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Noble Steeds: A d20 Guide To Horses, Coursers & Mounts
What is a knight without his noble steed or a thief without a means of escape? Without the horse, society would not be as advanced or as widespread as we know it. The rise and fall of civilization began on the back of a horse. And yet, the average fantasy game would have you believe that a horse is just a horse. No longer. NOBLE STEEDS: THE D20 GUIDE TO HORSES, COURSERS, AND MOUNTS enables your PC to have an individualized steed, complete with detailed training, classes and levels, and unique feats to make your horse an effective companion for adventuring. Players and game masters alike will find the backgrounds, historical information, and mechanical guides in this book integral to any campaign. Now players will be able to create the equine companion of their characters' dreams.
Steeds serve their masters, toiling thanklessly beneath heavy burdens in order to reach their daily grain at the end of the day. But not all of them are given thankless tasks, and some are even trained and cared for like kings. These extraordinary beasts are capable of learning a steed "profession," complete with Feats, Level Bonuses, and Attack Bonuses. Here are a few examples:
Courser (Race Horse)
While the destrier and palfrey excel in power and comfort, they are not fast horses. The need for a fast messenger between armies or kingdoms gave rise to the courser, the ancestor of the race horse. Coursers are strong, lean horses with hot (i.e. Turkish, Arabian, or Barb) blood in their veins. A principal source of coursers in the early years of the Bronze and Middle Ages was Naples. The Neapolitans acquired horses from Africa and bred them to European stock. The result was an extremely fast horse sought by kings from as far away as England who wanted to add speed to their stables.
Requirements: Dexterity 14+, Constitution 15+
Dexterity and Constitution are critical to the speedy Courser. It is trained to be a long-running and fast horse, created to carry messages from one end of a kingdom to the other as quickly as possible. Those horses trained in this class have the benefits of speed and stamina.
Class Features: Coursers gain Class Features that include Increased Movement - the ability to increase the animal's natural speed when running.
Destrier (Warhorse)
The Destrier is the proud war-steed of battle, carrying knights and other heavily armed soldiers into war. They are stoic, proud horses with titanic muscles and broad backs, trained to be ready for war. Many heavy horses are given this training, although some are simply used for carts, plowing, or other strength-related tasks. Those that are trained to be Destriers (whether light or heavy horses) are capable of fighting on their own behalf as well as carrying their riders into battle.
Requirements: Strength 16+, Constitution 15+
Strength is the primary ability for warhorses, and they rely on their physical prowess to carry heavy burdens (such as knights in armor) and to fight bravely despite the weight of barding, weapons, or the mire of the battlefield. Constitution is only slightly less important since a fighting steed requires a good deal of Hit Points to be able to survive the brutality of battle.
Class Features: Destriers gain Class Features such as Threaten - the ability to increase the horse's Critical Threat Range - and special Battle Feats.
Palfrey (Trick Horse)
The Destrier is the horse of battle but is not a comfortable mount for the "off duty" knight. Instead, soldiers who are not planning to enter battle ride a palfrey: a short-legged, long-bodied horse that has a gentle gait and a beautiful appearance. The smooth ride afforded by the palfrey also makes it a suitable mount for the wounded or aged who are unable to mount or ride a taller horse. Palfreys are often the horse of choice for ladies and nobles, due to their great beauty and their flowing, smooth gait.
Palfreys are more acrobatic than other horses, using their high dexterity and greater intelligence to learn tricks and intricate dressage movements.
Requirements: Dexterity 16+, Intelligence 3+
Class Features: Palfreys gain Class Features like Swift Hooves, enabling them to dodge away from danger, and Preternatural Awareness, which allow them to sense and react to trouble before it arrives.
Coming Soon
NOBLE STEEDS: THE D20 GUIDE TO HORSES, COURSERS, AND MOUNTS is intended to enhance your campaign. Every heroic adventurer needs a mount worthy of his or her adventures, and now there is finally a book to provide them. Written by renowned LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS story developer and novelist, Ree Soesbee (herself, a horse enthusiast), NOBLE STEEDS brings horses, elephants, camels, gryphons, and other exotic mounts to life as NPC's to share in the exploits of your characters. Now horses can have Classes, Feats, and special abilities. They are no longer detailed as the generic "light horse" and "heavy horse." Now breed plays a role in the performance of the animal and so does its training - just like they do in real life. This 64-page manual has all the information you need to make your mount more than a one-line entry on your character sheet. Now, it can be a faithful companion worthy of legends.
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