3.5 Halfling Mounted Combat Char [Archive] - Wizards Community

3.5 Halfling Mounted Combat Char [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Tr0gd0r
12-21-05, 05:22 AM Hi All

I've tried searching for a similar build but haven't had any luck.

I was looking for a new character to have in my next campaign (currently a druid / momf) and I was thinking of going back to melee. but with a twist.

Previously my melee chars were Spiked chain trippers / power attackers and I'm wanting a change.

In the current campaign the fighter has a warhorse and it seems really useful in combat when outside, however in a dungeon we have to leave it outside.

My druid however has a riding dog as a companion (since it has better stats than a wolf) even though he is a human so he doesn't actually ride it.

The riding dog is great in the dungeon since it can scent and hunt with the party so I was thinking of having a small creature who uses a riding dog as a mount.

Looking at mounted combat and charges with lances I was thinking that a halfling paladin of some sort would be fun to play.

After a few hours of searching through the 3.5ed splat books here is what I came up with :

PHB feats
page 100 - spirited charge - x2 damage on charge of u and your mount with melee weapon, x3 damage with lance

Complete Warrior
Cavalier PRC page 19
Pre-reqs : bab +8, some skills, spirit charge, weapon focus lance, mounted combat, ride by attack
Full BAB progression
some of the benefits are :
lvl 1 - ride skill bonus +2 (+2 for every 3 lvls), mount (levels stack with paladin for mount purposes)
lvl 1 - Mounted Weapon Bonus +1 to-hit (and +1 for every 4 lvls of the PRC) for lance and sword
lvl 2 - deadly charge 1/day (+1 use every 2 lvls) gives x4 damage for charge on lance and x3 damage for other melee weapons)
lvl 3 - burst of speed - double mount movement (extra uses needs dc 20 will save or damage to mount)
lvl 6 - full mounted attack - full attack if mount moves 5-full move
lvl 10 - x5 damage on deadly charge with lance (x4 with other melee weapons)

Complete Warrior
Halfling Outrider PRC page 38
Pre-reqs : race = halfling, bab +5, some skills, mounted combat, mounted archery
Full BAB progression
some of the benefits are :
lvl 1 - alertness feat, ride bonus as above, mount as above
lvl 3 - unbroken charge - can charge through friendly creatures
lvl 8 - full mounted attack - as above
lvl 10 - quick turn - can turn 90 degrees on a charge

Complete Warrior Feats
Hold the line - can AoO a charging opponent before the charge hits
power critical - +4 to confirm a critical
shield slam - as part of full attack or charge enemy has to make a DC 10+1/2 char level + str mod or be dazed for 1 round)
shock trooper - move power attack to hit penalty to AC instead of to-hit

Complete Warrior Items
Page 135 - Lance of Last Rider - knock people off their mount with a free bull rush (8306 GP)
Page 136 - Standard of Heroism - attaches to a lance, +2 morale on attak, saves and skill checks (40K GP)

Races of Stone Feats
Page 141 - Heavy Armour Optimisation and Greater HAO - +1 to AC and -1 (-2 for greater) to ACP
Page 143 - Reckless rage - when u rage u get another -2 to AC but +2 to str and con
Page 144 - Steady Concentration - u can take a 10 on concentration checks

Races of Stone Items
Page 157 - riding straps, +1 to ride skill (200 GP)

Planar Handbook Feats
Page 40 - Neraph Charge - opponent does not get dex to AC when u first charge

Races of Eberron Feats
Page 108 - Dinosaur Wrangler - Halfling only - +4 ride +4 handle animal for dinosaurs

Complete Adventurer
Wild Plains Outrider (page 92)
Pre-reqs : mounted combat , track, some skills, animal companion for a mount or paladin's special mount
Full BAB progression
lvl 1 - ride bonus (prc class level to ride and also to handle animal for mount), stalker - mount uses player's hide and move silently ranks
lvl 2 - switfness : mount gets +10ft move
lvl 3 - offensive - you can make full attack when mount takes a single move

Expanded Psionics Handbook Feats
Page 51 - Reckless Offence - can take -4 to AC and get +2 to hit

Miniatures Handbook Feats
Page 27 - Powerful charge, Greater Powerful charge - damn can't get it if small or smaller creature, doesn't work when mounted anyway
Page 27 - Reckless Charge - +4 to hit -4 AC when charging

