Cost of Exotic Mounts [Archive] - Wizards Community

Cost of Exotic Mounts [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sunblast
05-04-07, 02:07 PM In the Arms And Equipment Guide, there are a few nifty mounts that they offer. However, it doesn't give a cost to simply buy these creatures. It offers the price of an egg or young of the creature, then gives training/rearing costs. Does that mean you can simply add the cost of a young and the training cost to get the cost of a trained adult creature?

For example, a dire bat costs 150 gp while still young, and the training cost is 100 gp. Does that mean one can buy a dire bat mount for 250 gp? It seems a bit cheap to me, but if that's the cost then I'll take five!
Velcro Zipper
05-04-07, 04:31 PM I don't know of any written rules for it, but training a mature animal is much more difficult than training a young one. As an on-the-fly rule, I'd multiply the listed cost by 1.5 per HD of the creature to be trained and multiplied by 2 for more exotic creatures like pegasi or rust monsters.

In the case of purchasing, say, the egg of a Dire Eagle to be trained as a mount, you have to keep in mind the time and effort put into rearing the creature. You can't just hand a trainer an orphaned tiger cub and say, "Make him Battle Cat. I expect him to be ready Thursday. I have this thing at Snake Mountain." As a DM, I'd rule that rearing fees would need to be paid to keep the animal fed, sheltered and educated. The cost for animals should be less than for Magical Beasts or other exotic creatures. Perhaps the formula I used above could be paid out over a period of time. As an example, say I want to end up with a 6HD Dire Bat costing 150gp for the whelp and 100gp for training as a base. That's (100x1.5x6)+150=1050gp.

This example does end up costing more than the prices listed in A&EG, but I don't think it's unreasonable for a trainer to ask for such fees when they're training animals and monsters that could quite possibly kill or maim them.
FatMonkey13
05-05-07, 10:58 AM Lords of Madness gives costs of buying creatures (In the chapter on the slave trading Neogi) based on CR.
Ebonyte
05-06-07, 12:04 AM Yep. Training rules are in the PHB, and slave prices are in Lords of Madness. Right all around.
Sunblast
05-07-07, 12:50 PM Lords of Madness gives costs of buying creatures (In the chapter on the slave trading Neogi) based on CR.

Gah, I totally don't have Lords of Madness. :(

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sunblast 05-04-07, 02:07 PM	In the Arms And Equipment Guide, there are a few nifty mounts that they offer. However, it doesn't give a cost to simply buy these creatures. It offers the price of an egg or young of the creature, then gives training/rearing costs. Does that mean you can simply add the cost of a young and the training cost to get the cost of a trained adult creature? For example, a dire bat costs 150 gp while still young, and the training cost is 100 gp. Does that mean one can buy a dire bat mount for 250 gp? It seems a bit cheap to me, but if that's the cost then I'll take five!
Velcro Zipper 05-04-07, 04:31 PM	I don't know of any written rules for it, but training a mature animal is much more difficult than training a young one. As an on-the-fly rule, I'd multiply the listed cost by 1.5 per HD of the creature to be trained and multiplied by 2 for more exotic creatures like pegasi or rust monsters. In the case of purchasing, say, the egg of a Dire Eagle to be trained as a mount, you have to keep in mind the time and effort put into rearing the creature. You can't just hand a trainer an orphaned tiger cub and say, "Make him Battle Cat. I expect him to be ready Thursday. I have this thing at Snake Mountain." As a DM, I'd rule that rearing fees would need to be paid to keep the animal fed, sheltered and educated. The cost for animals should be less than for Magical Beasts or other exotic creatures. Perhaps the formula I used above could be paid out over a period of time. As an example, say I want to end up with a 6HD Dire Bat costing 150gp for the whelp and 100gp for training as a base. That's (100x1.5x6)+150=1050gp. This example does end up costing more than the prices listed in A&EG, but I don't think it's unreasonable for a trainer to ask for such fees when they're training animals and monsters that could quite possibly kill or maim them.
FatMonkey13 05-05-07, 10:58 AM	Lords of Madness gives costs of buying creatures (In the chapter on the slave trading Neogi) based on CR.
Ebonyte 05-06-07, 12:04 AM	Yep. Training rules are in the PHB, and slave prices are in Lords of Madness. Right all around.
Sunblast 05-07-07, 12:50 PM	Lords of Madness gives costs of buying creatures (In the chapter on the slave trading Neogi) based on CR. Gah, I totally don't have Lords of Madness. :(