Ring Mail (armor)

An armor of uncertain make and design, as no actual examples of this type of armor exist in fact, rather only in loose descriptions from the medieval period. Nevertheless, we may assume it to be individual (not interlocking) rings sewn over the surface of a garment, intended to act similarly to studded leather armor.

Ring mail provides the same +3 armor class adjustment as studded leather armor (lowers armor class by 3 points). However, it is moderately heavier and much stronger with regards to item saving throws (for which it should save as a metal and not as leather). It also requires the purchase of cloth padded armor (though not the hauberk), which must be worn with the ring mail torso.

See Armor List

Leather Armor

Also known as a brigandine, dingjia, kuyak or kikko, a form of armor made from pieces of boiled leather sewn together, sealed and hardened so as to provide a somewhat complete hardened shell, though leaving parts of the body (knees and elbows particularly) vulnerable. The armor incorporates a wide variety of shapes, forms and methods of construction, usually including separate pieces for sleeves and grieves, the latter covering the knees down to the foot.

In my game, the leather armor incorporates within its base structure the cloth hauberk, into which much of the leather pieces are sewn. Thus, the character does not need to buy chausses or a hauberk when purchasing leather armor. The same is true of studded leather armor.

Leather armor provides a +2 armor class adjustment (lowers armor class by 2 points).

See Armor List

Padded Armor

A light armor that consists of a padded cloth hauberk (also gambeson, arming doublet or jacket, aketon) and padded trousers, or chausses, that are worn together to provide a +1 armor class adjustment (lowers armor class by 1 point). The fabric is woven together through a technique called "quilting," in which two or more layers of fabric are sewn together to make a thick, impenetrable padded material, able to slow and minimalize the blows of weapons to the body or the legs.

Padded armor is worn under most other armors in order to minimalize chafing of the skin by ring, scale, chain and other mails. Noted on equipment tables as a "hauberk" and "chausses," these pieces must be purchased separately as they are not included in the prices of most armors.

Padded armor does not need to be purchased when used with leather armor or studded leather armor. Only the chausses are necessary when wearing ring mail.

See Armor List

Chain Mail (armor)

A type of armor consisting of small metal rings linked together to form a mesh that is worn like a shirt pulled over the top of the head. The lower part of the armor consists of leather or scale greaves that cover the shins and the top of the boot.

The armor requires the wearing of padded armor beneath the chain mesh, to prevent chafing and to provide armor for the back of the legs, which the mail does not cover.

Chain mail provides a +5 armor class adjustment (lowers armor class by 5 points). It is not as heavy as scale mail, which does not provide as good an armor class; chain mail is, however, more expensive.

See Armor List

Banded Mail (armor)

Banded mail is a 19th century misinterpretation of medieval manuscripts and effigies; whereas it was considered real during the 19th century, it is unlikely that it ever existed. Nevertheless, being that this is a fantasy game, we can postulate that banded mail does exist. For the purposes of my game, banded mail is popular in European and Mediterranean regions, when heavy armor is worn.

Traditionally, it is a form of mail reinforced with bands of laminated metal sewn over a backing of chain mail and leather, ultimately riveted together. The main substance of the armor continues to be chain mail and under-layer that makes the armor comfortable and protected; thus it is a heavy, slight improvement over chain mail.

The armor requires the wearing of padded armor beneath the chain mesh, to prevent chafing and to provide armor for the back of the legs, which the mail does not cover.

Banded mail provides a +6 armor class adjustment (lowers armor class by 6 points).

See Armor List

Beasts (list)

Beasts are divided into two groups: ordinary beasts and unique beasts. This page describes those creatures known to clerics in relation to the sage ability, Beasts. For a list of all monsters in Alexis' world, see Bestiary.

For further details, see the following links:

ankheg ~ ape (carnivorous) ~ astral wolf ~ axe beak ~ basilisk ~ behemoth ~ beholder ~ bird of Tyaa ~ bulette ~ carrion crawler ~ catoblepas ~ centaur ~ chimera ~ cockatrice ~ couatl ~ displacer beast ~ dog (blink) ~ dragon

Submerged Combat

Combat while submerged underwater is, and should be, a very difficult thing for land-dwelling creatures ~ we need only consider how difficult it would be for a water-dwelling creature without legs or arms to participate in combat on the land. We should not expect it to be easy for players who choose to venture underwater ~ though we can certainly make the treasure worth their while (this being another subject).

There are many considerations that submerged combat begs us to consider; the content below occurs in no particular order, but it is all relevant, and should be understood completely before attempting to run an underwater scenario.

