Mr. Friendly]

Well, from a pure power-gaming perspective, virtually all the choices are good. Why not Warlock? Dragon Shaman? There are tons of choices.

From a DM finger pointing perspective, there is no way this side of the Nine Hells I would let you do it. I mean, you could do it. He''d be intelligent. He'd also demand a full cut of xp and treasure as an equal party member; if you want a free Cohort, take Leadership or classes that duplicate it/give you minions. The Awaken spell specifically says you have no special sway over the Awakened Animal.

[nerulean]

A rogue with opportunist can get quite fun, since you can more or less guarantee it'll be there every time you deal damage. I did this once with a copper-dragon-riding-four-weapon-wielding-broken-epic-character. I've also played a griffon-riding-paladin with the griffon advancing through paladin special mount abilities, who ended up with a crazy-powerful bunch of feats and far outdid his rider.

The real problem with awakened mounts is trying to work out when in the name of all that is good and pure you can actually use what abilities, and when it can use what abilities, and what all the world is actually going on. WotC has a five page "clarification" article on mounted combat, and that's without the complication of the mount being able to actually do anything itself. Much though I adore playing characters in dramatic situations riding awesome mounts, I frequently wonder if it's worth the headache.

[Tor the Fallen]

Be sure the Mount gets the Shock Trooper/Leap Attack combination happening; the AC hit won't matter as much if Mounted Combat is thrown into the mix.

Hmm, that's a good point. Unfortunately, making that ride check only works for one attack. And since most animals are going to come with an LA, I don't think making the mount a glass cannon is worth it. Also, making the mount so good as to count as a second player, may not be fair for the the rest of the party.

[Temp]

WotC has a five page "clarification" article on mounted combat, and that's without the complication of the mount being able to actually do anything itself.Where can I find this? I've been largely making things up on the topic, hoping them reasonable enough to be acceptable.


Hmm, that's a good point. Unfortunately, making that ride check only works for one attack.With Ride-by-Attack, you're probably not going to have to worry about melee or sneak attack damage and spells are going to hit the mount no matter what. Of course, it might be a risky method if you're investing an Awakening spell. I'm assuming this won't outshine the rest of the group due to the level difference, but that might be a concern... maybe.

[nerulean]

Here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050125a) is All About Mounts part one. You can find the others here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/rg), dated through February 2005.

[Armads]

Barbarian's good, because of the movement speed boost, and rage gives it more hps

[Stephen_E]

Keep in mind if you go this route you're either going to have to take the Leadership feat and make your mount your Cohort, or have your mount become a NPC under the complete control of the DM.

You'll need to come to some sort of agreement with the DM what the LA for the mount is. Somethings like Warhorse may well have a LA of 0 when taking in the huge disadvantage of no hands, but their is a big decision that affets this. - Can a creature without hands make unarmed attacks as per a monk. If the answer is yes then don't expect to get a reduction on the LA due to lack of hands.

If the DM does allow Monk unarmed attacks the strongest class outside of ToB is easily Monk. Otherwise I'd suggest looking at Barbarian, Fighter and Scout.

Any class relying on spellcasting is weak.

The specifics rely somewhat on exactly what mount you're choosing, as do details regarding feats and feat combos such as Shock Trooper. Remember that the number of natural attacks never go up, unless you use the animal companion variant of multattack which allows a 2nd attack for a single attack creature. For example if you have a Tiger mount then Shock Trooper with Scout allows you a potential 5 attacks -Bite, 2xClaw, 2xRake, with Power attack and skirmish damage applied to all 5 attacks. A Dire wolf on the otherhand is more interested in the Elusive Target + Improved Trip route, gaining extra trip attacks as much as possible.

Stephen