Miniatures Handbook items
Page 42 - Boots of charging - gain powerful charge feat (5k GP)

DMG2
Page 270 - Riding Boots - +4 Ride, free ride by attack, and if you have spirited charge feat then you get x4 damage on critical hit with lance (12K GP)

Eberron CS
Page 295 - Magebred animal - x2 GP cost, +2 natural armour, one of (+2 NA, +10ft move, +4 survival), easy to train too, one phys score +4 and the other 2 phys scores +2, also int 2, an one feat from (alertness, athletic, endurance, improved natural attack, multiattack)

Races of the Wild Feats
Page 149 - Coordinated Strike - when your companion or special mount makes a melee attack you get +1 competence bnus to attack the same target
Page 152 - Yondalla's Sense - Halfling only - add wisdom bonus to initiative checks

Heroes of Battle Feats
Page 98 - Mounted Mobility - u and your mount get +4 AC to avoid AoO's

Heroes of Battle items
Page 129 - easy travelling armour - makes medium load = light load (good for barding for a mount) +1500 GP
Page 133 - standard of the galloping steed - u and allies in 30ft get +2 to hit when charging (8K GP)

Unearthed Arcana options
page 53 - paladin variants (especially paladin of freedom - chaotic good)

So I think that's about it

hmm lets see then

Fighter 2 (for feats), Paladin 5 (to get special mount) / Wild Plains Outrider 3 / Halfling Outrider 10

Feats
L1 - Mounted combat
F1 - Ride-by-Attack
F2 - Mounted Archery
L3 - Track
L6 - Reckless Charge
L9 - Power Attack
L12 - Improved Bullrush
L15 - Shock Trooper
L18 - Co-ordinated Strike

Items :
Barding for mount : easy travelling armour - makes medium load = light load (good for barding for a mount) +1500 GP

lance :
Lance of Last Rider - knock people off their mount with a free bull rush (8306 GP)
Standard of Heroism - attaches to a lance, +2 morale on attak, saves and skill checks (40K GP)
Standard of the galloping steed - u and allies in 30ft get +2 to hit when charging (8K GP) and

Armour :
Rhino Hide armour with riding straps, +1 to ride skill (200 GP)

Misc items :
Riding Boots
Horseshoes of speed and zephyr
Military Saddle

Any help with optimising it would be appreciated, as would any ideas on whether I should maintain mount progression through my choice of classes or if I should forget about getting an advanced mount and take more fighter feats to get lotsa nice abilities.

regards

Raj
ChrisAsmadi
12-21-05, 05:49 AM Replace Wild Outrider with Beastmaster from Complete Adventurer, and get the Devoted Tracker feat from the same book. Your mount is now even more powerful.
Tr0gd0r
12-21-05, 07:43 AM i'll check out complete adventurer when i get home

for some reason i just glossed over it think it was only for druids and forgot about any effect on a mount

would you agree i should get paladin levels to get a mount (as well as nice benefits like divine grace) or should i use a normal mount and hope that ride checks help me avoid it getting hit, or maybe just buy a powerful mount and have lotsa more feats ?

was thinking of maybe taking frenzied berserker for loads more damage when i charge assuming i can ride and charge whilst frenzying and raging ? or should i avoid taking frenzied berserker since it seems to appear in the majority of 2-handed melee builds and i was trying for something a bit special

has anyone got any ideas for a mount for a halfling that will fit in the average dungeon ?
X-Codes
12-21-05, 08:01 AM Ok guy, you must have about 2 printed pages of non OGL content up there.

Anyway, heres some stuff to point out about the various mounted classes:

Cavalier: Advances Paladin Mount and grants Rider some high-damage abilities.
Beastmaster: The Ur-Priest of Supermount builds. Incredably low requirements make it a steal.
Halfling Outrider: The Mystic Theruge of Supermount builds, plus it actually does a few useful things.
Wild Plains Outrider: Tons of benefits to using this class. Exceptional mounted mobility to say the least.

Basic Supermount Build: Paladin 5/Beastmaster 2/Halfling Outrider 10/Wild Plains Outrider 3
Results in a level 18 Druid companion and 15 paladin mount: In other words, you gain all the bonuses listed in the PHB under Animal Companions and Special Mounts.