This is a placeholder for further content on this subject, though the bare bones of the rules I intend to create may be found discussed and part written out on this post, from the Tao of D&D.

See Combat

Predict Emergence (sage ability)

Foretells the impending appearance of a sea or lake creature swimming up through the water, about to break the surface. If the character is aware and within sight of the point of emergence (3 feet x the length or height of the creature), the event will make itself evident due to the heaving of water, the appearance of bubbles or other potential signs (movement of sea birds, glimpses of passage underwater, etcetera).

Creatures as small as medium-sized can be predicted - however, smaller creatures offer less warning. See the table on the left for the forewarning the character is given before the creature breaks the surface.

Guessing from size and other signals, the character should be able to predetermine the appearance of whales, sharks, kraken, giant turtles and humanoids - but beyond those, the character will know no more than the actual size of the creature.

Note that the ability cannot be employed in circumstances where waves have begun to crest (appearance of white foam) ~ a strong breeze or more.

See Sea Life

Identify Sea Life (sage ability)

Allows identification of a given order of sea life on sight, above or below the water surface.

In addition to their identification, the character will also be aware - where monstrous forms of sea life occurs - the principle threat the creature or animal imposes. Specifically, knowledge of threat includes the number of attacks the creature or animal possesses per round, what parts of the body are used in attack, the armour class of the creature or animal and its approximate weight and hit dice.

This knowledge includes if the sea life is known to upset shipping or if it is typically aggressive towards land creatures, but does not extend to any other magical attacks or defences these creatures or animals have.

See Sea Life

Boric Serum

An apothecaries' preparation from boric acid that will have some effectiveness against character wounds, infections caused by fungus based monsters and when employed against giant insects. Boric serum is typically contained in a glass phial, in units of 1 fl. oz. All effects described below describe applications of 1 fl. oz. Note that applying a greater volume of boric serum to wounds or infections will be detrimental to the patient.

Treating wounds: boric serum will close a bleeding wound, while simultaneously restoring one hit point to the wounded character. Note, however, that for each additional application of boric serum to a patient that has been treated within the last 24 hours, there is a 10% cumulative chance that an overdose will cause 1-4 damage to the character being treated. Boric serum will not heal hit points except when directly applied to a wound.

Treating fungal infections: boric serum will combat the effects of various fungal creatures, depending on the attack form. While boric serum will not heal either damage caused by fungal creatures, it will transform necrotic damage into 'ordinary damage' - meaning that damage so transformed will not further continue the loss of hit points by the sufferer. Each application of boric serum will transform 1-4 hit points of necrotic damage - but note, as with treating wounds above, each additional application of boric serum within a one-day period may cause additional damage to the sufferer (it would both transform the necrotic damage AND add additional damage with each application). Violet fungi, green slime, yellow mold and numerous other creatures cause necrotic damage.

Insecticide: boric serum is too weak to cause damage to insects; however, if an ounce of boric serum can be effectively splashed upon a giant insect, it will become obsessed with cleaning itself for 2-8 rounds before it can attack. This cleaning will be frenetic and will cause the insect to retain its armor class; very large insects will still cause incidental damage. However, insects so affected by boric serum can still be attacked; as well, the use of boric serum will ground flying insects as they attempt to clean themselves. Once clean, the insect can attack normally.

To hit with a phial of boric serum (a greater volume will add +1 to hit per additional ounce but will not increase the time the insect needs to clean itself), it requires an attack of 2 action points (AP) and the character to successfully hit against AC 10. Hitting a flying creature with boric serum requires a successful hit against AC 3.

See Equipment Notes

Treat Disease (sage ability)

A physician with this skill is able to treat disease so as to subtract 1 point from the d8 used to determine the Nature of the disease. Similarly, the Degree of disease is also modified by 1 point in the patient's favor. If either nature or degree is reduced to zero, the disease will have cleared up on its own, within a week, without further ailment.

It is necessary that the physician possess a proper setting in which to encourage this health. A hospital must be fashioned so as to have a stone floor, a roof or covering sufficient enough to provide waterproof protection from the elements, a sufficient amount of warmth, walls that resist the presence of insects and a constant state of cleanliness. In a region which never grows colder than a warm climate, even a tent will serve as a hospital, so long as it is made of heavy canvas. In most other regions, a hospital will need to be made of wood or even more insulated materials.

