Hello! I have a level 4 fighter with a Riding Horse. Now, he gets knocked out a lot, and I don’t want to have to keep paying to revive him. My DM says he can make death saves if he’s different than an average horse, via spells such as Awaken or if he was an Animal Companion for a ranger. Is there any ways a Fighter can make his horse more special without multiclassing or seeking out NPCs for favors?
Creatures can make death saves if the DM decides they are important enough. Technically all creatures are capable of making death saves and the game just skips them when they aren't important.
It's not that non-PC can't make Death Saves, the assumption is it doesn't matter, because no one will be there to give them medical care. When I was going to run Tomb of Annihilation, I thought about having death saves for monsters, but it's really for that dramatic it got a 20, and gets back up with 1 HP. I thought that might be cool.
Horse has +0 dex mod, so Mage Armor is not the way to go. Assuming it's something like Chain Mail, you get 16 AC on the horse, so Bark Skin wouldn't be worth it either. Instead you get it a +1 to +3 protection enchantment on it giving the horse up to a 19 AC. Then you grab something like the the horse shoes and give them the Regeneration property.
Horse has +0 dex mod, so Mage Armor is not the way to go. Assuming it's something like Chain Mail, you get 16 AC on the horse, so Bark Skin wouldn't be worth it either. Instead you get it a +1 to +3 protection enchantment on it giving the horse up to a 19 AC. Then you grab something like the the horse shoes and give them the Regeneration property.
Mage armour gets the A.C. up from 10 to 13 so it does help. A riding horse is not proficient in heavy armour so it would have disadvantage on ability checks, saves, and attacks. I also suspect a level 4 character would struggle to get any more than +1 enchantment, so take your pick between them. A draft horse or warhorse would also increase survivability.
Clearly it is the dm's choice but I would certainly allow death saves, if the Pcs are likely to try to save them. I have played where we were trying to rescue an NPC and the first thing the bad guy did when we saw him was to kill the NPC making us choose between attacking the bad guy or saving the NPC with spare the dying or a heal.
Horse has +0 dex mod, so Mage Armor is not the way to go. Assuming it's something like Chain Mail, you get 16 AC on the horse, so Bark Skin wouldn't be worth it either. Instead you get it a +1 to +3 protection enchantment on it giving the horse up to a 19 AC. Then you grab something like the the horse shoes and give them the Regeneration property.
5e isn't like 3.5e, you can't just make magic items a la carte; they're strictly in the DM's control. So saying "oh, just slap a bunch of amazing magic items on your horse" isn't very actionable.
Mage armor is still a cheap, easy solution to get any common mount's AC up, especially at lower levels. Barding is great, but it's also expensive; chain mail barding would cost 300 gp.
If feats are an option, then by far the best solution is to take Mounted Combatant feat. That renders your mount invulnerable to attacks as long as you're riding it (and not incapacitated), so its AC is largely irrelevant. It also automatically negates half the damage from most damaging area effects that use Dex saves, so it's twice as hard to reduce to 0 HP with spells like Fireball.
At higher levels, when its maximum HP is more likely to be a problem and 2nd level spells aren't quite as expensive, clerics can cast Aid to increase its max HP.
Going back to the original question, getting mage armor would require another PC or NPC, which was something they were looking to avoid. Totally agree with the mounted combatant feat. Should pick that up at 6th level for sure if feats are allowed. But as a non-cavalier fighter that wants to protect the mount without having to ask for spells, barding and always having the mount dodge is about the best I can think of from a protection standpoint. Saddle of the Cavalier makes all attacks against the mount have disadvantage. As for making it "more special", along the lines of a ranger's companion or a paladin's steed, not sure of how to go about that in the existing rules.
Anything more permanent? I bring all these suggestions, and the DM responds with ‘If I [insert subject here] with a Bandit, it couldn’t make death saves.’ He recently said this line, which I find funny- ‘If you rode a Bandit into battle, it wouldn’t make death saves’.
For instance, ‘If I Gave a Bandit Mage armor’, ‘If I gave a Bandit plate’, and ‘If I had something riding a bandit with a feat’ are some examples.
Oh, and FullMetalBunny, yes, I think. I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m paying a large sum of money to a lucky NPC to bring my horse back to life with magic, as the horse is indeed a key part of my character and his Backstory. Also I can’t find any other horses. That, and the fact that other horses are apparently more expensive.
