Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Chincymcchilla 06-28-07, 11:39 PM	So, I'm running an underdark campaign and... well, a player REALLY wants to play a mounted character. I really dislike getting in the way of character concepts, but not only does he want a mount, he wants it specifically to be a rhino. I thought of getting him to use a mount that would be better suited, like a spider, but since they are fighting drow, it just doesn't seem to fit. How do I tell him no without seeming like a jerk, or what can I do to make a compromise? Alternate topic: Ever had a strange request that a player just WONT let go of?
DyloniusFunk 06-28-07, 11:45 PM	Look him in the eye and say to him "Look i think this concept is pretty cool, but right now we're playing in an under ground themed game and just don't think a rhino is going to work. But i am willing to work with you, if you can think of another mount you want to use or we can think of one together. I have some ideas..." and then show him a few mounts you conveniently have prepared. The key is not to make him seem stupid for thinking a rhino could work in the Underdark, but to make him think "well this will even better underground, man i got a really cool DM" Everyone wins and you all get cake.
revaar 06-29-07, 12:13 AM	*snip!* Everyone wins and you all get cake. QFT. some mounts that would go well under ground, other than spiders would be some sorf of burrowing mammal or a giant lizard. just my 2cp.
Anathema 06-29-07, 01:23 AM	:drool: I heard there was cake in here! :drool: (The above two posts cover any suggestions I had)
AaronDireBear 06-29-07, 04:54 AM	How thin are your passages in the Underdark? Mine tend to be fairly cavernous, except for the ones that connect campaign settings together. He could still have a Rhino, I would think. It doesnt need to be able to see, as he can be directed with the knees.
sedai 06-29-07, 05:56 AM	I reconise the problem, seeing as in a campaign, I was that kind of player :P I wanted a rhino, and my dm said, well.. its going to be an underground campaign, so it won't work... I said I didn't mind... She laughed and said ok.. When I came riding on my Rhino and had to go underground, I had to figure out what to do next... I tried to get the rhino in... but there was a steep passage that didn't work, and there was some climbing that needed doing.. With wind walk and that sort of spells I managed at first... After that my character decided this wasn't going to work, and I had to leave the Rhino outside.. The dm didn't make it extra hard on me.. It just didn't work, and that was my own fault, my own consequenses.. I didn't mind leaving the Rhino, it was good roleplay... of course My character DID mind :P he was very atached to the animal. Maybe you just need to let it go... The guy will soon enough realise it won't work.. you don't have to make it extra hard. just realistic, when the passage is too narrow, its just plain to narrow. You've warned your player, and there will probally be tons of other campaigns in wich Rhino riders of the west WIL work, this one just ain't one of them! Goodluck with it.
GAMBLE_d13 06-29-07, 06:18 AM	If you're a really, REALLY Cool DM, you could give him a Bullete. And maybe swap out the Claw attacks for a Gore, and the Leap SA for a Powerful Charge type SA. I think riding on the back of a Bullette is about 1000% Cooler tha on the back of a Rhin, but hey, that's just MO!
Paladin_Hiroshi 06-29-07, 08:34 AM	You have to remember.... 'The mines are no place for a rhino, Sam!' umm.... maybe a giant riding lizard, like drow use? The giant spiders a good one to have... maybe even a monsterous thingy of somekind? You have to look like you're willing to compromise :)
Eater_Of_Souls 06-29-07, 08:44 AM	Well let him take a rhino with him .. From wiki :P Rhinos grow to 8 – 14 ft (2.5 – 4.3 m) long and 3 – 6.5 ft (1.5 – 2 m) tall; adults weigh 3 – 5 tons. From other site: Q: How much does a rhino eat in a day? A: Our black rhinos eat 16 pounds of pelleted food, 40 to 50 pounds of alfalfa and timothy hay, and five pounds of assorted fruit and vegetables. This is a diet for one rhino in one day! Now taking the above in to an undergroud tunnel would be a feat in it self ...