P.S.: I'm going to do something sacreligious. x3 damage is enough, make your mount Uber and he can grapple halfling ranger/barbarians that carry large sheets of lead.
Tr0gd0r
12-21-05, 10:45 AM Hi

if i need to take d0wn some content please let me know.

just that there are so many abbreviations and i thought i'd put up the stats so people know what i was referring to.

anyway, when you say :

***snip***
Basic Supermount Build: Paladin 5/Beastmaster 2/Halfling Outrider 10/Wild Plains Outrider 3
Results in a level 18 Druid companion and 15 paladin mount: In other words, you gain all the bonuses listed in the PHB under Animal Companions and Special Mounts.
***snip***

does this mean that the mount will be a paladin special mount and my animal companion at the same time (thus adding 2 classes worth of mods to one animal), or will i have a mount and an animal companion ?

also is there anywhere that a wizard's person agrees with whatever ruling you are referring to ?

cheers

Raj
Tr0gd0r
12-21-05, 01:26 PM so after checking the books :

2 levels of beastmaster mean i get the animal companion of a lvl 5 druid

3 levels of wild plains outrider give me +3 levels to my animal companion or +3 levels to my paladin mount but not both

10 levels of halfling outrider gives me +10 levels of paladin mount or (doesn't specify if an inclusive or exclusive or) druid companion

so by my reckoning this means at lvl 20 i will have :

animal companion of a lvl 15 druid
mount of a lvl 15 paladin

and then +3 levels to one of them ? so either :

1.
mount of 18th lvl paladin
companion of 15th lvl druid

or

2.
mount of 15th lvl paladin
companion of 18th lvl druid

the best choice from looking at the progressions in the PHB being the latter

also I assume that they are different animals ?

or can i say that my paladin mount is also my animal companion, thus adding the adjusts from both classes to the same creature ?

which for pal15/drui18 would be
+12HD/+12NatArm/+6str+dex from druid18
+8HD/+10NatArm/+4str from pal15
totalling
+20HD/+22NatArm/+10str/+6dex as well as the other feats and features from the progressions

All to the same creature !!!

eg to the riding dog of my halfling

cheers

Raj
Tr0gd0r
12-21-05, 01:38 PM oops answered my own question

devoted tracker feat is amazing isn't it !!!

