Mounts

**Warning:**  This page is WIP. Nothing on this page is Final.
**Mounts** are any creatures trained or domesticated to transport objects or other creatures, typically humanoids. Typically, mounts used by humanoids are larger and can move much faster than the humanoid could on foot. Some mounts, especially those trained for war, are also capable of following verbal or tactile commands from their rider, while others are simpler beasts that are simply bred for pulling and carrying weight.

While travelling around the world, travellers can encounter the possibility of buying unique mounts, that will have additional stats compared to their normal statblock. This can include more health, faster speeds, better stats, and so on. These mounts will generally require special efforts to acquire.

## Mechanics

#### Additional Rules

* Player-owned mounts will now use the unconsciousness mechanics of player characters instead of those used by NPCs. Instead of outright dying, they will instead fall unconscious and begin to roll death saves, having the potential to be healed and continue fighting. This is to counter mounts being super disposable and likely to die.
* Keeping and using a mount for extended periods will allow the mount to grow with you, gaining additional benefits and experience the longer it survives. Every 4 levels, a mount gains the option to increase one of its ability scores by 1. Surviving through particular experiences or achieving certain feats with your mount may grant it bonus traits.

#### Clarification

* Once during your move, you can mount a creature that is within 5 feet of you or dismount. Doing so costs an amount of movement equal to half your speed. For example, if your speed is 30 feet, you must spend 15 feet of movement to mount a horse. Therefore, you can't mount it if you don't have 15 feet of movement left or if your speed is 0.
* If an effect moves your mount against its will while you're on it, you must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall off the mount, landing prone in a space within 5 feet of it. If you're knocked prone while mounted, you must make the same saving throw. If your mount is knocked prone, you can use your reaction to dismount it as it falls and land on your feet. Otherwise, you are dismounted and fall prone in a space within 5 feet it.
* The initiative of a controlled mount changes to match yours when you mount it. It moves as you direct it, and it has only three action options: Dash, Disengage, and Dodge. Some special mounts may have additional actions. A controlled mount can move and act even on the turn that you mount it. If the mount provokes an opportunity attack while you're on it, the attacker can target you or the mount.

## Horses

Horses on Ygdren come in a broad variety of breeds, of varying size and demeanour. They are used for numerous activities, from riding for entertainment or travel, to the pulling of carts, wagons, or ploughs, to military use. Horses are classified into a number of categories.

### Draft Horses

Draft Horses are generally large, bulky, and strong, bred for brute strength and stamina over intelligence and speed. They typically find most use by farmers for the purposes of pulling wagons or ploughing fields. They have large heavyset frames, and are capable of hauling heavy weights for long periods of time, albeit at relatively slow speeds. They are generally calm with good dispositions, but startle easily in the event of danger.

### Pack Horses

Pack Horses, similar to Draft, are typically large and strong, though less so than the former. Their main use is in baggage trains and merchant caravans, and they are typically bred specifically for long-term stamina and carrying capacity, often capable of carrying almost their own weight in supplies. They are generally calm with good dispositions, but startle easily in the event of danger.

### Ponies

Ponies are breeds of horses that are of a much smaller size than normal working breeds. They have proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier bone, thicker necks, and a broader stature. They are generally bred in mountain and highland regions, due to their sure-footedness, stamina, and nimbleness compared to larger breeds, which makes them far more reliable at traversing mountainous terrains. Their winter coats are often thick and shaggy compared to other horses, making it easier for them to resist extreme climates.

### Rounceys

Rounceys are the most common breed of riding horse. They are generally slender and long-legged, bred for fast manoeuvring and speed and most often used for racing and hunting small game. They are the most common type of horse amongst the aristocracy, prized for their even demeanours and elegance, and come in a broad range of breeds.

### Coursers

Coursers are a swift and strong breed of warhorse, bred to be light, fast, and strong and very common amongst military cavalry divisions. They are typically intelligent, respond well to commands, and do not spook or startle easily. Similar to Rounceys, the are generally of a more slender frame with powerful long legs, but are typically sturdier than their general purpose cousins and have a more dense musculature.

### Destriers

Destriers are the most prized horses of war, classified as heavy chargers that are able to break ranks through sheer strength and power. They are bred specifically and only for war, are generally very temperamental and often violent, but respond well to strong command and training. Despite their bulk and heavy frames, they are still generally quite fast, and able to easily coil and spring to stop, spin, turn, or burst into a sprint.

## Bears

Though commonly wild and ferocious predators in most places of the world, the tamed bears of Wyldcrown are a special breed that have been adapted into domestic life by the natives. First tamed by the Urski, and later spreading southward to even Ravnmark, they find common use in trade, agriculture, and warfare. There are two categories of notable use.