Androlphas 06-29-07, 10:21 AM	What?! You've never heard of Deep Rhinos? They have the same stats as a normal rhino except they live underground, have darkvision, immunity to mold and fungus, and cold resistance. Yes, I know I just (sort of) described a deep rothe (underground herd mammals) from Forgotten Realms. It's fantasy, man! Almost anything can fit if you find a way to rationalize it :)
Violet Typhoon 06-29-07, 03:21 PM	If he's high enough level to have that kind of money, he could always start with a figurine of wondrous power: tungsten rhinocerus. Just make a new item that lets him summon the rhino for several rounds/minutes/hours/whatever a certain number of times per day/week. This way, his awkward mount is "collapsible," so he doesn't have to feed it, push it through unusual terrain or narrow tunnels, sneak it into Drow cities, etc., but he can pop it out for battles in large spaces where a rhino mount would be advantageous. Underdark critters probably haven't seen anything like it before, and consider their shock when it just pops out of nowhere! You could create a new item from scratch or modify one of the existing ones to create a rhino instead of its usual animal.
Malcaor 06-29-07, 04:04 PM	If he's high enough level to have that kind of money, he could always start with a figurine of wondrous power: tungsten rhinocerus. Just make a new item that lets him summon the rhino for several rounds/minutes/hours/whatever a certain number of times per day/week. This way, his awkward mount is "collapsible," so he doesn't have to feed it, push it through unusual terrain or narrow tunnels, sneak it into Drow cities, etc., but he can pop it out for battles in large spaces where a rhino mount would be advantageous. Underdark critters probably haven't seen anything like it before, and consider their shock when it just pops out of nowhere! You could create a new item from scratch or modify one of the existing ones to create a rhino instead of its usual animal. you can't have your cake and eat it to!
Violet Typhoon 06-29-07, 04:26 PM	you can't have your cake and eat it to! You can if you pay thousands of gp for said cake. ;)
The man they call Boxhead 06-29-07, 04:50 PM	Rhinoshoes of Spider Climb and a Neckring of Sustenance? Would that be enough? Maybe a Wand of Reduce for those tight spaces? Seems playable if he really wants to...
ppirilla 06-29-07, 04:59 PM	Hmm....Platter of Infinite Cake 12000 gp Moderate Transmutation On this platter rests a circular cake, 9 inches in diameter and 4 inches high, which appears to have a small wedge removed from it. However, when another slice of cake is cut from it, the amount of cake missing does not change. Platters of Infinite Cake are available in chocolate, yellow with chocolate icing, yellow with white icing, and carrot.
nlentz88 06-29-07, 05:05 PM	If he's high enough level to have that kind of money, he could always start with a figurine of wondrous power: tungsten rhinocerus. Just make a new item that lets him summon the rhino for several rounds/minutes/hours/whatever a certain number of times per day/week. This way, his awkward mount is "collapsible," so he doesn't have to feed it, push it through unusual terrain or narrow tunnels, sneak it into Drow cities, etc., but he can pop it out for battles in large spaces where a rhino mount would be advantageous. Underdark critters probably haven't seen anything like it before, and consider their shock when it just pops out of nowhere! You could create a new item from scratch or modify one of the existing ones to create a rhino instead of its usual animal. That's what I was thinking. Sure, it's a bit of a rip off of a certain drow ranger's pet, but it certainly would make this character playable in an underground setting.
