The Status Quo:
1. Mounts have to be at least one size larger, and a minimum of size Large (DMG).
2. There are no rules for using Beast Companions as a mount (Martial Power).
My thought was to make a racial (and class) feat for Halfling Rangers along the lines of the Thundertusk Companion feat for Dwarves in Martial Power.
Clawfoot Rider
Prerequisites: Halfling, ranger, Beast Mastery
Benefit: If you select a lizard as your beast companion, you may ride it as a mount even though it is medium sized. You follow all other rules associated with being mounted (see page 46 of the Dungeon Master's Guide).
What do you guys think?
While Halfling clawfoot riders are cool, I'd also like to have my Brelish and his magebread bear (you're f****d now!), my dire tiger/worg riding Hobgoblin, or an Aundarian atop a Dragonhawk.
May need to do some fiddling with raptors so that players don't get flying mounts too early. Maybe restrict the feat to a certain level.
I was considering also adding in at-will ranger attack boosting things for Circling Strike and Predator Strike. But I am not sure what benefits are appropriate.
Maybe for Circling Strike: Your beast companion may shift 1 square before and after the attack instead of before or after the attack.
I guess there could be a different feat that isn't race restricted that allows certain certain beast companions to be larger would work.
And horse could just be a new type of beast companion (create a new stat block).
There are going to be Magebred animals in the campaign guide.
Perhaps the following?
Beast Mount [Ranger]
Prerequisites: Ranger, Beast Mastery class feature
Benefit: If you are medium, your Beast Companion becomes Large. Your beast companion gains the mount subtype and the following mount power. You may use that mount power as if you had the Mounted Combat feat. If your beast companion has a fly speed, it cannot fly while you are mounted on it unless you are 11th level or higher.
I can't think of a good mount power, though. I was thinking charger, but I want something more original (see Warhorse for charger).
(Note: I have houseruled that a) a small character can ride medium mounts, and b) you may obtain medium versions of large mounts; there is no difference in cost, however.)
Perhaps the following?
Beast Mount [Ranger]
Prerequisites: Ranger, Beast Mastery class feature
Benefit: If you are medium, your Beast Companion becomes Large. Your beast companion gains the mount subtype and the following mount power. You may use that mount power as if you had the Mounted Combat feat. If your beast companion has a fly speed, it cannot fly while you are mounted on it unless you are 11th level or higher.
I can't think of a good mount power, though. I was thinking charger, but I want something more original (see Warhorse for charger).
An alternative to a mount power is to just upgrade one of the Ranger at-will attack powers.
Oh! I just thought of a second one.
Predator Strike: While mounted on your beast companion, You may use this yin place of an MBA after a charge.
Beast Mount [Ranger]
Prerequisites: Ranger, Beast Mastery class feature
Benefit: If you are medium, your beast companion becomes Large. Your beast companion gains the mount subtype. If your beast companion has a fly speed, it cannot fly while you are mounted on it unless you are 11th level or higher. While mounted on your beast companion, you may use a level 1 ranger at-will attack power with the beast keyword in place of a melee basic attack when charging.
Benefit: Your beast companion gains the mount subtype. If you are medium, your beast companion becomes Large. If you are small, you may ride your beast companion as a mount even though it is medium. If your beast companion has a fly speed....
Works for me, personally I find the 'all mounts have to be large sized' silly.
I'd wager it's to prevent small PCs from riding Medium PCs and the combination of stupidity and rules entanglement that would create. I had someone in 3e try that, using the Mounted Combat feat to negate attacks against his PC mount with Ride checks.
On a separate note have I mentioned how much I love 4th edition's hardcover DM screen?
I'd wager it's to prevent small PCs from riding Medium PCs and the combination of stupidity and rules entanglement that would create. I had someone in 3e try that, using the Mounted Combat feat to negate attacks against his PC mount with Ride checks.
I was talking with one of my friends about this, and we came to the following conclusion:
[INDENT]"Mounts must be Large" is to prevent the situation where being medium sized is bad. I.e. if only medium mounts can go everywhere, small PCs are the go to races for mounted characters.[/INDENT]
But this leads to a case where taking a feat that lets you treat your beast companion as larged sized becomes a problem. What happens if you accept that you can't ride the mount? So you now lose your big class feature?
So the alternative is this:
[INDENT]1. Be aware of the Mounts in Enclosed Spaces rule (DMG pg. 47).
2. Beast Companion is treated as large (for small PCs) when mounted). The mount doesn't get suddenly bigger, instead the mount is just using more area.
3. Medium PCs that take an appropriate feat always treat their companion as being larger. (There is no way around this.) So these players are encouraged to instead try to utilize Mounted Combat and regular mounts. This would actually be a good reason to make Mounted Beastmasters a good option, just for Halflings.
4. The appropriate feat counts as mounted combat, but only when used with the beast companion (i.e. use your modifiers for althetlics, acrobatics, endurance, and stealth, as well as negating the -2 penalty for your mount attacking).[/INDENT]
There is a Sidebar in the Adventurer's Vault that implies that (as of the final editing) there was playtesting of beast companions being used as mounts. That we didn't see it in the Martial Power book indicates that it was either (1) abandoned or (2) going to be included in either a future supplement or in Dragon. My guess is Dragon (they did a follow up to Familiars in Dragon).
I'd wager it's to prevent small PCs from riding Medium PCs and the combination of stupidity and rules entanglement that would create. I had someone in 3e try that, using the Mounted Combat feat to negate attacks against his PC mount with Ride checks.
Actually, it's to prevent the "My mount can go anywhere the rest of the party goes. It's medium sized!" Alternately is why animal companions are medium, even when they could easily be large.
They want to encourage the Ranger to bring his pet tiger into the dungeon with him. They don't want him bringing his tiger mount.
I don't think they care about race.
But what would be something good to give the Dino to replace the Griffon's ability to fly?
One of my favorite novel characters is Gerith Snowshale, a Talentan scout with a leatherwing named Blizzard.
Problem with that as a catch-all solution, though, is the lack of heroic tier support. Hence the feat.
Actually, it's to prevent the "My mount can go anywhere the rest of the party goes. It's medium sized!" Alternately is why animal companions are medium, even when they could easily be large.
They want to encourage the Ranger to bring his pet tiger into the dungeon with him. They don't want him bringing his tiger mount.
Well I'd say that when a small creature rides a medium creature, the extra room needed to ride on him means the combination of medium tiger and small halfling makes a large creature. Imagine, the little halfling can sit on his tiger, but he's not going to be able to squeeze down dungeons on it, however, he can get off and they can both go in and act as the normal ranger + beast companion.
Well I'd say that when a small creature rides a medium creature, the extra room needed to ride on him means the combination of medium tiger and small halfling makes a large creature. Imagine, the little halfling can sit on his tiger, but he's not going to be able to squeeze down dungeons on it, however, he can get off and they can both go in and act as the normal ranger + beast companion.
I like. I steal. I thank.
That way a Talentan halfling can get a low level medium sized dinosaur at character creation (assuming some flexibility from the DM), and then if they want to buy any other mounts they have to either travel all the way to the Talenta Plains (too annoying to do too often), pay a markup (to try to make up the fact they're difficult to find) or they can instead buy a large dinosaur mount at the standard price (they don't require special training so they don't have an exotic animal markup).
Its a much more specific house rule, but it helps avoid breaking the rules