Mounted Combat clarifications [Archive] - Wizards Community

Mounted Combat clarifications [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Alpha_Nerd
02-23-07, 08:13 PM Okay. I'm a Halfling with the Ride-by Attack feat and a Riding Dog animal companion. I use the charge action while wielding a lance. Can someone explain to me why I don't attack from 10 ft away and my mount attacks while 5 feet away? Both of those attacks are legal charges as we're both attacking from as far away as possible.

Also, what if the line for a Ride-by Attack takes me through the person I am charging? Do I get to go through them or can I not do a Ride-by Attack unless I can charge past them, not through them.

Also, there is a feat that lets you make one ninety-degree turn during a charge. In order to benefit from that would I need to take the feat, or would my mount need to take the feat as he is doing the moving?
Howie23
02-23-07, 09:57 PM Okay. I'm a Halfling with the Ride-by Attack feat and a Riding Dog animal companion. I use the charge action while wielding a lance. Can someone explain to me why I don't attack from 10 ft away and my mount attacks while 5 feet away? Both of those attacks are legal charges as we're both attacking from as far away as possible.

Also, what if the line for a Ride-by Attack takes me through the person I am charging? Do I get to go through them or can I not do a Ride-by Attack unless I can charge past them, not through them.

Mounted Combat is a mess. There are several rulings in the FAQ you should be familiar with. Then expect recurring table variance. Otherwise, wait for Complete Riding Dog... ;)

David
kjenks
02-23-07, 10:26 PM The FAQ changes the rules for Ride-by Attack so that you pass to either side of your opponent, not through him.

And in another place the FAQ says your dog must stop when you make your lance attack.
RLWilde
02-23-07, 11:37 PM Otherwise, wait for Complete Riding Dog... ;)
Hopefully, it'll be fixed in 4E.

4E should be due soon... I think they release another version of the game when the books for the current version reach some critical mass, and it's to the point where players need to take a level of sorceror, to carry their books on a Tenser's Floating Disk.
bitznarf
02-24-07, 01:24 AM Hopefully, it'll be fixed in 4E.

4E should be due soon... I think they release another version of the game when the books for the current version reach some critical mass, and it's to the point where players need to take a level of sorceror, to carry their books on a Tenser's Floating Disk.

Nah, I just have a fighter cohort to carry them for me. I have the teleport (car) he has the books.
AnexCDC
02-24-07, 02:20 AM Hopefully, it'll be fixed in 4E.

4E should be due soon... I think they release another version of the game when the books for the current version reach some critical mass, and it's to the point where players need to take a level of sorceror, to carry their books on a Tenser's Floating Disk.

Surely you mean wizard. The average player from my observation would not be able to cast spells with their charisma.
clik_ml
02-25-07, 02:04 AM Surely you mean wizard. The average player from my observation would not be able to cast spells with their charisma.

And you think they'd qualify... as wizards?!
Britt
02-25-07, 02:10 AM Let's see:
Low STR, DEX, CON, WIS, and CHA, high INT. Few skills, and the ones they have usually involve esoteric knowledge that is likely useless in most everyday situations. Like to study many books in an attempt to find ways to tap into limitless (character) power, at the expense of pretty much everything else.

Yeah, that seems to map pretty well in my estimation.
kjenks
02-25-07, 08:53 AM Like to study many books in an attempt to find ways to tap into limitless (character) power, at the expense of pretty much everything else.

What? You mean there IS something else other than limitless character power?
Argentbard
02-25-07, 10:29 AM What? You mean there IS something else other than limitless character power?

Yeah, I mean, I heard other people talking, but I figured they were just making that stuff up.

Anyway, back to the original questions.:) As stated earlier, your Ride-by attack is to one side or the other; going through the space of your enemy would fall into the realm of an overbear or bullrush attempt. Which you should avoid unless you want to give your DM a headache (which I frequently do). As for the feat that allows the turn in the middle of charging, you take that, not your mount. After all, you are the one in charge. Of course, since in game terms your character is only going to gain that ability by hours of practice in the saddle, your mount "learns" it as well, just not enough to do it without you.