Up to three patients may be cared for per hundred square feet of hospital. Due to the amount of cleaning and attendance needed, a physician acting alone will be able to treat only one patient per 8 points of possessed knowledge; however, a single nurse (any person with at least five points of knowledge in medicine) can half this number for up to eight patients. Thus, a physician with 64 medical knowledge and only one nurse would be able to treat up to 12 patients; with a second nurse, the physician would be able to effectively treat up to 16 patients. A third nurse would not add any benefit, except that each nurse would have to work less hours overall. It is presumed that both doctor and nurses are working 12 hours a day.

See Medicine

Diagnose Ailment (sage ability)

Identifies the nature and cause of disease or the presence of insidious poison inside the body by virtue of the subject's signs and symptoms.

When correct, the ability grants the character knowledge of what area of the body is being affected, the extent of damage or loss of attributes likely to occur and the chance that the condition is terminal. For terminal cases, the character can make an estimate of the time left to the patient, but of course cannot name the exact length of time the character has left. Take note that this diagnosis can include correctly describing ailments resulting from magical or supernatural causes.

The character can also suggest the correct solution to the condition suffered (what must be taken, what treatment must be given). Unfortunately, unless the character has other abilities, this is the extent of the aid they can give having diagnosed the ailment. Even if the medicant has the necessary herbs or drugs, knowledge of how these must be prepared will not be known to the character and thus administration of these drugs will not be effective.

Note: While an incorrect diagnosis made by the medicant might supply drama to the campaign, the difficulties in keeping track of incorrect diagnoses without a system for doing so (which I have not created at this time) does no substantially support this instance within the game. For simplicity's sake, at this time it will be presumed that the diagnosis made is correct (until such time as I choose to expand the game structure with regards to medical conditions).

See Medicine

Diagnose & Treat Farmyard Disease (sage ability)

Identifies the nature and cause of common farmyard diseases, offering some possibility of treatment for these diseases.

The ability grants the character knowledge of what part of the animal's body is being infected, the extent of damage or lost of strength or constitution in the animal. For terminal cases, the character can make an estimate of the time remaining to the animal, but not the exact amount of time the animal has left. Take note that this diagnosis can include correctly describing ailments from magical or supernatural causes.

The character can, with time and effort, attempt to treat the disease over the period in which it is acute and the symptoms manifest. In so doing, the character will reduce the severity of the disease by 1 point. This may or may not be enough to heal the animal or prevent death.

Note: While an incorrect diagnosis made by the medicant might supply drama to the campaign, the difficulties in keeping track of incorrect diagnoses without a system for doing so (which I have not created at this time) does no substantially support this instance within the game. For simplicity's sake, at this time it will be presumed that the diagnosis made is correct (until such time as I choose to expand the game structure with regards to medical conditions).

See Animal Physiology

Mercenary Hirelings

When hiring mercenaries, the type that are available is dependent on the wisdom check of the character seeking for such persons (see Enlistment of Hirelings). See the table below:

The table indicates the modifier to the character's wisdom in seeking the mercenary hireling sought. For example a character with a 16 wisdom makes a wisdom check in acquiring a hireling, rolling a 7. This is 9 points below the character's wisdom, so the list of hirelings that are available for hire are those with a modifier of -9 or better. The artillerist, which has a modifier of -10, means that the character would need to roll a 6 or less to have a chance of finding such a person.

Because of the difficulties in finding truly unusual or experienced mercenaries, characters are encouraged to hire agents to find such persons rather than seeking directly for them. On the other hand, easy to locate mercenaries such as light footmen or light archers may be easily found by characters who may even have a relatively low wisdom.

The table above also indicates the weapons, armor and cost of such mercenaries. At present, I have no plans to make this table adjustable for the difference between one market and another ~ but perhaps someday I might.

See Campaign

Fight while Unsteady

Most combat is perceived to occur upon a flat, reliable surface, but this is not always the case. It may happen that a combatant finds it necessary to fight while climbing, whether to reach a surface or against something while holding onto the side of a precipice, or when perched on high place, such as a ledge or to top of a structure. As well, combatants may be compelled to fight upon swaying bridges, upon logs or other natural traverses over drops, while standing up on a boat or upon the edge of a large floating vessel, in rainstorms and windstorms, or upon loose soil or slippery snow. All of these conditions can challenge the combatant to maintain their footing ~ however, the sage ability to fight when unsteady exists to mitigate these dangers and inconveniences.

Dexterity checks described below are made each round that the combatant is attacking under these conditions, or when the combatant has been stunned.

