PDA

View Full Version : Exotic Mounts (4e)



DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 09:05 PM
Yo, guys. Old timer member. Started 4e. Loving it. Making new account. Posting new thread. Ah, this is the life, eh?

Hahaha, but seriously. My players are headed to an area with a lot of monsters meant to be used as mounts. Ie rage drakes, behemoths, dire boars, etcetera.

Our party's wizard is damn near obsessed with getting one. So, I need feedback on two ideas I've had. 1. A bit of a mini skill challenge to turn a tamed monster to your side. 2. An overly simple price system that I want trashed...

Okay, the way the taming system works is thus:
1. The creature must be bloodied and the only survivor of its combat encounter.
2. Intimidate or Insight against creature's Will.
3. Nature Check against creature's Fortitude.

I hate step 3. It makes no sense and I only stuck it in to make this a bit harder for the players. I want complexity, not impossibility. But I want it to make sense as well.

As for the pricing system for simply buying mounts, well that's rather pathetic. I just multiply the creatures level by 1,000.

Any thoughts would be welcome. I've loved using this place in the past, and I hope the people here are as awesome and intelligent as I remember.

alfredbester
2008-10-13, 09:09 PM
You might be interested in the Adventurer's Vault supplement as it actually has a section on mounts including rage drakes and dire boars.

Guinea Anubis
2008-10-13, 09:10 PM
Adventurer's Vault has a list of mounts with there prices

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 09:16 PM
WAHOO! Giant comes through in the clutch yet again! Thank you guys! What do you think I could do with extra steps for my taming idea?

RTGoodman
2008-10-13, 09:21 PM
(Self-Plug - I, with a few others, did it before Adventurer's Vault, have a fancy PDF (http://rtg0922.googlepages.com/4eExpandedMountOptions.pdf), and have advancement rules, too.)


By the way, mounts are just priced as a magic item of their level. There's a chart in the PHB that has that exact thing.

EDIT: And I really need to get back to that thread. I just need more time to work with the homebrew projects I've left in various stages of creation. :smallsigh:

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 09:23 PM
Yahoo! That makes things much, much easier! And more affordable! Thanks dude!

...

Read PDF. I think I'm in love... These monsters are absolutely fantastic, and dang near perfect for this area. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

erikun
2008-10-13, 09:25 PM
This isn't Final Fantasy, and you character isn't trying to catch a Chocobo. Unless you are running a Final Fantasy game, and the character is trying to catch a Chocobo.

If you want someone to try to "tame" a wild mount, just tell them that it's possible, and see what they do. They'll need to catch one somehow, probably by subduing and then wrestling it into submission. (Game methods: knocking it into bloodied, then trying to grapple and pin it. Or if it's too big, try a grapple to get onto it's back, and hang on while it bucks around.) No offense, but if they just drop it to 0 HP and choose to knock it "unconcious", then I wouldn't allow the training to work. It simply stays too wild, or dies in captivity.

Once they caught the mount, they'll need someplace to keep it and try to tame it. Probably a skill challange, mainly Nature vs. Will, although they can probably roll Intimidate (which will only work so many times, and probably give a bonus to Will rolls afterwards) or Insight (to see how well they are doing). The person who manages to tame it through Nature checks would be the only one who could ride it; the beast would probably snap at anyone else trying.

Beyond that, remember that they probably won't be doing this more than once. You want to subdue the beast to "show it who's boss", then gradually train it into ridability. I wouldn't even put a limit on the number of failed Nature attempts - as long as the party can house and feed the beast, the PC can continue trying to tame it. Of course, there should be a limit to the number of Intimidate checks that can be made... too many, and the beast just refuses training.

You'll probably want to include some kind of wise old equestrian, who can give the PCs some advice on how to catch their own mount. Mind you, most people aren't crazy enough to try to tame a dinosaur, but the training tips to train horses will probably apply to anything.

No clue about buying them, though.

RTGoodman
2008-10-13, 09:26 PM
Yahoo! That makes things much, much easier! And more affordable! Thanks dude! Now if only I could load the ding dong PDF...

Hmm. I didn't have a problem opening it, so I'm not sure what your problem is. If you still can't get to it after fiddling with it, send me a PM with your e-mail address and I can send you the .doc or .docx file of it.

NPCMook
2008-10-13, 09:29 PM
Well make sure you understand 100% of the rules on mounted combat. Taming checks I'd say use these conditions:

1: Monster is Bloodied
2: Player must be of equal or higher level than monster*
3: Have them make a check based on how you would normally identify the creature.
4: Diplomacy/Intimidate depending on how the player wants to get this thing on its side.
5: Don't be like my DM (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4740497#post4740497)

*Though you can opt out for this one, they just won't be able to use the ability granted by the monster for mounted combat.

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 09:32 PM
I love those ideas. I didn't want everything targetting Will, but I suppose it's the only defense that'd work, huh?

And don't worry about it, rtg. I got it open, and I love it. I just have dial up, that's all.

Heskan da snipa
2008-10-13, 09:36 PM
i think it may be interesting to have the players to do a nature check to find out how to tame the creature best. then have them try and subdue the creature with a grapple or strength check as stated in a previous reply. once accomplished the player should then make a will vs will (sounds weird but makes sense) on said creature in order for it to be their mount.

erikun
2008-10-13, 09:37 PM
I love those ideas. I didn't want everything targetting Will, but I suppose it's the only defense that'd work, huh?
I would say that training would be against the creature's Charisma (10 + 1/2 level + Cha modifier), seeing as how you need to overcome their individuality in order for them to accept you. Seeing as the Will save is usually the same thing, I just said "vs. Will" to make the comment shorter. :P

Heskan da snipa
2008-10-13, 09:38 PM
it should also be bloodied

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 09:45 PM
I would say that training would be against the creature's Charisma (10 + 1/2 level + Cha modifier), seeing as how you need to overcome their individuality in order for them to accept you. Seeing as the Will save is usually the same thing, I just said "vs. Will" to make the comment shorter. :P

Hahahaha! Good point! Cause Wisdom or Charisma determines Will. And either would work in this situation, so I might as well go with the highest one.

