Air elemental as a mount? What are the rules.

[incog64]

Looks like I will be getting an Air Elemental as a familiar and I am a medium sized creature. Via Lesser Holy transformation and Enspelled Companion the air Elemental will be medium size and in a couple of levels it will be large via Righteous Might.

What are the rules for using a Medium or Large elemental as a mount.

Thanks.

[InvisibleBison]

The rules for unusual mounts can be found on pages 204-205 of the DMG. They're fairly straightforward, but there is one potential issue with an air elemental. The rules specify that to serve as a mount a creature must be "able and willing to carry its rider in a typical fashion." An air elemental might not be able to serve as a mount, since they're generally depicted as being roughly humanoid shaped and are made out of air. Although they're not incorporeal, so perhaps that won't be an issue. Certainly it's something to ask your DM about.

[Gorthawar]

As an air elemental is not incorporal and has a strength score I imagine it to increase its density sufficiently to carry something. My biggest issue with this when I was using a small druid (anthro monkey) and elemental companion (cloud) to build an E6 character is that the elemental can only fly with a light load. Even with righteous might your familiar might fall short of being able to carry you.

[Arkhios]

The rules for unusual mounts can be found on pages 204-205 of the DMG. They're fairly straightforward, but there is one potential issue with an air elemental. The rules specify that to serve as a mount a creature must be "able and willing to carry its rider in a typical fashion." An air elemental might not be able to serve as a mount, since they're generally depicted as being roughly humanoid shaped and are made out of air. Although they're not incorporeal, so perhaps that won't be an issue. Certainly it's something to ask your DM about.

I would rule that an Air Elemental needs a special saddle, at the very least, to be ridden even if it's willing to do so.

In other words, without one, you simply can't.

[Biggus]

As an air elemental is not incorporal and has a strength score I imagine it to increase its density sufficiently to carry something.

A medium air elemental weighs 2lb and a large one 4lb, that's pretty low density...


The rules for unusual mounts can be found on pages 204-205 of the DMG. They're fairly straightforward, but there is one potential issue with an air elemental. The rules specify that to serve as a mount a creature must be "able and willing to carry its rider in a typical fashion." An air elemental might not be able to serve as a mount, since they're generally depicted as being roughly humanoid shaped and are made out of air. Although they're not incorporeal, so perhaps that won't be an issue. Certainly it's something to ask your DM about.

By RAW there's nothing forbidding it as far as I know, but the unusual mounts section does mention giants "might be...not truly able" to serve as mounts, and the list of unusual mounts doesn't contain any humanoid creatures. So yeah, definitely in "ask your DM" territory.

[ShurikVch]

By RAW there's nothing forbidding it as far as I know, but the unusual mounts section does mention giants "might be...not truly able" to serve as mounts, and the list of unusual mounts doesn't contain any humanoid creatures.
Arms and Equipment Guide says:

Humanoid-Shaped Mounts
Pushing the bounds of what could be called a mount, some humanoid-shaped creatures can be ridden. Because of their shape and carrying capacity, such mounts are usually two size categories larger than their riders. The saddle for such a creature resembles an open backpack with leg holes. When covering distance, riders prefer to ride facing forward, looking over the mount’s shoulder. In battle, riders often find it easier to fight back-to-back with their mounts, essentially riding backward.
In-book examples include Girallon, Gray Render, and Ogre