letting you have the mount as your companion

wow

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tr0gd0r 12-21-05, 05:22 AM	Hi All I've tried searching for a similar build but haven't had any luck. I was looking for a new character to have in my next campaign (currently a druid / momf) and I was thinking of going back to melee. but with a twist. Previously my melee chars were Spiked chain trippers / power attackers and I'm wanting a change. In the current campaign the fighter has a warhorse and it seems really useful in combat when outside, however in a dungeon we have to leave it outside. My druid however has a riding dog as a companion (since it has better stats than a wolf) even though he is a human so he doesn't actually ride it. The riding dog is great in the dungeon since it can scent and hunt with the party so I was thinking of having a small creature who uses a riding dog as a mount. Looking at mounted combat and charges with lances I was thinking that a halfling paladin of some sort would be fun to play. After a few hours of searching through the 3.5ed splat books here is what I came up with : PHB feats page 100 - spirited charge - x2 damage on charge of u and your mount with melee weapon, x3 damage with lance Complete Warrior Cavalier PRC page 19 Pre-reqs : bab +8, some skills, spirit charge, weapon focus lance, mounted combat, ride by attack Full BAB progression some of the benefits are : lvl 1 - ride skill bonus +2 (+2 for every 3 lvls), mount (levels stack with paladin for mount purposes) lvl 1 - Mounted Weapon Bonus +1 to-hit (and +1 for every 4 lvls of the PRC) for lance and sword lvl 2 - deadly charge 1/day (+1 use every 2 lvls) gives x4 damage for charge on lance and x3 damage for other melee weapons) lvl 3 - burst of speed - double mount movement (extra uses needs dc 20 will save or damage to mount) lvl 6 - full mounted attack - full attack if mount moves 5-full move lvl 10 - x5 damage on deadly charge with lance (x4 with other melee weapons) Complete Warrior Halfling Outrider PRC page 38 Pre-reqs : race = halfling, bab +5, some skills, mounted combat, mounted archery Full BAB progression some of the benefits are : lvl 1 - alertness feat, ride bonus as above, mount as above lvl 3 - unbroken charge - can charge through friendly creatures lvl 8 - full mounted attack - as above lvl 10 - quick turn - can turn 90 degrees on a charge Complete Warrior Feats Hold the line - can AoO a charging opponent before the charge hits power critical - +4 to confirm a critical shield slam - as part of full attack or charge enemy has to make a DC 10+1/2 char level + str mod or be dazed for 1 round) shock trooper - move power attack to hit penalty to AC instead of to-hit Complete Warrior Items Page 135 - Lance of Last Rider - knock people off their mount with a free bull rush (8306 GP) Page 136 - Standard of Heroism - attaches to a lance, +2 morale on attak, saves and skill checks (40K GP) Races of Stone Feats Page 141 - Heavy Armour Optimisation and Greater HAO - +1 to AC and -1 (-2 for greater) to ACP Page 143 - Reckless rage - when u rage u get another -2 to AC but +2 to str and con Page 144 - Steady Concentration - u can take a 10 on concentration checks Races of Stone Items Page 157 - riding straps, +1 to ride skill (200 GP) Planar Handbook Feats Page 40 - Neraph Charge - opponent does not get dex to AC when u first charge Races of Eberron Feats Page 108 - Dinosaur Wrangler - Halfling only - +4 ride +4 handle animal for dinosaurs Complete Adventurer Wild Plains Outrider (page 92) Pre-reqs : mounted combat , track, some skills, animal companion for a mount or paladin's special mount Full BAB progression lvl 1 - ride bonus (prc class level to ride and also to handle animal for mount), stalker - mount uses player's hide and move silently ranks lvl 2 - switfness : mount gets +10ft move lvl 3 - offensive - you can make full attack when mount takes a single move Expanded Psionics Handbook Feats Page 51 - Reckless Offence - can take -4 to AC and get +2 to hit Miniatures Handbook Feats Page 27 - Powerful charge, Greater Powerful charge - damn can't get it if small or smaller creature, doesn't work when mounted anyway Page 27 - Reckless Charge - +4 to hit -4 AC when charging Miniatures Handbook items Page 42 - Boots of charging - gain powerful charge feat (5k GP) DMG2 Page 270 - Riding Boots - +4 Ride, free ride by attack, and if you have spirited charge feat then you get x4 damage on critical hit with lance (12K GP) Eberron CS Page 295 - Magebred animal - x2 GP cost, +2 natural armour, one of (+2 NA, +10ft move, +4 survival), easy to train too, one phys score +4 and the other 2 phys scores +2, also int 2, an one feat from (alertness, athletic, endurance, improved natural attack, multiattack) Races of the Wild Feats Page 149 - Coordinated Strike - when your companion or special mount makes a melee attack you get +1 competence bnus to attack the same target Page 152 - Yondalla's Sense - Halfling only - add wisdom bonus to initiative checks Heroes of Battle Feats Page 98 - Mounted Mobility - u and your mount get +4 AC to avoid AoO's Heroes of Battle items Page 129 - easy travelling armour - makes medium load = light load (good for barding for a mount) +1500 GP Page 133 - standard of the galloping steed - u and allies in 30ft get +2 to hit when charging (8K GP) Unearthed Arcana options