Working up a replacement character and as we are going to be in the Underdark for a while dealing with Mind Flayers (and owing the Drow)... I was looking for Ranger spells that were more Underdark than Nature themed... and looking at Conjure Animals you get some Giant Lizards which are good cannon fodder to throw down. I mean, 8 of these bad lizards to stand between my foe and my bow, what's not to like? Average of 19 HP (so better HP than a wolf)... so they should take a couple of hits at least. Sold. They can climb! Even better... I mean, they don't get multiattack or trip or anything like that, but good solid wall of teeth and scales.
And then I was wondering... if they are friendly... could we try to ride them? Hmmm? I mean, I know they aren't trained... so some hilarity should ensue, but maybe it would be allowed and be fun for the group for an hour or so. The obvious downside is burning a 3rd level spot just for fun... but I've burned higher level than that before! lol
So... would you allow it at your table or is this forbidden magic use?
If you're summoning Giant Lizards reliably, I don't know why your DM would draw the line and not allow you to summon all or some of them as Giant Riding Lizards instead. Sure, they wouldn't necessarily have any tack or saddles, which could make climbing (or even Spider Climbing) a fraught proposition... but the entry itself says that they "can be ridden" in general, so why not. And aside from mobility, an entire herd of beefy large lizard bodies to gum up enemy movement and provide your team cover is bound to come in handy, even if the lizards don't prove very capable in combat against second and third tier foes.
But, setting aside that these Lizards are generally rideable, please do note that you aren't summoning normal Lizards, trained or otherwise. "Fey spirits" are summoned in the form of those Lizards, and though they're "friendly," your DM probably has a pretty wide latitude as to whether they behave like a normal Beast would. I'm not sure I'd want to go scampering up a cave wall trusting my life to a capricious fey without a contingency plan in place, in case its idea of friendly fun might be different from that of mere mortals...
As a DM, I would require an Animal Handling check to ride any animal that you aren't trained to ride or isn't itself trained to carry riders. I'd maybe even require a low DC check even if you are both trained, if there is no appropriate saddle / tack. The fewer of these things are present, the harder the check. Probably a 20 or more to ride one of these lizards up the wall.
You can definitely try. A low DC (because friendly) animal handling check to get them to allow it, or an acrobatic check to not fall off might be appropriate.
But yeah, it definitely isn't impossible or against the rules.
I certainly wasn't planning to try and ride one up a cave wall, but you make a good point that a fey spirit certainly might. And yes, Animal Handling would definitely be required. Also, there will be no tack... this is more of a "jump on a cow on a trail ride" type of question. I'm tempted to suggest it and see what the rest of the party does and then find out what the DM is going to do to us... just because it sounds like fun and I think I have a higher animal handling skill than everyone else... which just means I'm more liable to roll a 1 than anyone else.
Before you get too into it, check with your DM. By RAW, you only pick the CR, it’s up to the DM which specific creature you get. So those lizards might be centipedes or bats.
It was mostly a passing thought. He didn't interpret it as he needed to provide which beasts were chosen, but I have no problem with that either. It makes more work on him that way, so I doubt he'll do it... mostly I'm bringing in a wall of hit points between us and the enemy. But since they last for an hour, I figure I could have some fun with other members of the party.
I'm among the DM's that just lets my player decide what creatures they conjure with the spell. It makes things run a lot smoother... my player who knows the spell has a small pool of creatures that they rely on regularly, so I just have the stats of those specific creatures prepped and ready.
It seems better to let the player choose the creatures. The DM not being prepared to know how the creatures work seems like less of a problem than the player not being prepared to know how the creatures work.
Working up a replacement character and as we are going to be in the Underdark for a while dealing with Mind Flayers (and owing the Drow)... I was looking for Ranger spells that were more Underdark than Nature themed... and looking at Conjure Animals you get some Giant Lizards which are good cannon fodder to throw down. I mean, 8 of these bad lizards to stand between my foe and my bow, what's not to like? Average of 19 HP (so better HP than a wolf)... so they should take a couple of hits at least. Sold. They can climb! Even better... I mean, they don't get multiattack or trip or anything like that, but good solid wall of teeth and scales.
And then I was wondering... if they are friendly... could we try to ride them? Hmmm? I mean, I know they aren't trained... so some hilarity should ensue, but maybe it would be allowed and be fun for the group for an hour or so. The obvious downside is burning a 3rd level spot just for fun... but I've burned higher level than that before! lol
So... would you allow it at your table or is this forbidden magic use?
If you're summoning Giant Lizards reliably, I don't know why your DM would draw the line and not allow you to summon all or some of them as Giant Riding Lizards instead. Sure, they wouldn't necessarily have any tack or saddles, which could make climbing (or even Spider Climbing) a fraught proposition... but the entry itself says that they "can be ridden" in general, so why not. And aside from mobility, an entire herd of beefy large lizard bodies to gum up enemy movement and provide your team cover is bound to come in handy, even if the lizards don't prove very capable in combat against second and third tier foes.
But, setting aside that these Lizards are generally rideable, please do note that you aren't summoning normal Lizards, trained or otherwise. "Fey spirits" are summoned in the form of those Lizards, and though they're "friendly," your DM probably has a pretty wide latitude as to whether they behave like a normal Beast would. I'm not sure I'd want to go scampering up a cave wall trusting my life to a capricious fey without a contingency plan in place, in case its idea of friendly fun might be different from that of mere mortals...
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
As a DM, I would require an Animal Handling check to ride any animal that you aren't trained to ride or isn't itself trained to carry riders. I'd maybe even require a low DC check even if you are both trained, if there is no appropriate saddle / tack. The fewer of these things are present, the harder the check. Probably a 20 or more to ride one of these lizards up the wall.
You can definitely try. A low DC (because friendly) animal handling check to get them to allow it, or an acrobatic check to not fall off might be appropriate.
But yeah, it definitely isn't impossible or against the rules.
I certainly wasn't planning to try and ride one up a cave wall, but you make a good point that a fey spirit certainly might. And yes, Animal Handling would definitely be required. Also, there will be no tack... this is more of a "jump on a cow on a trail ride" type of question. I'm tempted to suggest it and see what the rest of the party does and then find out what the DM is going to do to us... just because it sounds like fun and I think I have a higher animal handling skill than everyone else... which just means I'm more liable to roll a 1 than anyone else.
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Before you get too into it, check with your DM. By RAW, you only pick the CR, it’s up to the DM which specific creature you get. So those lizards might be centipedes or bats.
It was mostly a passing thought. He didn't interpret it as he needed to provide which beasts were chosen, but I have no problem with that either. It makes more work on him that way, so I doubt he'll do it... mostly I'm bringing in a wall of hit points between us and the enemy. But since they last for an hour, I figure I could have some fun with other members of the party.
I'm among the DM's that just lets my player decide what creatures they conjure with the spell. It makes things run a lot smoother... my player who knows the spell has a small pool of creatures that they rely on regularly, so I just have the stats of those specific creatures prepped and ready.
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It seems better to let the player choose the creatures. The DM not being prepared to know how the creatures work seems like less of a problem than the player not being prepared to know how the creatures work.
It really depends on the spell. Some of the summoning spells have stupid broken options per RAW, and can be highly abused by an unscrupulous player.