I don't think the DM is being ridiculous, just sticking with PCs being the only things in the world that get death saves. We still don't know if feats are allowed in this situation, if barding is available, etc. If feats are allowed, ask if you can change whatever ASI or feat you took at 4th to Mounted Combatant. Is barding available in the world you are playing in? That has to be cheaper than paying to raise the horse. Potentially the same with a Saddle of the Cavalier as it is just an uncommon magic item.
Feats are allowed. I have the Mounted Combatant feat myself, as it is essential for anyone with a Cleric casting Bless, while you are Dual-Wielding lances because of a variant human feat. Barding’s available, but not that useful, as he usually goes down to things like Catapult and Fireball. What’s the Saddle of the Cavalier? Let me check.
Ooh, nice. I’ma ask him about that.
(note: not essential, but fun when you hit every attack you make.)
So with Mounted Combatant, you're about as good as you can get because you can take the hits instead of the mount, and DeX saves for the mount are save for zero or fail for half. You're right in that barding wouldn't add much with that feat and you absorbing hits.
New suggestion: knowing a bit of what your build is I can see that you have a mount scaling issue. The problem is only going to get worse as you and the enemies get to be a higher level and the horse doesn't. So rather than trying to get death saves for it from your DM, I would try asking him to possibly come up with a way to level the horse. No official rules for it, but hopefully you two can come up with some that work. Maybe something along the lines of each time it gets raised it comes back with a few extra HP. (With a set HP cap or something to prevent "raise spamming" situations) Or each level you make it picks up some hp also.
Anything more permanent? I bring all these suggestions, and the DM responds with ‘If I [insert subject here] with a Bandit, it couldn’t make death saves.’ He recently said this line, which I find funny- ‘If you rode a Bandit into battle, it wouldn’t make death saves’.
For instance, ‘If I Gave a Bandit Mage armor’, ‘If I gave a Bandit plate’, and ‘If I had something riding a bandit with a feat’ are some examples.
I would just like to point out (once again) this rule from the PHB:
Monsters and Death
Most DMs have a monster die the instant it drops to 0 hit points, rather than having it fall unconscious and make death saving throws.
Mighty villains and special nonplayer characters are common exceptions; the DM might have them fall unconscious and follow the same rules as player characters.
Emphasis mine. Friendly NPCs and mounts should be given death saves, because the likelyhood of them being stabilized and saved is high.
Hello! I have a level 4 fighter with a Riding Horse. Now, he gets knocked out a lot, and I don’t want to have to keep paying to revive him. My DM says he can make death saves if he’s different than an average horse, via spells such as Awaken or if he was an Animal Companion for a ranger. Is there any ways a Fighter can make his horse more special without multiclassing or seeking out NPCs for favors?
Extended Signature! Yay! https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/3153-extended-signature-thread?page=2#c21
Haven’t used this account in forever. Still a big fan of crawling claws.
Creatures can make death saves if the DM decides they are important enough. Technically all creatures are capable of making death saves and the game just skips them when they aren't important.
Name it, care for it, treat it well, and react strongly when others attempt to harm your horse.
I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.
Acquire Barding, armor for your horse, and have your resident enchanter give the barding some buffs.
Agreed. Mage Armor or False Life would help the horse a ton!
Professional computer geek
False Life is self only, but Mage Armor is certainly a great idea!
I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.
It's not that non-PC can't make Death Saves, the assumption is it doesn't matter, because no one will be there to give them medical care.
When I was going to run Tomb of Annihilation, I thought about having death saves for monsters, but it's really for that dramatic it got a 20, and gets back up with 1 HP. I thought that might be cool.
Wait are you paying to Raise DEAD your horse?
Horse has +0 dex mod, so Mage Armor is not the way to go. Assuming it's something like Chain Mail, you get 16 AC on the horse, so Bark Skin wouldn't be worth it either. Instead you get it a +1 to +3 protection enchantment on it giving the horse up to a 19 AC. Then you grab something like the the horse shoes and give them the Regeneration property.
What type of fighter are you? If you chose Cavalier, you get an ability to protect your mount at 7th level.
Mage armour gets the A.C. up from 10 to 13 so it does help. A riding horse is not proficient in heavy armour so it would have disadvantage on ability checks, saves, and attacks. I also suspect a level 4 character would struggle to get any more than +1 enchantment, so take your pick between them. A draft horse or warhorse would also increase survivability.
