Heyo,
some excellent suggestions here. I've enjoyed reading through them! Vale's player, been there, done that, got the scars to prove it! Horses are indeed interesting animals with personalities all their own! Granted, probably quite a few of the players that got horses in the Realms have never owned one in the real world, and thus don't know the difference in horses. They're mostly looking at color and size. I must also say that whoever put the horse system together did a very nice beginning job on such things as grooming and movement.
Now for a few suggestions. The lean verb for a horse really should be a must. I've also spent many hours leaning against a horse, just enjoying the moment. I'd also like to suggest a couple of other things. Being able to braid a horse's mane and tail, with ribbons or without, would be a festive addition. Also, and I know this sounds odd, but being able to sob into your horse's neck should be available. :) It sounds very odd, but I've done that too as a teenager. Nothing like a little horsey sympathy to get you through those rough times when a human just wouldn't understand!
I'd also like to be able to sling a bundle of pelts over or behind the saddle of my mare. There are such things as pack horses you know! If it were tied tightly, then I should be able to tie it behind the saddle. I'm hoping something like this comes in with DR2, along with saddlebags.
One other suggestion or hope. It'd be very nice, also in DR2, to have corrals in home areas. Some place you could leave your horse before you log out of the game. Not a stable mind you, there would be no attendant, but a fenced area with water and grass. Yes, the horse would trot off after you logged out in your home, but it'd be a nice IC way to leave the animal. The animal could then reappear there after a suitable time when you log back in, much as they do now when not stabled.
That's my couple of sugar cubes worth. Now if you'll excuse me, Whisper and I have some hunting to do!

Embrianne's Player

Saddlebags that were sold were only player worn, not horse.

This is a bit big, so I'll hop right into it.

Regulated payments:
It would be nice if, rather than having to pay more money the more actively we use the horse, we could pay one flat fee per month which covers all stabling that month. Having to pay that fee every time I stable my horse makes me a bit wary to take it out for riding.

Stable boy service:
It would also be nice if we could get access to the STABLE HORSE anywhere in a city, saving the constant back and forth to the stable. RETURN would be nice as well. Though this is a small convenience, I believe it would go some way toward more active horse usage. I know if I?m going to go to my guild to train for a while, I stable my horse rather than leave her unattended, and getting her back out is an inconvenience because of fees to re-stable and the inconvenience of getting to the stable, and equipping my horse with tack again.

Which brings me to another point. Rather than my having to hold barding padding, saddles and bridles, it would be nice if the stable boys were able to hold that with my horse, dressing him with what I had left on him when I brought my horse to the stable.

A final thought on this. It seems to me that considering the special bond that paladins can get with horses, that whether the above suggestions get implemented or not, Paladins should get reduced cost on all stabling and horse storage fees to help encourage their use.

Horseback combat:
First, I think it might be helpful if mounted combat were a skill that one could learn, and that horse bonding extended beyond paladins, though used in a different fashion by others. Let us say that increased mounted combat skills allowed for lowered roundtimes attacking on horseback (which would become higher than when dismounted though perhaps more effective swing per swing, mentioned later), increased balance atop the horse, increased chance of damaging or disarming a weapon or shield, increase chance of knockdown. At higher levels of skill, a charging attack may be possible at missile range, the horse may fight longer without panicking when wounded (a few ideas for the horse damage system in a bit), may be able to kick enemies trying to flank, to rear and spin to force enemies to back up to pole range if they fail a check, to jump over or dash beside enemies as an attempt to get behind them, to have a consistent hangback command where the horse continues trying to retreat for mounted archery, and a constant pole hangback to best utilize spears. (To avoid this completely negating danger in combat, the horse should only be able to do so for a certain period of time, after which it exhausts and must rest, though perhaps not entirely realistic considering the stamina a horse can have, it may be necessary for sake of balance...) Improved ability to retreat (which may also include an ability to retreat from melee to missile range at once), a headbutt attack with the horse, a trample attack with the horse, reduced change of knockdown to the rider, reduced change of stun to the rider, increased damage per attack on the target, increased unbalancing effects of each hit to the target.

Horse damage>
I think it would make sense that a mounted rider would not be the only one getting hurt, and that eventually, especially if the horse is taking the brunt of the blows, it may be the horse out of commission and not the rider. For sake of ease, I think it may be best that horse and rider share the damage to some degree, and both take an equal amount to another. (I.e. if a troll hits for 20 `units? of damage then the horse and rider both take ten, the first half, and share the other half for 15 units taken, this should make it so that horse back fighters are not twice as powerful as their dismounted brethren). I also think that horses should earn training points in things such as attunement, vitality, agility, and strength, allowing them to take more hits (vitality), fight longer before exhaustion (strength, I know it?s a measure of vitality for us but horses I think would have less statistics to spend on and therefore may require greater distinction per stat), dodge more effectively (agility), and allow for a greater amount of mana to be used in spellcasting without their physical contact disrupting a casters abilities (attunement). (Why are magic-users so disrupted by horses, anyway, didn?t see that one coming). I also think that paladins should get a 25% or so bonus to training points, and that when a horse is sold, they should get their stats reset and their training points recalculated (with 25% extra if a regular rider sells to a paladin, a 25% reduction if a paladin sells a horse to one of another guild, and dead even if a paladin sells to a paladin or a non-paladin sells to a non-paladin). There should also be some kind of level cap so that a level 1 paladin cannot buy a horse from a level 80 bard, let?s say, who?s been training with his horse nonstop, and get full access to all his tdp?s, he should only be able to allocate training points proportional to his level and the horses, let?s say 1/80th if the horse is considered a level 80 horse with its? rider being level 1. It may be wise as well to reduce or perhaps entirely curb the horses experience gain until the rider `catches up? with him to if the riders experience is beneath the horses to avoid a horse that goes from owner to owner becoming more experienced than having a bunch of inexperienced riders on his back would actually allow for, and making it a much more valuable horse in terms of skill than the rider could use because he could never catch up.