page 53 - paladin variants (especially paladin of freedom - chaotic good) So I think that's about it hmm lets see then Fighter 2 (for feats), Paladin 5 (to get special mount) / Wild Plains Outrider 3 / Halfling Outrider 10 Feats L1 - Mounted combat F1 - Ride-by-Attack F2 - Mounted Archery L3 - Track L6 - Reckless Charge L9 - Power Attack L12 - Improved Bullrush L15 - Shock Trooper L18 - Co-ordinated Strike Items : Barding for mount : easy travelling armour - makes medium load = light load (good for barding for a mount) +1500 GP lance : Lance of Last Rider - knock people off their mount with a free bull rush (8306 GP) Standard of Heroism - attaches to a lance, +2 morale on attak, saves and skill checks (40K GP) Standard of the galloping steed - u and allies in 30ft get +2 to hit when charging (8K GP) and Armour : Rhino Hide armour with riding straps, +1 to ride skill (200 GP) Misc items : Riding Boots Horseshoes of speed and zephyr Military Saddle Any help with optimising it would be appreciated, as would any ideas on whether I should maintain mount progression through my choice of classes or if I should forget about getting an advanced mount and take more fighter feats to get lotsa nice abilities. regards Raj
ChrisAsmadi 12-21-05, 05:49 AM	Replace Wild Outrider with Beastmaster from Complete Adventurer, and get the Devoted Tracker feat from the same book. Your mount is now even more powerful.
Tr0gd0r 12-21-05, 07:43 AM	i'll check out complete adventurer when i get home for some reason i just glossed over it think it was only for druids and forgot about any effect on a mount would you agree i should get paladin levels to get a mount (as well as nice benefits like divine grace) or should i use a normal mount and hope that ride checks help me avoid it getting hit, or maybe just buy a powerful mount and have lotsa more feats ? was thinking of maybe taking frenzied berserker for loads more damage when i charge assuming i can ride and charge whilst frenzying and raging ? or should i avoid taking frenzied berserker since it seems to appear in the majority of 2-handed melee builds and i was trying for something a bit special has anyone got any ideas for a mount for a halfling that will fit in the average dungeon ?
X-Codes 12-21-05, 08:01 AM	Ok guy, you must have about 2 printed pages of non OGL content up there. Anyway, heres some stuff to point out about the various mounted classes: Cavalier: Advances Paladin Mount and grants Rider some high-damage abilities. Beastmaster: The Ur-Priest of Supermount builds. Incredably low requirements make it a steal. Halfling Outrider: The Mystic Theruge of Supermount builds, plus it actually does a few useful things. Wild Plains Outrider: Tons of benefits to using this class. Exceptional mounted mobility to say the least. Basic Supermount Build: Paladin 5/Beastmaster 2/Halfling Outrider 10/Wild Plains Outrider 3 Results in a level 18 Druid companion and 15 paladin mount: In other words, you gain all the bonuses listed in the PHB under Animal Companions and Special Mounts. P.S.: I'm going to do something sacreligious. x3 damage is enough, make your mount Uber and he can grapple halfling ranger/barbarians that carry large sheets of lead.
Tr0gd0r 12-21-05, 10:45 AM	Hi if i need to take d0wn some content please let me know. just that there are so many abbreviations and i thought i'd put up the stats so people know what i was referring to. anyway, when you say : *snip* Basic Supermount Build: Paladin 5/Beastmaster 2/Halfling Outrider 10/Wild Plains Outrider 3 Results in a level 18 Druid companion and 15 paladin mount: In other words, you gain all the bonuses listed in the PHB under Animal Companions and Special Mounts. *snip* does this mean that the mount will be a paladin special mount and my animal companion at the same time (thus adding 2 classes worth of mods to one animal), or will i have a mount and an animal companion ? also is there anywhere that a wizard's person agrees with whatever ruling you are referring to ? cheers Raj
Tr0gd0r 12-21-05, 01:26 PM	so after checking the books : 2 levels of beastmaster mean i get the animal companion of a lvl 5 druid 3 levels of wild plains outrider give me +3 levels to my animal companion or +3 levels to my paladin mount but not both 10 levels of halfling outrider gives me +10 levels of paladin mount or (doesn't specify if an inclusive or exclusive or) druid companion so by my reckoning this means at lvl 20 i will have : animal companion of a lvl 15 druid mount of a lvl 15 paladin and then +3 levels to one of them ? so either : 1. mount of 18th lvl paladin companion of 15th lvl druid or 2. mount of 15th lvl paladin companion of 18th lvl druid the best choice from looking at the progressions in the PHB being the latter also I assume that they are different animals ? or can i say that my paladin mount is also my animal companion, thus adding the adjusts from both classes to the same creature ? which for pal15/drui18 would be +12HD/+12NatArm/+6str+dex from druid18 +8HD/+10NatArm/+4str from pal15 totalling +20HD/+22NatArm/+10str/+6dex as well as the other feats and features from the progressions All to the same creature !!! eg to the riding dog of my halfling cheers Raj
Tr0gd0r 12-21-05, 01:38 PM	oops answered my own question devoted tracker feat is amazing isn't it !!! letting you have the mount as your companion wow