So I'm working on a budding idea for a cross-country horse race sort of campaign, Steel Ball Run style. I figured I'd reach out to ask for ideas for some riding mounts outside of the standard riding horse/draft horse, so that I can have a wide variety of options both for players to choose from and for making unique NPCs. I also think it'd be good to give some abilities or proficiencies to the different mounts so that they can all have their own strengths and weaknesses, e.g. camels having better speed on sandy terrain.
Anyone have any suggestions for species/specialties for some riding creatures? They can be as strange as you'd like, so long as nothing is flying or particularly OP.
Why not dinosaurs? Elephants? Big beasts can add an extra layer of challenge for resource management like constantly having to find large amounts of water sources and grazing/hunting to keep a large beast in prime physical condition (and having to make tough choices on taking shortcuts through drought lands for instance).
Giant frogs as mounts could be very interesting too adding jumping abilities to get across ravines or sheer cliffs, and options for swimming across the lake rather than having to take the longer route around. Would probably need to fudge the 'medium' classification to 'large' to make it work in a rational sense. A built-in weakness for this type of mount could be a need for the frog to actually need to find a lake, pond, etc.to be able to benefit from a long rest or get more sluggish if trying to make it several days across the desert.
Ooh I do really like the idea of having to deal with taking care of a rlly big pal like a dinosaur! That'd be a great option both for ppl playing large races or for teams all on one mount. Also giant frogs sound so cool! I never would have thought to use something like that it seems so fun! Bless you for these good good ideas I feel so motivated now!
These are just some of the ideas, I'm sure if you really wanted to have fun you could make Large or Dire variants of almost any creature suitable to have a rider on it's back. I do like the idea of having certain terrain types that can make riding different animals a danger, risk, or liability.
Recycling some mount ideas from the Guildwars 2 game here: - "Raptor" (bipedal lizard/dino type: fast, can take leaps forward to e.g. jump across a gap) - "Springer" (some sort of giant dire hare or even a locust or frog creature: can take big leaps vertically to reach plateaus high above you) - "Skimmer" (a floating creature, like a ray: this one can float on water or go over quicksand; will be fast on water than on land) - "Jackal" (in GW2 its a magical beast made out of sand, but in D&D you could use some sort of blink dog, who can teleport a short distance, or due to its magical abilities can use ancient portals like dimension dooring. - "Griffon" (or a Pegasus etc. : a creature able to glide down slopes and fly up for a short distance, like extended "hops") - "Rollerbeetle" (just think about Sonic the Hedgehog; in GW2 you have a magical saddle to attach yourself to the spinning mount; this one is very fast, but has problems to fast stop and take turns)
If you want to use mounts that correspond better with the environment, think about: - camels (endurance to heat, sure footed in a sandy desert) - mules (slow, but incredibly sturdy) - sled dogs (to move sledges in snowy climates) - goats, llamas (which will be advantageous in the mountains on rocky terrain)
also curious to know if you would intend combat scenarios for individual players/mounts against random beasts during this cross-country race (if so, not sure how'd that influence which mounts to choose from; and, probably read-up on controlled vs. independent mounts somewhere in the handbooks), or just confine the adventure to time constraints, environmental hazards, resource scavenging, etc.
definitely be liberal with saddle variations to fit various shaped beasts
Thanks all y'all for the great input and ideas! It'll certainly be a challenge to work around all the delicacies of mounted combat and trying to balance everything, but I think it'll be a fun, if a bit ambitious campaign for a newbie DM like me! Now all I gotta do is actually write everything and find some folks to play!
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So I'm working on a budding idea for a cross-country horse race sort of campaign, Steel Ball Run style. I figured I'd reach out to ask for ideas for some riding mounts outside of the standard riding horse/draft horse, so that I can have a wide variety of options both for players to choose from and for making unique NPCs. I also think it'd be good to give some abilities or proficiencies to the different mounts so that they can all have their own strengths and weaknesses, e.g. camels having better speed on sandy terrain.
Anyone have any suggestions for species/specialties for some riding creatures? They can be as strange as you'd like, so long as nothing is flying or particularly OP.
I love this concept. Going big could be very fun.
Why not dinosaurs? Elephants? Big beasts can add an extra layer of challenge for resource management like constantly having to find large amounts of water sources and grazing/hunting to keep a large beast in prime physical condition (and having to make tough choices on taking shortcuts through drought lands for instance).
Giant frogs as mounts could be very interesting too adding jumping abilities to get across ravines or sheer cliffs, and options for swimming across the lake rather than having to take the longer route around. Would probably need to fudge the 'medium' classification to 'large' to make it work in a rational sense. A built-in weakness for this type of mount could be a need for the frog to actually need to find a lake, pond, etc.to be able to benefit from a long rest or get more sluggish if trying to make it several days across the desert.
Boldly go
Ooh I do really like the idea of having to deal with taking care of a rlly big pal like a dinosaur! That'd be a great option both for ppl playing large races or for teams all on one mount. Also giant frogs sound so cool! I never would have thought to use something like that it seems so fun! Bless you for these good good ideas I feel so motivated now!
Technically anything can be a mount if it is big enough and strong enough. The player's handbook has common examples here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/phb/equipment#MountsandVehicles
In the ebberon setting, halflings where know to ride raptors or the like.
These are just some of the ideas, I'm sure if you really wanted to have fun you could make Large or Dire variants of almost any creature suitable to have a rider on it's back. I do like the idea of having certain terrain types that can make riding different animals a danger, risk, or liability.
Recycling some mount ideas from the Guildwars 2 game here:
- "Raptor" (bipedal lizard/dino type: fast, can take leaps forward to e.g. jump across a gap)
- "Springer" (some sort of giant dire hare or even a locust or frog creature: can take big leaps vertically to reach plateaus high above you)
- "Skimmer" (a floating creature, like a ray: this one can float on water or go over quicksand; will be fast on water than on land)
- "Jackal" (in GW2 its a magical beast made out of sand, but in D&D you could use some sort of blink dog, who can teleport a short distance, or due to its magical abilities can use ancient portals like dimension dooring.
- "Griffon" (or a Pegasus etc. : a creature able to glide down slopes and fly up for a short distance, like extended "hops")
- "Rollerbeetle" (just think about Sonic the Hedgehog; in GW2 you have a magical saddle to attach yourself to the spinning mount; this one is very fast, but has problems to fast stop and take turns)
If you want to use mounts that correspond better with the environment, think about:
- camels (endurance to heat, sure footed in a sandy desert)
- mules (slow, but incredibly sturdy)
- sled dogs (to move sledges in snowy climates)
- goats, llamas (which will be advantageous in the mountains on rocky terrain)
also curious to know if you would intend combat scenarios for individual players/mounts against random beasts during this cross-country race (if so, not sure how'd that influence which mounts to choose from; and, probably read-up on controlled vs. independent mounts somewhere in the handbooks), or just confine the adventure to time constraints, environmental hazards, resource scavenging, etc.
definitely be liberal with saddle variations to fit various shaped beasts
Boldly go
Thanks all y'all for the great input and ideas! It'll certainly be a challenge to work around all the delicacies of mounted combat and trying to balance everything, but I think it'll be a fun, if a bit ambitious campaign for a newbie DM like me! Now all I gotta do is actually write everything and find some folks to play!