Expanded Mounted Rules

Mounts have provided a massive tactical advantage through history. Cavalry is a defining component of any military if significant size. A unit of cavalry is more mobile and frequently much more lethal than infantry with the same number of people. Even in single combat, being mounted presented a huge advantage. In addition to superior mobility, striking downward at a foe is easy, while your opponent is forced to strike upward at you, and possibly to hold their shield uncomfortably high if they have one.  

What is a mount?

A willing creature that is at least one size larger than you and that has an appropriate anatomy can serve as a mount, using the following rules.

• A willing creature: The creature must be willing. There are no rules for riding unwilling mounts, but I suspect that using the rules for grappling would yield roughly the same effect.
• At least one size larger than you: Horses are large, and mastiffs and ponies are medium. Those are the typical mounts. That has an appropriate anatomy: Horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules all make fine mounts, considering that they have an anatomical structure that allows them to carry things and creatures on their backs.

Mount companion

A mount is a companion that you have to handle in and out of combat. The Pet and Companion Rules page describes in detail what you can do with your companion while you are unmounted. When you mount onto your companion, the companion shares your initiative rather than acting on its turn. Though it may still try and act independently unless you are able to rein it in.

Ride check

While mounted, you are directly guiding a creature to do your bidding. You use its movement speed as your own and can have it roll any ability skill check around pushing or dragging objects, provided that it can either grip or press against the object. However, should you and your mount find yourself in a difficult circumstance, a ride check would be required since you need to focus on keeping yourself in the saddle or have the mount make a particular maneuver.

Choose one of the following skills as the base of the ride check.

• Acrobatics: You are using your balance to try and move the creature, while holding on to its back.
• Animal Handling: You are using your knowledge of how to coerce a beast to move and act. Only works with creatures of the beast type.
• Arcana: The creature you are mounted on is of a magical make and you are using your magic to operate it. Primarily used for creatures of the construct type.
• Persuasion: You are able to directly communicate with it with speech, either with magic or telepathy.

Then add bonuses to the ride check if you have certain feats, features, or gear.

Ride Modifiers

• Ride proficiency (+Prof): You add your proficiency bonus to the Ride check if you have the Riding Training feat; you add it again even if you have proficiency or expertise in the skill. This bonus is only applicable when riding mounts of the beast type.
  • If you have the Exotic Rider feat, you add your proficiency bonus to the ride check regardless of the mount's creature type.
• Saddle: Riding a mount that isn't fitted with a saddle is unbearable, applying a -5 penalty to it. Depending on the quality of the saddle you use, you add a bonus to your ride checks.
• Ill suited (-5): If you attempt to ride a creature that is ill-suited as a mount. Either it has no back for a saddle, or its body is difficult to hold on to.

Guaranteed Success. You can circumvent the need to roll by using your action instead. For example, if you don't want to risk rolling to disengage from combat with a bonus action to roll a ride check, you can use an action instead to avoid the roll.

• The Ready action can be used situation that needs a reaction.
• Regarding attack, you may use one of your attack actions if you have multiple.

 

 