Untrained Combatants

We begin with recognizing that combatants with no special training in balance will find themselves in the above conditions without any special benefits from the study of balance. It is desirable that combatants see these situations as very dangerous, with the sort of penalty that causes them to retreat rather than risk fighting, except when retreat is impossible. Thus, a mere -1 or -2 penalty to dexterity for many of the above is not sufficient! An untrained combatant in such a situation should certainly have a greater chance of succumbing to the conditions than not, so therefore the penalties must be such that they cannot be easily ignored.

We can consider a template for those modifiers based on a number of categories:

• Perception of danger, in which the character's fall is an inconvenience (slipping on mud) compared to those that could mean damage and death (slipping from a height). A intense perception of danger increases fear, which increases overcompensation, which increases likelihood of falling.
• The narrowness of space (% of a combat hex) that the combatant's purchase occupies.
• The unsteadiness/slickness of the surface (a rolling barrel vs. a pinnacle of solid rock).
• Natural forces that affect the combatant, that are outside the combatant's control, such as a blasting wind or a seismic disturbance.

Suppose that in each of the above cases, rather than try to establish a complicated set of measurements, we describe the degree of these categories in terms of their threat-level: uncertain, risky, dangerous and suicidal (see below). An uncertain condition will force a normal dexterity check. A risky condition will give a -3 penalty to the character's dexterity. A dangerous condition will give a -6 penalty. A suicidal condition will give a -12 penalty. If a given circumstance seems variable (a cart starting and stopping, wind swinging wildly around, ship under random bombardment, etcetera), then an increased penalty of -1, -2, -3 and -4 should be given for each corresponding threat level.

It is important to note that, since the threat-level can be a composite of more than one category, in different degrees, the total penalty is the combined penalty for each individual conditional effect! Thus, a character standing on a moving horse, where the surface of the horse's body is the twice the character's own body size, high enough to take some damage, while a near gale is blowing, would have a total penalty of -18 to their dexterity check. Therefore, while none of the perameters are suicidal, the combatant would almost certainly fail their dexterity check.

Note that for any person able to obtain a permanent hand-hold, one that is not moving in relation to the character (though it might be moving in relation to the world around, such as a horse's pommel), the total threat-level will be reduced by half. This applies to both trained and untrained combatants alike. Note also that for those able to ride an animal such as a horse or a camel, actually riding the animal gives no penalties to dexterity (though an untrained rider must roll dexterity when attempting to ride and fight ~ treat as risky).

Perception of Danger

• uncertain ~ the character will slip and fall to the ground.
• risky ~ the character risks less than half their hit points, maximum, if a fall occurs.
• dangerous ~ the character risks all, or perhaps a little more, of their maximum hit points if a fall occurs.
• suicidal ~ the character will die if a fall occurs.

Narrowness of Space

• uncertain ~ half the space of a combat hex.
• risky ~ approximately twice the size of the character's body (for an average human, about a third of a combat hex).
• dangerous ~ exactly the area of the character's body.
• suicidal ~ substantially less than the area of the character's body.

Unsteadiness/Slickness of Surface

• uncertain ~ the surface is flat and will shift slightly, or if the surface is naturally slippery.
• risky ~ the surface is wobbly and can randomly dump the combatant, or if the surface is magically or unnaturally slippery.
• dangerous ~ the surface is wobbly as well as rounded or spiky, or is flat and moving steadily in a predictable manner (standing on horseback, a cart/wagon over a road, a boat over a lake or flat sea, etcetera).
• suicidal ~ the surface is wobbly, moving, rounded or spiky, and entirely impossible to predict due to waves, terrain or internal mechanism.

Natural forces

• uncertain ~ a moderate or a fresh breeze; a earthquake that can be distinctly felt but which will cause no measurable damage (none of the results on the table shown on the right).
• risky ~ a strong breeze; an earthquake up to 3 on the table.
• dangerous ~ a near gale or a gale; an earthquake up to 7 on the table.
• suicidal ~ a strong gale, storm, violent storm or hurricane; an earthquake of 8 or more on the table.

See Also,
Balance
Combat
Firm Footwork

Intoxication

Characters who choose to imbibe ale, mead, beer, wine, spirits and other intoxicating beverages may be subject to becoming intoxicated. There are three states of intoxication:

• flushed, where characters self-identify physical or mental feelings not associated with sobriety.
• tight, where characters self-identify as being aware of their surroundings but have difficulty controlling their physical selves.
• smashed, where characters cease to effectively self-identify.

A sober character who fails a save upon imbibing alcohol becomes flushed; another failed save makes the character tight and a third save will cause the character to be smashed. Saving throws are indicated below, based on weight and race.

