Paladin mount and Leadership [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTimePost
jasuitmonk

03-18-07, 12:31 PM		hey, i'm starting a campaign with a 6th level paladin and i can't decide whether to take a normal mount and a 4th level cohort or upgrade the snot out of my mount. i'm a little unclear as to how the Leadershop feat works with mounts, so my question has a few parts:

1) a rule from defenders of the faith about variant mounts shows that i can use a dire wolf at 6th level, but the leadership feat allows me to upgrade my mount by 2 HD. does this mean i can call a mount i normally couldn't until 8th level (such as a dire lion), or simply that my 6th level mount gets better?

2) would it be more beneficial to have a 4th level cleric for healing purposes (i'm gonna be fighting a lot of undead) or a super beefy mount that will help me dispatch of the problem quicker? our party will have another cleric anyways, but it never hurts to have your own personal bandaid.

3) are there any other books which describe variant mounts? aside from defenders of the faith, i couldn't find the rule anywhere and my dm isn't sure if i should use that book.

thanks a lot, i'm really confused on how this rule works with mounts and clarification will help me figure out my character direction.
tarkin

03-18-07, 12:53 PM		You can not use Leadership to upgrade the mount ability, they are a seperate creature, not a single one. Defenders of the Faith, being 3.0 may have discussed an old rule.

That is, if you get Leadership, you will be using your cohort INSTEAD of your Paladin Mount. As a general rule, Paladin mounts via the Paladin ability are FAR superior to a cohort. They get better powers as the Paladin upgrades his level.


However, you can take a feat such as Celestial Mount (Book of Exalted Deeds) or Winter's Mount (Frostburn) to upgrade the power of your mount.

I suggest you use the Mount ability of the Paladin to get your mount, and to pump him up.

Creatures available as a Paladin Mount are generally listed in the Monster Manual (1,2 and 3 all have some)

You can also go to crystalkeep.com/d20 and look under "creatures"