Formation combat>
It would be nice if in a group of other horseback riders, tactics and formations could be available, in a group of three, one could attack head on while two flank, etc. This was an idea I had for more than just horses, but I won?t spew it at you here, as this post is already so long. You get the idea, and if any are curious my exact thoughts, just ask and I will gladly throw my two other cents in. J

Non-paladin mounts>
Though paladins, I think, should always deserve an edge in mounted combat, that?s not to say that some other types of mounts may not be in order as is appropriate to other guilds. Here?s my thoughts:

Unicorns/Alicorns/Pegasi:
A horse imbued with purity and empathy may grow wings or a horn, or two, and turn a different color, etc. These mounts, when used by clerics, never attack their enemy, but get a defensive bonus in line with their owners piety. These mounts, when used by empaths, can still never attack, but are capable of escaping combat quickly and can take the wounds of other horses.

Great wolves/Mammoths/Bulls/Boars:
These fearsome beasts are known to go completely berserk in tune with their barbarian riders, unable to wear heavy armor and rather reckless toward their own safety in combat, they nonetheless attack more quickly and with greater ferocity than other mounts of equal skill.

Antelopes/Deer/Caribou:
Capable of increasing the effectiveness of its? riders song, and or emanating a constant source of life energy, this bards or rangers mount is not as effective in direct combat, but is quicker, and more agile, and should be able to magically change its size to go wherever its? rider may go. (why should a bard lose the performance bonus he got from training his mount since its? a non-combat skill like others, is why I thought of this, so for that reason I thought perhaps this would be a mount that should be able to go indoors.)
(A wizened old warmage sips on his drink in the bar, putting his drink down nervously as a tiny antelope hops across his field of vision. It bays happily at him before hopping on its way. He gulps the liquor in his mouth.
?What do you think of my antelope?? The bard next to him asks.
?You see it too?? The warmage says, looking suspiciously into his drink.)

Yak/Elephant/Camel:
These beasts of burden have incredible stamina and holding capacity. Though their training is so specialized that they are all but useless in combat, they could nonetheless be a traders? best friend as he loads his favorite mount with his shipments as opposed to needing a caravan. These mounts may be trained to get from one trade stop to another at a gallop pace, facilitating faster trades.

Grotesques/Great Spiders/Shadow Horses:
Be it a four-legged gargoyle or an eight legged arachnid or a horse that felt safe enough with its owner to be imbued with lunar energy, these creatures are a bit unpredictable in combat, however their bodies act as magical foci, allowing for enhanced attunement recovery and greater mana usage in casting while mounted, even capable of holding mana and fully prepared spells for their owner if transferred to them. They cannot, however, wear armor. Though some are non-corporeal, some made of stone, and some regenerative.

Elemental steeds:
When trusting enough of the owner to allow itself to be imbued with elemental energy, a horse could transform into a quasi-corporeal being of flesh and elemental energy. Naturally being sympathetic and not damaging to its warrior-mages attunement, there would be no casting penalty while on horseback, and in time may even allow for a slightly greater amount of mana to be used in spells. Automatically benefiting from any beneficial spells the rider has on him such as ethereal shield or swirling winds, this creature, though not quite strong enough to wear armor greater than full chain, makes for an excellent and reliable steed in combat. Finally, it may be attuned to a specific element (not to be changed often, and at an attunement cost to the rider) which gives a bonus when the rider casts spells of that element on or in the same room as the elementally attuned mount.

Finally, I believe that thieves should be able to get the mount of the profession they have chosen to imitate, but it should not have the bonuses, simply be magically endowed to obey them.


On the mechanics of wrangling: It seems to me that horse wrangling is and ever should be a rangers forte?, and therefore a reliable source of income for them. So I do believe that if these mounts are implemented, that to get one of the guild specific steeds, one must always have to have a horse first (unless they bought a guild specific steed directly from another, who would have had to have gotten his by having a horse first), and by either altering the horse, offering the horse as sacrifice, or simply letting the horse free after acquiring the new steed, one must `upgrade? their mount. Though game balance says training should likely carry over, logic asks the question of how to make that reasonable seeming in game for all of the potential reasons of exchange.

Why one would not want to have a mount:
Though expense is one mitigating factor in mounts, I believe that mounts should also slow their owners experience gain. By slowing their learning slightly, though they have advantages, training those advantages up to par with the owner wouldn?t make them ridiculously powerful when next to one without a mount, as the one without a mount wasn?t coping with the learning disability. It would take effort as one slows down to train their mounts the nuances of their art, after all. I also think that Paladins should not get this disadvantage, because I believe for them the question really should be, `Why not have a mount??.

That is the bulk of my mount suggestions for now, any thoughts or comments?

Don't forget to kick up dual riding on one horse, and group horse riding (multi horses in one group movement)


War Hawk Maulem~

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