Hahaha, I could see the wizard wrestling the rage drake now and the paladin refusing to help him. They despise each other. The fighter might help him, though.

The monster should be incapable of running though, you've got that right.

7th lvl scrub
2008-10-13, 09:46 PM
Hahahaha! Good point! Cause Wisdom or Charisma determines Will. And either would work in this situation, so I might as well go with the highest one.

Hahaha, I could see the wizard wrestling the rage drake now and the paladin refusing to help him. They despise each other. The fighter might help him, though.

The monster should be incapable of running though, you've got that right.

....And the warlord would sit idly by and laugh it up.

erikun
2008-10-13, 09:48 PM
I was talking about the after-battle training, although you're right. The creature should probably be bloodied before any kind of capture. Bloodied is a good indication of "yes, I am getting my butt kicked", and most animals aren't going to be subdued while they're still healthy. You should need to wear them down a bit.

Also, one last thing about skill challanges. There is a right way and a wrong way to do them.

Right way: The old man who tends the stables informs the party, "Taming a wild beast takes time and effort. You need to gradually get him used to you, keep plenty of food on hand to teach him, and watch out for any problems. You can try to push him around, but he isn't going to put up with that forever." Then just sit back and see what the party does. They should pick up on the clues, and start buying food, rolling Nature/whatever, and avoid using Intimidate too much.

Wrong way: "Okay, it takes 10 Nature successes to tame it. Start rolling, and roll a Perception check every 5 rolls to see if it gets away."

One way makes the players feel involved in raising the mount. The other way feels like rolling a bunch of dice.

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 09:49 PM
....And the warlord would sit idly by and laugh it up.

Hah! And what kinda mount would you want, Akatosh? And if you say a Young Red I swear I'll proverbial lightning bolt you so fast you'll blink and your new barbarian will already be rolled.

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 09:51 PM
Right way: The old man who tends the stables informs the party, "Taming a wild beast takes time and effort. You need to gradually get him used to you, keep plenty of food on hand to teach him, and watch out for any problems. You can try to push him around, but he isn't going to put up with that forever." Then just sit back and see what the party does. They should pick up on the clues, and start buying food, rolling Nature/whatever, and avoid using Intimidate too much.

Wrong way: "Okay, it takes 10 Nature successes to tame it. Start rolling, and roll a Perception check every 5 rolls to see if it gets away."

One way makes the players feel involved in raising the mount. The other way feels like rolling a bunch of dice.

I love you for showing me this, Erikun. And the half-orc running the mount store works perfectly.

Muchos gracias.

erikun
2008-10-13, 09:52 PM
No problem; I'm glad I could help. :smallsmile:

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 09:59 PM
Now, if only two of my players weren't reading this thread, one of which being the most annoying stats-for-brains warlord I've ever known.

8P

I'm going to regret this, Akatosh... I know I am.

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 10:05 PM
Oh, and I suppose mentioning that the creatures in mention were already tamed by the party's enemies would have come in handy, huh?

Oh well, this gives a good system altogether. So here's what I'm thinking:

1. Bloody monster
2. Kill monster's friends
3. Tie monster down via grapple check
4. Find tamer to figure out what exactly to do
5. Initiate skill challenge with Intimidate, Insight, Nature, and Perception
6. Friendly monster
7. I kill friendly, bloodied monster that warlord and paladin refuse to heal
8. Repeat!!!

Hopefully they'll want to get something accomplished other than taming monsters that night and won't be complete ninkampoops about things.

Though I don't know about the wizard... He killed old lady Sandercot and turned central Fallcrest into a brothel district on his last character...

RTGoodman
2008-10-13, 10:06 PM
I agree with erikun - make sure you do a skill challenge, and do it the right way. Also, you should go check out the errata (or "updates" as they're callin' 'em nowadays), since there were a LOT of changes to skill challenges, if I remember right.

NPCMook
2008-10-13, 10:07 PM
I'd let them try to catch the creature healthy, but the creature will have a + modifier to its will defense vs. their check.

Also while taming as Erikun described, I'd give them several options of feed. I don't think a Rage Drake would be very inclined if you were just feeding it wheat. Feeding them the wrong type of food could say increase the length of time it takes to tame it. I believe the PHB has some misc. items such as various feeds for animals.

Heskan da snipa
2008-10-13, 10:12 PM
yea but im goin to read this anyways and figure out a way to make it easy on myself. rangers ftw woot!

DragonBaneDM
2008-10-13, 10:30 PM
I'd let them try to catch the creature healthy, but the creature will have a + modifier to its will defense vs. their check.

Also while taming as Erikun described, I'd give them several options of feed. I don't think a Rage Drake would be very inclined if you were just feeding it wheat. Feeding them the wrong type of food could say increase the length of time it takes to tame it. I believe the PHB has some misc. items such as various feeds for animals.


Muhahaha. The amount of time this is going to take is gonna cause some controversy. I love it when these guys get into fights with each other. Especially in this next area. Divide and conquer.