### Storbjørne

Storbjørne (*Sceída:* "Heavy Bears") are the worker breed of bears: big, strong, and calm. They are extraordinarily hardy, can carry great weights, and are adapted to the harshest of winters, with thick heavy coats that they keep year round to protect against climate and predator alike, and broad sturdy frames that let them push through snow banks with ease.

### Panserbjørne

Panserbjørne (*Sceída:* "Armoured Bears") are bred for war. From a young age, they are trained to wear heavy metal armour that is specially made to not limit their movement. They are intelligent, capable of obeying verbal commands even at a distance, and vicious, with the strength to rend even metal with their claws. Sleeker and faster than their worker brethren, they are no less hardy, and can go for days without food.

## Elephants

### Mammoths

Mammoths are native to the northern wilds of Wyldcrown, and though not commonly domesticated some have been tamed by the nomad Urski tribes for general purposes, both to breed for food and to ride. They are significantly larger than normal elephants, especially when bred for war, and have long curved tusks and thick matted fur to protect from injury and the elements. They are the largest breed of elephant in Ygdren.

### Mastodons

Mastodons are a breed of domesticated large elephants native to Domar, where they are used as an integral part of the Domari war machine. They are larger than normal elephants, and have four tusks instead of two, the top pair being smaller and placed further up the trunk. They are generally trained to carry heavy armour plating, as well as multiple riders armed with bows.

### Aliephants

Aliephants are a breed of elephants native to the grasslands of Almeras, where they are commonly domesticated by nomadic satyr tribes as pack animals. They are smaller than their cousins from the western landmass, though relatively similar to mastodons. They also have two sets of tusks, but a smaller, leaner frame. Their temperaments are usually gentle and skittish.

## Saurans

Saurans are a breed of reptilian beasts native to southern Yuantica, particularly the savannahs and jungles around Salassar and Domar. Though a substantial number of species exist, only a few have been domesticated by the natives. They find use in a number of purposes. The carnivorous varieties are especially prised for warfare, and different civilisations in the region have put them to play amidst their ranks. Other, gentler breeds are used for more economical purposes.

### Raptors

Raptors are a breed of carnivorous sauran that stand and run on their hind legs, and are capable of traversing terrain at high speeds, in some cases even while carrying a rider. Lizardfolk in Salassar breed varieties of smaller raptors as "attack dogs", to hunt down or flank enemy units. The people of Domar however have bred a number of versions that are significantly larger, and are capable of being ridden. These versions are bred for mobility, and used as fast light cavalry alongside the heavier mastodon lines. Sub-varieties are also used for scouting and reconnaissance.

### Carnosaurs

Carnosaurs are large carnivorous saurans that can grow to nearly two storeys tall. They are powerfully built and highly aggressive creatures, with long, muscular hind limbs and a heavy, muscled tail that is used both to balance its enlarged skull and to bludgeon prey. They are surprisingly fast for such large creatures, and have massive jaws lined with serrated teeth capable of tearing through flesh with ease. They are bred exclusively for war in Salassar, prioritising speed, cunning, and ferocity, and often carry elite warriors into battle. It takes significant strength and force of will to dominate such creatures into submission, yet even that semblance of mastery can swiftly disappear in the heat of battle as soon as the carnosaur tastes blood.

## Flying Mounts

### Hippogriffs

Hippogriffs are chimeric beasts with the rear body of a horse but the front half and wings of an eagle. Their forelegs end in sharp talons similar to those found in birds of prey, while their hind legs have hooves. They are not to be confused with griffons, which are larger, have the rear end of a lion, and do not have forelegs. Hippogriffs are widely bred for scouting and warfare purposes in the Celcaras mountains.

### Wyverns

*Main article: Wyverns*
Wyverns are large and animalistic flying reptilian creatures with two powerful talon-tipped wings and two taloned hind legs. The wild varieties are by nature proud and solitary. They are not easily tamed, and the larger breeds have only ever been properly domesticated in one instance, by the people of Zorathki, who use a domesticated version of the red-scaled variety as specialist flying cavalry. Their means of domestication has generally remained a fiercely-guarded secret. Outside of Zorathki, tamed wyverns are rare, and often their growth is artificially stunted to better control them. In some cases, when raised from birth, they can be docile enough to ride, but they remain dangerous creatures that are prone to spurts of violence and independence, especially if not well-fed.

## Other

### Druki

Druki (*Dwarven:* "Horned") are a breed of Ibex native to the Celcaras mountains, that have been domesticated for use in mining and agriculture, and for war in some cases. The breed is notoriously sturdy, and some types are able to scale almost vertical surfaces at reasonable speed, even carrying a rider. They are typically recognisable by their large curled horns. They come in three varieties: *Drendruki* (draft), *Okdruki* (scout), and *Kazdruki* (war).