Post/Author/DateTime	Post
gregkitten 01-29-08, 06:03 AM	Last session, the Half-Orc Barbarian of the party was giving chase on a "borrowed" horse, trying to catch a gnoll that was fleeing on a dire wolf. As he gained ground, he threw a short sword at the beast, made the hit, but failed his ride check to control the horse after making the combat action (this was not a warhorse). He fell from the spooked horse, but managed to keep hold of some part of the tack as the horse continued to bolt in the same general direction. The half orc's player wanted to make an attempt to use his momentum to fling himself back into the the saddle or thereabouts, enabling him to regain control and keep chase. This is where I kinda came unstuck - I settled in the end for a tumble check (I plumped for DC18 - no mean feat), but looking back, I'm not so sure this was the right skill to use. How would you have handed this situation? Was tumble the right thing to call for?
Kouk 01-29-08, 06:06 AM	I would have gone with a tough Ride check probably, or maybe a Climb check if I was feeling generous. Also, you seem to have been not using the default rules for mounted combat. Normally the rider would make a Ride check as a Move Action to control the untrained mount before making his Standard Action.
Slimgauge 01-29-08, 12:54 PM	Normally the rider would make a Ride check as a Move Action to control the untrained mount before making his Standard Action. Kouk is correct. From the online SRD ride skill section (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/ride.htm) Control Mount in Battle As a move action, you can attempt to control a light horse, pony, heavy horse, or other mount not trained for combat riding while in battle. If you fail the Ride check, you can do nothing else in that round. You do not need to roll for warhorses or warponies. He'd have to make his check (as a move action) BEFORE resolving the short sword throw. Failure simply means he can't use his standard action to throw, but instead simply hangs on. You could house-rule that if you fail this check by more than five you'd have to make the "Stay in Saddle" check (similar to how the Climb skill causes a fall if you fail by too much). If he fails the "Stay in Saddle" check, then go to the "Soft Fall" check to see if he sustains damage.
mvincent 01-29-08, 01:46 PM	I settled in the end for a tumble check (I plumped for DC18 - no mean feat), but looking back, I'm not so sure this was the right skill to use. How would you have handed this situation? Was tumble the right thing to call for?Tumble seems about right. It was a good solution, everyone had fun, and you didn't stall the game overthinking it... basically perfect. I mighta made the DC higher, or thrown a ride check in (i.e. 'fast-mount', DC20) too for good measure, especially if the PC was good a riding, but it's not needed.
gregkitten 01-29-08, 02:13 PM	Thanks for the replies, guys. Kouk, Slimguage - thanks for pointing out where I went wrong; that's why I posted, after all, for clarification. I didn't check the ride skill rules during play, but I'll definitely keep the proper rule in mind from now on. mvincent - thanks a bunch, that means a lot! I try not to slow down play by checking for rules during the game, and only resort to pageflipping if it's absolutely necessary. Makes more sense to find out where you went wrong AFTER the game, and implement it properly in future. And yes, it sure was a fun scene, nobody minded the ruling, I was, as I said, just looking for clarification. Thanks again, guys.