Recently Benjamin Baugh wrote about special mounts and made a document available detailing some random tables for epic mounts.
some random tables for epic mounts
I’ve also been using mounts in my campaign, but they’re not as epic as Benjamin’s mounts. One of the halflings runs a unicorn reserve and rides on one. There’s also a standing offer for a life-long supply of (stolen) pegasi.
Here’s how I run it:
1. Mounts and animal companions act a lot like other non-player characters in that they can join you. This usually involves a minor favor such as feeding the griffons their favorite meat, taming the young weasels by petting them and feeding them, offering the unicorns a safe haven, rendering Freya a service such that she’ll turn your wolf companion into an ice wolf.
2. Mounts and animal companions act a lot like henchmen in that they count against the limit imposed by your charisma, they’re loyal and courageous. They don’t require morale checks in combat.
3. They don’t gain experience points and they don’t level up.
Reading Benjamin’s document has me rethinking this last point, however. Perhaps the mounts and animal companions having as many hit dice as their master would make for a better game?
Or perhaps, like non-player characters, they should be at roughly one level below their master? That would also solve the issue of people buying war dogs at first level (HD 2+2 as wolves). First level characters would get dogs that also have just 1d4 hit points. Second level characters would get dogs that have 1d8 hit points, and so on. But then war horses would be much less scary: first level veterans don’t get HD 3 war horses. They get 1d4 hp war horses. Perhaps it would be better for the hit dice in the monster stat block to be the starting point. When you buy them, war horses have HD 3, war dogs have HD 2+2. If you’re level 7, the war horse will have HD 6 and the war dog will have HD 6+2.
And slowly, as I’m thinking it through, I’m starting to like Benjamin’s solution. Mounts don’t get experience points, they auto-level up. They don’t count against the henchman limit. They have abilities matching their own class. Plus he has some fun tables to roll on.
#RPG