Reaching any of these states will have effects upon various attributes of the character, as indicated on the right. Intelligence, wisdom, dexterity and charisma are lowered as the state of intoxication deepens (*bards are immune to charisma effects).

Moreover, with characters that are smashed, every decision that the character makes that is not a response to some other action (being asked a question, being led, being attacked and so on) requires that the character make either an intelligent check or wisdom check (player's option) before such action can be initiated. The DM should feel free to judge these situations on a case-by-case basis, but the player's perspective should always be taken into account.

The increase in hit points reflects a diminished sense of pain, fear and caution experienced by persons who are inebriated, as well as a general tolerance for physical abuse. It must be noted, however, that if those hit points that have been gained from intoxication are reduced to zero, the character must make a dexterity check (taking into account the character's lowered dexterity) to see if the character has also sustained an injury at that time. The amount of injury points a failed roll produces will be equal to 1 for a flushed state, 1-2 for a tight state and 1-3 for a smashed state. The injury will not be felt, however, until after the character has become sober - so that the character's effectiveness should not be adjusted until that time (though any healing given to an intoxicated character must address the injury before improving the character's hit points).

Once imbibing enough, the character makes a save against progressing to the next level of intoxication:

The numbers listed under each character race indicate the saving throw that must be made if a 'drink' is taken (according to the character's weight). A drink is defined as 2 ounces of spirits, 8 ounces of strong ale (as opposed to a short beer, an ale-like drink made without hops) or 6 ounces of wine. Once this amount has been consumed, a saving throw can be made to determine if the character has increased their inebriation or not. Only one saving throw must be failed for the character to become flushed. It requires two failed saving throws altogether for a character to become tight (counting the one that made the character flushed). It requires three failed saving throws to cause a character to become smashed. In each case, the saving throw is adjusted by constitution as noted.

Where time is a factor, the character should roll a d6 to see how many ten minute periods it takes for the increased inebriation to take hold. For example, a male dwarf weighing 155 lbs., with a 14 constitution, fails to roll the necessary 9 on a d20 to retain his present sobriety. However, though the greater inebriation is now inevitable, it requires 1d6 x 10 minutes to pass before our dwarf feels these effects. We may imagine that he rolls a 4, indicating he will become flushed in 40 minutes. However, our dwarf continues to drink during that time. He has another glass of ale and fails again, approximately 30 minutes before he is due to become flushed. He rolls a d6 again and now he rolls a 1 - indicating he will be tight in 10 minutes. When this case arises, presume that the character will move from sober (none of what he has drunk so far has had any notable effect) to tight all at once, once the ten minutes have passed. Where conflicts occur, consider only the result where the greatest degree of intoxication will occur.

There is room on this system for other forms of intoxicants, such as mead, dwarven ale, etcetera. Simply assign an amount in ounces for such that defines that beverage as a "drink" - then roll a saving throw accordingly when that amount is consumed.

See Campaign

Using Poisoned Weapons

Weapons may be poisoned using specific insinuative poisons (such as bikh) that are applied carefully to a weapon prior to combat. It requires 5 rounds to prepare a weapon with poison. Weapons must be bladed or tipped: swords, daggers, the ankus, spears, bladed polearms, javelins and so on.

With arrows, the amount of poison (and its deadliness) will be limited by the surface space of the point that is prepared. So with arrows, a poison strength of no more than vex is possible.

Once a weapon is coated, it is very easy for the wielder to error in its use and be poisoned by drawing the blade against themselves. This will happen any time that a 1 or a 2 has been rolled on the attack die, whereupon the user of the weapon must make save versus the poison. Assassins can used a coated weapon safely without needing to make save whatever the attack roll, as they have been trained to fight so as not to touch the blade.

See Attacking in Combat

Grenade Missiles

A grenade is an explosive object, typically thrown, the descriptive originating with the word 'pomegranate' and influenced by Spanish granada - the many-seeded fruit suggested the fragmenting of a broken vessel, filled with liquid or powder. Grenades can cause area effect damage due to shrapnel or due to the splash caused by flammable or acidic liquids. Unlike the spread caused by siege and ship's weapons, however, most grenade-like missiles affect an area of only 4 hexes:

As the grenade shatters in the targeted hex occupied by Albert [A], in darker green, it causes full damage. At the same time, the three hexes behind Albert, one of which is occupied by Bertram [B], suffer from splash damage only. Depending on the particular kind of grenade missile being used, full damage and splash damage will vary.