Dei 06-29-07, 06:18 PM	If he's high enough level to have that kind of money, he could always start with a figurine of wondrous power: tungsten rhinocerus... You could create a new item from scratch or modify one of the existing ones to create a rhino instead of its usual animal. It is delicious cake, you may eat it. :cookie:
Lincoln Hills 06-29-07, 08:51 PM	All he needs is a rhinoceros and a goodly supply of potions of gaseous form. Hm, this gives me an idea for a diabolical new trap. (I think I can wedge it into my next kobold lair...) But seriously - if it doesn't fit the campaign, suggest that he hold off on the rhino until he's up in the sunlit lands again. Any beast you offer in the meantime can be presented as a "temporary patch" to allow him to use his feats. (If I know players, he may be sentimental enough to keep the Cavern Waddler even after he has the option of switching to a rhino - but nothing lost, either way...)
zae 06-29-07, 09:19 PM	umm.... maybe a giant riding lizard, like drow use? I don't doubt you on this one, I'm willing to believe it, but... Lizards. in the underdark. Which is, amongst other things, underground, and dark (possibly due to being underground, what with the lack of sun). The sun bit brings me to my next point. Why are these lizards even the slightest bit active? Please tell me they hang out near fiery places. (On a similar note, why are Kobolds - reptillian creatures - sensitive to sunlight? Shouldn't they be lazing out in the sun all the time? Or are reptiles like this only in Australia?) Anyway, you could indeed make a new kind of "Deep Rhino". It worked for all the regular PC races, after all. Failing that or the magic item, all you can do is explain how hard it will be in the Underdark, and get him to understand that if and when the time comes where it has to be left behind, he needs to accept that with grace.
kelvinaw273 06-30-07, 04:10 AM	When a player wants their character to have something utterly impractical to the situation they are in and will remain in for some time, there is only one solution: Wet kipper, applied to face of player at speed. I normally like to accommodate player choices and desires, but where they are just plain dumb there is no point. Where is he going to get a rhino in the Underdark? How will it get around where half the walking surfaces are vertical?
Rorscarch 06-30-07, 07:08 AM	I think you should try and accommodate this guy. It's no fun if a good character idea [the sight of a rhino bearing down on a kobold would be hilarious] is wasted because the DM just felt that iit wouldn't work in his campaign without a good reason.
sedai 06-30-07, 08:36 AM	Without good reason? whahah, a Rhino underground, NOT a good reason? The fact that normal rhino's just aren't capable of going undergrand, not a good reason? as i said before, this character concept is great, put put it in a campaign in which it will shine. not in one in which it will cause all kind of trouble extra spells and whatnot..
sewohnaes 06-30-07, 11:01 PM	Don't do like i did, and give a giant hamster.
Paladin_Hiroshi 07-01-07, 07:31 PM	I don't doubt you on this one, I'm willing to believe it, but... Lizards. in the underdark. Which is, amongst other things, underground, and dark (possibly due to being underground, what with the lack of sun). The sun bit brings me to my next point. Why are these lizards even the slightest bit active? Please tell me they hang out near fiery places. (On a similar note, why are Kobolds - reptillian creatures - sensitive to sunlight? Shouldn't they be lazing out in the sun all the time? Or are reptiles like this only in Australia?) :) I read up again, they're the drow battlemounts when they ventre outside, on rare occasions. They were in the forgotten realms book Windwalker I belive... I found them hard to believe too xD
Violet Typhoon 07-02-07, 09:09 AM	The advantage to the riding lizards was that they could stick to walls, stalagtites, etc, and climb around, sortof like geckos. As to the sunning thing, maybe they were more like dinosaurs and were semi-endothermic. That's a valid excuse.
Disciple_of_Juiblex 07-02-07, 12:56 PM	So, I'm running an underdark campaign and... well, a player REALLY wants to play a mounted character. I really dislike getting in the way of character concepts, but not only does he want a mount, he wants it specifically to be a rhino. I thought of getting him to use a mount that would be better suited, like a spider, but since they are fighting drow, it just doesn't seem to fit. How do I tell him no without seeming like a jerk, or what can I do to make a compromise? He makes a drow, and grabs a couple of feats (vermin trainer and knight of lothfrom drow of the underdark) to ride vermin.... then he gets an "arachnoid" (underdark template, yes its an aberration technically, but just rule it to monsterous vermin) rhino. :D