The rest of it gets a bit fuzzy (what a shock). I play a paladin that makes quite a number of mounted attacks, and this subject has come up. What has generally been decided is that the mount is too busy executing your commands (whether a simple charge or the Ride-by Attack) to also take its own attack. Granted, that is what we came up with here, and other places may choose to look at it differently. We do it that way so as not to bog the game down with worrying about an attack which is generally not that effective/useful anyway.

Just my thoughts. Of course, if I were looking at this from the perspective of my Gnome Bard, who has a riding dog named Coda, I would say that the dog should always bite, whenever he gets the chance. Because it just isn't comedy until the Bard's dog is biting the Bad Guy on the ass. :D
Gwumph
02-25-07, 11:26 PM Alpha

What feat are you talking about? The only thing I know like that is special Halfling Outrider ability. Is this what you mean?
kjenks
02-25-07, 11:56 PM There's a feat from Complete Warrior called Fleet of Foot that allows a direction change while charging.

An advanced mount gains feats, and it can select Fleet of Foot. But it might also need the pre-req, the Run feat. Bears and horses already have the Run feat.
Gwumph
02-26-07, 01:55 AM Right. I am pretty sure if you took it, it would not apply to you mount (just as if you took the run feat it would not apply to your mount).

If your mount takes the fleet of foot, I think it would work.
Southernskies
02-26-07, 03:25 AM The creature that charges needs to have Fleet of Foot. Under the Mounted Combat rules (PHB pg157, top of second column) it is the mount that declares a charge.

Under 3.0, I used to have a mount with Fleet of Foot (until they restricted it to PCs only). Hmm... that restriction seems to have gone in the new version. Fleet of Foot or keep Spring Attack; decisions, decisions...