Certain magical grenade weapons, such as chromatic orb, will affect a radial circle around the targeted hex - this is because the effect does not obey the laws of momentum as would objects such as flasks of oil or thrown acid would.

Roll to Hit

Grenade weapons are not hurled at opponents but at the opponent's hex, either with the intention of breaking a vessel to scatter its contents or the shards of the vessel itself. Some grenade attacks involve scattering liquid into a hex. In all cases, if there is more than one creature in a given target hex or splash hex, both will be equally affected by the grenade missile.

Because of its form of attack, the thrower need only hit AC 10 when attacking. A failure to roll AC 10 will result in a miss, noting that even misses have the potential to hit and scatter the effects of the grenade missile.

When a miss occurs, the attacker must make a dexterity check; a successful check will indicate that the thrower has achieved a near miss; a fail to succeed at the dexterity check will indicate a bad miss.

Near misses indicate that the the grenade has deviated one hex from the target. A d6 is rolled, with a given surrounding hex designated as '1' and moving in a clockwise circle around the desired target. This becomes the target hex and the full damage and splash damage is then calculated.

Bad misses indicate that the grenade has deviated two hexes from the target. A d12 is rolled, with a given surrounding hex designated as '1' and moving in a clockwise circle around the desired target.

Note that with a miss, it is entirely possible for the target hex to be designated as a hex containing an ally; the targeted hex may even be determined to be in back of the thrower, or in the thrower's hex. This may be due to the user's hand being knocked during melee or otherwise losing balance; in any case, such circumstances should be treated as a fumble. Actual fumbles, where the thrower rolls a natural 1, will indicate that the grenade has definitely fallen into the combatant's own hex. Splash damage will then affect the three hexes in front of the thrower.

Forms

The most common forms of non-magical grenade weapon:

• lamp oil, contained in a flask of clay or glass, with a sufficient wick that can be lit before the grenade is tossed. The vessel is meant to shatter and cause fire damage. The flask must be full. Attacks with this weapon require a hard surface for the flask to be thrown against, so that it will break and shatter, typically a stone flooring, wall or ceiling. The flask must fail save against the surface it is thrown against. If the flask makes save, the flask will roll and the wick will be considered to have gone out; thereafter, half the oil in the flask will drain out harmlessly. Full damage for a lamp oil grenade will be 2-8, with 1-4 points of splash damage.
• holy water, which may be contained in a thrown glass vessel or held and flung at undead or other worldly opponents (evil in nature), in order to cause damage. Like lamp oil, the vessel must break against a surface. A 4 ounce vial is assumed. If holy water is thrown, it will cause splash damage to both the targeted hex and splash hexes. Full damage can only be achieved if the holy water is opened, the vessel held by the attacker and the liquid within is hurled against an opponent within a 1 hex distance, causing splash damage to others in the area of effect. Full damage for holy water is 3-8, with 2 points of splash damage.
• acid, which can be employed as a weapon similar to the manner of holy water, conforming to the rules described above. Acid will affect most creatures. Full damage for an acid grenade is 2-8, with 1-3 points of splash damage.
• glass objects, describing any highly breakable object that will release shards when breaking. These objects will cause full damage of 1-3 points to the targeted hex, with 1 point of splash damage.

See Attacking in Combat

Riding Animals & Mounts

These working animals are those that can be ridden, to serve as a means for transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises and for competitive sport. Most commonly riding animals and mounts are exploited for their military potential, as a mount can make for a considerable advantage in speed and position where combat is concerned.

Below is a list of mounts, the rules for which are to found on their respective pages. Much of this page is a placeholder, intended to be expanded later.

camel ~ donkey ~ elephant ~ garuda ~ griffon ~ hippogriff ~ horse ~ mule ~ oliphant ~ ostrich ~ pegasus ~ pony ~ reindeer ~ tiger ~ yak ~ zebra

See Also,
Assisted Riding
Working Animals

Woodland Animal Friends

The following indicates the animals that can be called in desert-vegetation biomes.

Shown is a list of animals, their hit dice and their intelligence.  The first animal a character calls should be rolled on the "1st" column; the next animal on the "2nd" column and so on.  All animals after the fourth are rolled for on the "4th" column.

Druids and rangers are permitted a set number of animal friends according to their level.  While usually a character will call a new animal as soon as the boon is gained, it may happen due to circumstances that more than one animal may be called at a given time.  In such cases, the die should be rolled separately for each animal.  Each roll will call one animal, regardless of species.  Called animals may be of the same species as animals already possessed.

See Animal Friends