A character with the Special Mount class feature gains the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve her in her adventures. This mount is usually a heavy warhorse (for a Medium paladin) or a warpony (for a Small paladin).
Once per day, as a full-round action, a paladin may magically call her mount from the realms in which it resides. The mount immediately appears adjacent to the paladin and remains for 2 hours per paladin level; it may be dismissed at any time as a free action.
The mount is the same creature each time it is summoned, though the paladin may release a particular mount from service (if it has grown too old to join her crusade, for instance). Each time the mount is called, it appears in full health, regardless of any damage it may have taken previously. The mount also appears wearing or carrying any gear it had when it was last dismissed) including barding, saddle, saddlebags, and the like). Calling a mount is a conjuration (calling) effect.
Should the paladin’s mount die, it immediately disappears, leaving behind any equipment it was carrying. The paladin may not summon another mount for thirty days or until she gains a paladin level, whichever comes first, even if the mount is somehow returned from the dead. During this thirty-day period, the paladin takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.
Alternatively should the paladin have a more mundane mount, such as a regular horse that she uses to get around, she may use her Special Mount ability to transform her existing mount into her special mount for the allotted time. Calling her mount in this manner is still a conjuration (calling) effect. Any gear worn or carried by the mundane mount melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional. Should her special mount die while serving the paladin, her mundane mount dies as well and its corpse (as well as the gear carried by both the special and mundane mount is left behind.
Special Mount Basics
Bonus HD
Extra eight-sided (d8) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. Extra Hit Dice improve the mount’s base attack and base save bonuses. A special mount’s base attack bonus is equal to that of a cleric of a level equal to the mount’s HD. A mount has good Fortitude and Reflex saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the animal’s HD). The mount gains additional skill points or feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice.
Natural Armor Adj.
The number on the table is an improvement to the mount’s existing natural armor bonus.
Str Adj.
Add this figure to the mount’s Strength score.
Int
The mount’s Intelligence score.
Empathic Link (Su)
The paladin has an empathic link with her mount out to a distance of up to 1 mile. The paladin cannot see through the mount’s eyes, but they can communicate empathically.
Note that even intelligent mounts see the world differently from humans, so misunderstandings are always possible.
Because of this empathic link, the paladin has the same connection to an item or place that her mount does, just as with a master and his familiar.
Improved Evasion (Ex)
When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a mount takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage if the saving throw fails.
At the paladin’s option, she may have any spell (but not any spell-like ability) she casts on herself also affect her mount.
The mount must be within 5 feet at the time of casting to receive the benefit. If the spell or effect has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting the mount if it moves farther than 5 feet away and will not affect the mount again even if it returns to the paladin before the duration expires. Additionally, the paladin may cast a spell with a target of "You" on her mount (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A paladin and her mount can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the mount’s type (magical beast).
For each of its saving throws, the mount uses its own base save bonus or the paladin’s, whichever is higher. The mount applies its own ability modifiers to saves, and it doesn’t share any other bonuses on saves that the master might have.
Improved Speed (Ex)
The mount’s speed increases by 10 feet.
Command (Sp)
Once per day per two paladin levels of its master, a mount can use this ability to command other any normal animal of approximately the same kind as itself (for warhorses and warponies, this category includes donkeys, mules, and ponies), as long as the target creature has fewer Hit Dice than the mount. This ability functions like the command spell, but the mount must make a DC 21 Concentration check to succeed if it’s being ridden at the time. If the check fails, the ability does not work that time, but it still counts against the mount’s daily uses. Each target may attempt a Will save (DC 10 + ½ paladin’s level + paladin’s Cha modifier) to negate the effect.
Spell Resistance (Ex)
A mount’s spell resistance equals its master’s paladin level + 5. To affect the mount with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the mount’s spell resistance.
Alternate Mounts
If the unusual mount is for a paladin, it may gain special abilities at a different rate than a warhorse or warpony. Furthermore, some special mounts are available only to paladins of higher levels.
6th Level or Higher
| 6+ Level Mounts |
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The following mounts are available from 6th level onward.
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7th Level or Higher
| 7+ Level Mounts |
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The following mounts are available from 7th level onward.
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8th Level or Higher (Level -9)
| 8+ Level Mounts |
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The following mounts are available from 8th level onward.
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If the mount’s natural Intelligence or natural armor is higher than the value given in the table, use the mount’s natural Intelligence or natural armor. If the mount normally has spell resistance, it does not lose its spell resistance prior to the paladin’s reaching the level at which all unusual mounts gain spell resistance, and the mount continues using its natural spell resistance from that level on if that value is higher.
The expressions in the left-hand column of the table refer to the current level of the paladin in relation to the level at which a particular kind of mount becomes available. For instance, the dire boar becomes available as a mount when a paladin reaches 7th level, so the information on the “Level to Level + 2” line applies to such a mount when the paladin is 7th, 8th, or 9th level. When he reaches 10th level, the information on the next line down applies.
Intelligent Mounts
Mounts with Intelligence scores of 5 or higher are more like NPCs than they are like traditional mounts. As a result, characters must use Diplomacy checks to negotiate what the mount will and will not do. Once the character and mount reach an agreement, they still must train together. Training time is as given under the Handle Animal skill. Intelligent mounts may insist on special care, such as a hireling devoted to that specific mount, special food, or even a share of the party treasure.
Leadership and Mounts
Canny characters may try using the Leadership feat to attract a cohort that can serve as a mount. This feat cannot attract a mount with an Intelligence of less than 4. If the character already has a special mount, familiar, or animal companion, the character takes a –2 penalty to his Leadership score.
Classes with Familiars