Can be a little fuzzy after that, as using RAW, you cannot use a lance unless you have rideby attack, as your charging mount is required to make an attack... Nearly everyone rules otherwise, though.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Alpha_Nerd 02-23-07, 08:13 PM	Okay. I'm a Halfling with the Ride-by Attack feat and a Riding Dog animal companion. I use the charge action while wielding a lance. Can someone explain to me why I don't attack from 10 ft away and my mount attacks while 5 feet away? Both of those attacks are legal charges as we're both attacking from as far away as possible. Also, what if the line for a Ride-by Attack takes me through the person I am charging? Do I get to go through them or can I not do a Ride-by Attack unless I can charge past them, not through them. Also, there is a feat that lets you make one ninety-degree turn during a charge. In order to benefit from that would I need to take the feat, or would my mount need to take the feat as he is doing the moving?
Howie23 02-23-07, 09:57 PM	Okay. I'm a Halfling with the Ride-by Attack feat and a Riding Dog animal companion. I use the charge action while wielding a lance. Can someone explain to me why I don't attack from 10 ft away and my mount attacks while 5 feet away? Both of those attacks are legal charges as we're both attacking from as far away as possible. Also, what if the line for a Ride-by Attack takes me through the person I am charging? Do I get to go through them or can I not do a Ride-by Attack unless I can charge past them, not through them. Mounted Combat is a mess. There are several rulings in the FAQ you should be familiar with. Then expect recurring table variance. Otherwise, wait for Complete Riding Dog... ;) David
kjenks 02-23-07, 10:26 PM	The FAQ changes the rules for Ride-by Attack so that you pass to either side of your opponent, not through him. And in another place the FAQ says your dog must stop when you make your lance attack.
RLWilde 02-23-07, 11:37 PM	Otherwise, wait for Complete Riding Dog... ;) Hopefully, it'll be fixed in 4E. 4E should be due soon... I think they release another version of the game when the books for the current version reach some critical mass, and it's to the point where players need to take a level of sorceror, to carry their books on a Tenser's Floating Disk.
bitznarf 02-24-07, 01:24 AM	Hopefully, it'll be fixed in 4E. 4E should be due soon... I think they release another version of the game when the books for the current version reach some critical mass, and it's to the point where players need to take a level of sorceror, to carry their books on a Tenser's Floating Disk. Nah, I just have a fighter cohort to carry them for me. I have the teleport (car) he has the books.
AnexCDC 02-24-07, 02:20 AM	Hopefully, it'll be fixed in 4E. 4E should be due soon... I think they release another version of the game when the books for the current version reach some critical mass, and it's to the point where players need to take a level of sorceror, to carry their books on a Tenser's Floating Disk. Surely you mean wizard. The average player from my observation would not be able to cast spells with their charisma.
clik_ml 02-25-07, 02:04 AM	Surely you mean wizard. The average player from my observation would not be able to cast spells with their charisma. And you think they'd qualify... as wizards?!
Britt 02-25-07, 02:10 AM	Let's see: Low STR, DEX, CON, WIS, and CHA, high INT. Few skills, and the ones they have usually involve esoteric knowledge that is likely useless in most everyday situations. Like to study many books in an attempt to find ways to tap into limitless (character) power, at the expense of pretty much everything else. Yeah, that seems to map pretty well in my estimation.
kjenks 02-25-07, 08:53 AM	Like to study many books in an attempt to find ways to tap into limitless (character) power, at the expense of pretty much everything else. What? You mean there IS something else other than limitless character power?
Argentbard 02-25-07, 10:29 AM	What? You mean there IS something else other than limitless character power? Yeah, I mean, I heard other people talking, but I figured they were just making that stuff up. Anyway, back to the original questions.:) As stated earlier, your Ride-by attack is to one side or the other; going through the space of your enemy would fall into the realm of an overbear or bullrush attempt. Which you should avoid unless you want to give your DM a headache (which I frequently do). As for the feat that allows the turn in the middle of charging, you take that, not your mount. After all, you are the one in charge. Of course, since in game terms your character is only going to gain that ability by hours of practice in the saddle, your mount "learns" it as well, just not enough to do it without you. The rest of it gets a bit fuzzy (what a shock). I play a paladin that makes quite a number of mounted attacks, and this subject has come up. What has generally been decided is that the mount is too busy executing your commands (whether a simple charge or the Ride-by Attack) to also take its own attack. Granted, that is what we came up with here, and other places may choose to look at it differently. We do it that way so as not to bog the game down with worrying about an attack which is generally not that effective/useful anyway. Just my thoughts. Of course, if I were looking at this from the perspective of my Gnome Bard, who has a riding dog named Coda, I would say that the dog should always bite, whenever he gets the chance. Because it just isn't comedy until the Bard's dog is biting the Bad Guy on the ass. :D
Gwumph 02-25-07, 11:26 PM	Alpha What feat are you talking about? The only thing I know like that is special Halfling Outrider ability. Is this what you mean?
kjenks 02-25-07, 11:56 PM	There's a feat from Complete Warrior called Fleet of Foot that allows a direction change while charging. An advanced mount gains feats, and it can select Fleet of Foot. But it might also need the pre-req, the Run feat. Bears and horses already have the Run feat.
Gwumph 02-26-07, 01:55 AM	Right. I am pretty sure if you took it, it would not apply to you mount (just as if you took the run feat it would not apply to your mount). If your mount takes the fleet of foot, I think it would work.
Southernskies 02-26-07, 03:25 AM	The creature that charges needs to have Fleet of Foot. Under the Mounted Combat rules (PHB pg157, top of second column) it is the mount that declares a charge. Under 3.0, I used to have a mount with Fleet of Foot (until they restricted it to PCs only). Hmm... that restriction seems to have gone in the new version. Fleet of Foot or keep Spring Attack; decisions, decisions... Can be a little fuzzy after that, as using RAW, you cannot use a lance unless you have rideby attack, as your charging mount is required to make an attack... Nearly everyone rules otherwise, though.