Ride DC	Mounted options/Difficult situations
- Action Cost: Reaction	Protect Mount: You roll a Ride check to negate the hit. The attack becomes a miss if your Ride check result is greater than the opponent’s attack roll. The Mounted Combatant feat allows you to force the attack to target you instead of your mount if your ride check isn't greater than the opponent’s attack roll.
10 Action Cost: None	Guide with Knees: You can react instantly to guide your mount with your knees so that you can use both hands in combat. Make your Ride check at the start of your turn. If you fail, you can use only one hand this turn because you need to use the other to control your mount. Mounted Combatant: If you have this feat, no ride check is required to steer with your legs. Shield Arm: You can use the same hand to control your mount while wielding a shield with it.
10 Action Cost: None	Stay in Saddle: You try to avoid falling when your mount rears, bolts unexpectedly, is forcefully moved, or when it tries to throw you off. A failure causes you to be dismounted. You take 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage and are knocked prone. Bucking off Rider: If the mount wants you off its back, your ride check competes against its acrobatics or athletics check of its choice. If you fail, you are forcefully dismounted.
20 Action Cost: Bonus Action	Fight With Mount: If you direct your war-trained mount to use its attack action in battle. It makes one attack against a target of your choice. Multi attack: The mount will use its multiattack if it has it. where you designate the targets. War-trained: Reduce the DC by 10 if the companion is accustomed to combat naturally or is war-trained.
15 Action Cost: Bonus Action	Spur Mount: You can spur your mount to greater speed. A successful Ride check commands your mount to use its action to Dash, doubling its current movement speed Quick: If the mount has this feature, it is able to use its bonus action to take the Dash action. Mounted charge: You are able to gain the benefit of the charge maneuver instead of your mount. If your mount moves at least 20 feet in a straight line, you, the rider, gain the +2 bonus to attack and damage on your first attack, and for every additional 10 feet your mount moves in a line, add +1 to the damage roll.
15 Action Cost: None	Leap: You can get your mount to jump over obstacles as part of its movement. If you fail your Ride check, you fall off the mount when it leaps and take 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage and fall prone.
15 Action Cost: Free Action	Cover: You use the elevated position that riding your mount provides to avoid getting hit. Make your Ride check at the start of your turn. You get the benefit of half cover (+2 to AC and Dex saves) while mounted for that turn. If you fail your Ride check, you don’t get the cover benefit. Greater Cover: If the creature is two size categories larger than you, you get the benefit of two quarters cover (+5 to AC and Dex saves).
15 Action Cost: Bonus Action	Withdraw: You command your mount to get out of danger safely. A successful Ride check commands your mount to use its action to Disengage, making it so that your mount's movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn. This applies to you as well while mounted. Evasive: If the mount has this feature, it is able to use its bonus action to take the disengage action.
20 Action Cost: None	Fast Mount or Dismount: You can attempt to mount or dismount from your mount without using your movement. If you fail the Ride check, mounting or dismounting requires half your base movement as usual. If you don't have enough movement, you don't get up or down your mount. One size larger: You can’t use fast mount or dismount on a mount more than one size category larger than yourself.
15 Action Cost: Reaction	Rein in Mount: Some mounts will rely on their natural instinct to flee from the confusion of combat, or slake their blood thirst at the smell of blood, rather than listening to their rider. You attempt to keep control of your mount, making sure that it doesn't do anything you don't want. If you fail the Ride check, the DM takes control of the mount and has it act independently according to its personality and nature during your turn. Frighetend: A mount that has the Frightened condition will try to use its movement to get away from the danger. A success only stops it from fleeing, not removing the condition. Charmed: A mount that has the Charmed condition will try to use its movement to get closer to the source. Or do the bidding of what charms it. A success only stops it from doing the bidding of others, not removing the condition.
20 Action Cost: none	Control Mount in Battle: When trying to use your mount's movement during battle, it may freeze up and refuse to go into situations that it perceives as dangerous. If you fail the Ride check, you can't use the mounts' movement as your own that round. War-trained: If a mount is war-trained, it's disciplined enough not to freak out in the confusion of combat. No ride check would be needed when in the heat of battle unless frightened.
- Action Cost: Bonus Action	Overrun: You command your mount to use its action to Overrun a target creature of your choice. Your ride check is contested by the hostile creature's Strength (Athletics) check. If you win the contest skill check, your mount can move through the creature's space, but the square counts as difficult terrain, and your mount can't stop within its space. Size difference: If your mount is larger than the creature, the creature rolls with disadvantage. Trample: If a creature is prone while Overrunning, the mount can make a melee attack with its limbs against it as a bonus action.

   

Mounting / Dismounting

Once during your move, you can mount a creature that is within 5 feet of you or dismount. Doing so costs an amount of movement equal to half your speed. For example, if your speed is 30 feet, you must spend 15 feet of movement to mount a horse. Therefore, you can’t mount it if you don’t have 15 feet of movement left or if your speed is 0.  

Riding Creatures and effects by their size

While mounted on a creature one size category larger, the rider gains a mounted AC bonus depending on their control over the creature. If the rider has high enough animal handling they will increes this bonus, se mounted control table bellow. This mounted AC bonus is however ignored if the rider is attacked by a:

• Ranged attack.
• Melee attack that effected by “Reach”.
• Melee attack from another rider mounted on a creature that is the same size category or larger compared to the mount.
• Creature that is the same size category or larger compared to the mount.
• Creature that is flying.

The rider can't be targeted by a melee attack if the attacking creature is two size categories smaller that the mount, if they use a weapon with the “Reach” property they can target the rider with their mounted AC bonus. Aditionaly, any melee attack the rider performs against creatures that are 2 size categories smaller than their mount is done with disatvantage, unles their attack is affected by reach. Creatures that are prone cant be targeted with melee attacks from the rider, unles their attack is affected by reach.   The rider can perform a melee attack at creatures of the samle size catagory or larger within 5 feet of the mount. If they wield a weapon that posses the reach property that range extends to 10 feet. If the rider is mounted on a creature 2 size categories larger than themselves, the rider can only perform a melee attack with a weapon that posses the reach property against any creature within 5 feet of the mount.  

Independent Mounts

An independent mount retains its place in the initiative order. Bearing a rider puts no restrictions on the actions the mount can take, and it moves and acts as it wishes. It might flee from combat, rush to attack and devour a badly injured foe, or otherwise act against your wishes. Any order given requiers a Active attempt to control.   Sentient creatures, or creatures capable of speach and with an intelligence score of 9 or higher, cant be controlled like an animal or beast and will be considerd independent. You must use your Persuasion bonus as your Mount Control score insted of animal handling. You are also requierd to befriend it to allow you to ride it. If you manage to form a bond of 15 or higher you are able to take full control of it.