Clearly it is the dm's choice but I would certainly allow death saves, if the Pcs are likely to try to save them. I have played where we were trying to rescue an NPC and the first thing the bad guy did when we saw him was to kill the NPC making us choose between attacking the bad guy or saving the NPC with spare the dying or a heal.
Barding doesn't require the mount to have proficiency, and outside of stealth disadvantage for certain types carry no penalties to the mount it is on.
5e isn't like 3.5e, you can't just make magic items a la carte; they're strictly in the DM's control. So saying "oh, just slap a bunch of amazing magic items on your horse" isn't very actionable.
Mage armor is still a cheap, easy solution to get any common mount's AC up, especially at lower levels. Barding is great, but it's also expensive; chain mail barding would cost 300 gp.
If feats are an option, then by far the best solution is to take Mounted Combatant feat. That renders your mount invulnerable to attacks as long as you're riding it (and not incapacitated), so its AC is largely irrelevant. It also automatically negates half the damage from most damaging area effects that use Dex saves, so it's twice as hard to reduce to 0 HP with spells like Fireball.
At higher levels, when its maximum HP is more likely to be a problem and 2nd level spells aren't quite as expensive, clerics can cast Aid to increase its max HP.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Going back to the original question, getting mage armor would require another PC or NPC, which was something they were looking to avoid. Totally agree with the mounted combatant feat. Should pick that up at 6th level for sure if feats are allowed. But as a non-cavalier fighter that wants to protect the mount without having to ask for spells, barding and always having the mount dodge is about the best I can think of from a protection standpoint. Saddle of the Cavalier makes all attacks against the mount have disadvantage. As for making it "more special", along the lines of a ranger's companion or a paladin's steed, not sure of how to go about that in the existing rules.
If the horse is special to the player, it is already more special than all the nameless monsters left to die.
I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.
Anything more permanent? I bring all these suggestions, and the DM responds with ‘If I [insert subject here] with a Bandit, it couldn’t make death saves.’ He recently said this line, which I find funny- ‘If you rode a Bandit into battle, it wouldn’t make death saves’.
For instance, ‘If I Gave a Bandit Mage armor’, ‘If I gave a Bandit plate’, and ‘If I had something riding a bandit with a feat’ are some examples.
Oh, and FullMetalBunny, yes, I think. I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m paying a large sum of money to a lucky NPC to bring my horse back to life with magic, as the horse is indeed a key part of my character and his Backstory. Also I can’t find any other horses. That, and the fact that other horses are apparently more expensive.
Extended Signature! Yay! https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/3153-extended-signature-thread?page=2#c21
Haven’t used this account in forever. Still a big fan of crawling claws.
Pretty much all of the options were already covered in the thread. Your DM is just being ridiculous.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
I don't think the DM is being ridiculous, just sticking with PCs being the only things in the world that get death saves. We still don't know if feats are allowed in this situation, if barding is available, etc. If feats are allowed, ask if you can change whatever ASI or feat you took at 4th to Mounted Combatant. Is barding available in the world you are playing in? That has to be cheaper than paying to raise the horse. Potentially the same with a Saddle of the Cavalier as it is just an uncommon magic item.
Feats are allowed. I have the Mounted Combatant feat myself, as it is essential for anyone with a Cleric casting Bless, while you are Dual-Wielding lances because of a variant human feat. Barding’s available, but not that useful, as he usually goes down to things like Catapult and Fireball. What’s the Saddle of the Cavalier? Let me check.
Ooh, nice. I’ma ask him about that.
(note: not essential, but fun when you hit every attack you make.)
Extended Signature! Yay! https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/3153-extended-signature-thread?page=2#c21
Haven’t used this account in forever. Still a big fan of crawling claws.
So with Mounted Combatant, you're about as good as you can get because you can take the hits instead of the mount, and DeX saves for the mount are save for zero or fail for half. You're right in that barding wouldn't add much with that feat and you absorbing hits.
New suggestion: knowing a bit of what your build is I can see that you have a mount scaling issue. The problem is only going to get worse as you and the enemies get to be a higher level and the horse doesn't. So rather than trying to get death saves for it from your DM, I would try asking him to possibly come up with a way to level the horse. No official rules for it, but hopefully you two can come up with some that work. Maybe something along the lines of each time it gets raised it comes back with a few extra HP. (With a set HP cap or something to prevent "raise spamming" situations) Or each level you make it picks up some hp also.
I would just like to point out (once again) this rule from the PHB:
Emphasis mine. Friendly NPCs and mounts should be given death saves, because the likelyhood of them being stabilized and saved is high.