Adventurer's Companion - Speculation

[zedturtle]

I hadn't really considered Rohirrim very much in the past, but I think that Hound of Mirkwood shows us a path forward to a warhorse, with a couple of other Rewards/Virtues to protect the horse and allow it to do damage. Some Rohirrim might end up with having half their upgrades in their horse, which seems appropriate.

[Deadmanwalking]

Why not, but when you tap at the Tolkien source, you can see:

-Legolas horsemanship is natural;
-Dwarves not even think to ride on four-legged living beast.

I dismiss Aragorn for he his not a typical Ranger. However, people of Gondor seems to have messenger riding hard and fast, so horsemanship is known to her. Not to talk about people living between Mirkwood and the Sea of Rhun and beyond.

The problem with adding a skill isn't one of realism, it's mechanical.

The skill system is really codified. It's not some random list in alphabetical order you could easily add additional skills to, every skill is in one of 6 categories and affiliated with one of the three stats. The only way to add more skills is to either add another stat (really weird), or to add a seventh skill category (awkward, and screws up how Advancement points work).

So...that's simply not gonna happen.

Instead, existing skills will get used...indeed, the core book already makes it pretty explicit that endurance-riding, like other endurance traveling, is Travel, and the more...acrobatic uses of horsemanship seem to fall rather completely under the Athletics skill. This latter, by the way, neatly maps to Legolas being a natural rider and Dwarves being less inclined in that direction (since Elves start with good athletics while Dwarves start with Athletics 0).

I hadn't really considered Rohirrim very much in the past, but I think that Hound of Mirkwood shows us a path forward to a warhorse, with a couple of other Rewards/Virtues to protect the horse and allow it to do damage. Some Rohirrim might end up with having half their upgrades in their horse, which seems appropriate.

I'd imagine their Cultural Blessing will give them a horse, and then you'll get a Virtue for a better trained one providing exactly those sort of advantages (costing xp after the first, like the Hound), and then at least one Virtue giving the Rohirrim some sort of combat boost while mounted.

I wouldn't expect multiple horse enhancing virtues per se, though.

[Terisonen]

Why not, but when you tap at the Tolkien source, you can see:

-Legolas horsemanship is natural;
-Dwarves not even think to ride on four-legged living beast.

I dismiss Aragorn for he his not a typical Ranger. However, people of Gondor seems to have messenger riding hard and fast, so horsemanship is known to her. Not to talk about people living between Mirkwood and the Sea of Rhun and beyond.

The problem with adding a skill isn't one of realism, it's mechanical.

The skill system is really codified. It's not some random list in alphabetical order you could easily add additional skills to, every skill is in one of 6 categories and affiliated with one of the three stats. The only way to add more skills is to either add another stat (really weird), or to add a seventh skill category (awkward, and screws up how Advancement points work).

So...that's simply not gonna happen.

Instead, existing skills will get used...indeed, the core book already makes it pretty explicit that endurance-riding, like other endurance traveling, is Travel, and the more...acrobatic uses of horsemanship seem to fall rather completely under the Athletics skill. This latter, by the way, neatly maps to Legolas being a natural rider and Dwarves being less inclined in that direction (since Elves start with good athletics while Dwarves start with Athletics 0).

I hadn't really considered Rohirrim very much in the past, but I think that Hound of Mirkwood shows us a path forward to a warhorse, with a couple of other Rewards/Virtues to protect the horse and allow it to do damage. Some Rohirrim might end up with having half their upgrades in their horse, which seems appropriate.

I'd imagine their Cultural Blessing will give them a horse, and then you'll get a Virtue for a better trained one providing exactly those sort of advantages (costing xp after the first, like the Hound), and then at least one Virtue giving the Rohirrim some sort of combat boost while mounted.

I wouldn't expect multiple horse enhancing virtues per se, though.

You got the point.

In game term, it seem however difficult to make a Fellowship with one Rohirrim and his mount and other cultur without.
I think you need Oriented Rohirrim Fellowship. Another challenge for Cubicle7...

[Glorelendil]

...and I fully expect Francesco to knock our socks off with his solution.

[Halbarad]

I believe that the Cultural Blessing will be the 'hardwired' ability of a Rohirric PC to ride and fight effectively from horseback.
I reckon that the trained warhorse may well be a Cultural Reward and that there will be a Cultural Virtue providing such skills as "If you need me, just whistle" and other similar 'Champion the Wonderhorse'/Hound of Mirkwood stuff.

[Deadmanwalking]

You got the point.

In game term, it seem however difficult to make a Fellowship with one Rohirrim and his mount and other cultur without.
I think you need Oriented Rohirrim Fellowship. Another challenge for Cubicle7...

Well, my assumption would be that, like ponies, you can acquire horses via Standard of Living, allowing Rich or Prosperous people to definitely acquire them (or others with a bit of Treasure investment). The Rohirrim will just always have one regardless of that sort of thing, and likely a trained warhorse rather than a 'mere' riding horse.

And it's not that hard to have one company member mounted and the rest on foot. You won't move as fast, but having one horseman and a bunch of footmen wasn't exactly uncommon among medieval armies (the commander being the one with the horse)...so it's hardly impossible. It makes it harder to sneak around (horses aren't sneaky, as a rule) but it seems doable.

[Terisonen]

A horse in Mirkwood sounds not to be a good idea... Unless you think it as a fresh source of meat.

[Halbarad]

I'm not proposing a Horse in Mirkwood....

I'm suggesting there might be a Virtue that is similar to Hound of Mirkwood for Rohirric Horses...

[DavetheLost]

Plenty of characters ride in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The entire Company of Thorin is mounted when they set out from Hobbiton, they lose their horses to the goblins, then get temporary remounts from both Beorn and the Lakemen. Frodo and his companions have riding ponies which they lose in Bree. Frodo has no problem riding Glorfindel's horse, other than being wounded at the time. Boromir is also describes as dressed for a long journey on horseback at the Council of Elrond.

I don't see a need for a "riding" skill of any sort though. Traveling on horseback is "Journey", fighting on horseback is "Battle" and "weapon", hunting on horseback is "Hunting".

I think a Virtue allowing experienced horsemen to be better at using their skills while mounted is more likely and appropriate, perhaps with an accompanying difficulty increase for less proficient riders, although in the case of things like tracking and hunting it would be just as easy to dismount and perform the task on foot.

[Deadmanwalking]

A horse in Mirkwood sounds not to be a good idea... Unless you think it as a fresh source of meat.

Eh. Horses do fine in wooded areas, at least as long as there is a good path with some headroom. And even away from paths they're not completely crippled or anything, riding them in wooded areas in combat is a terrible idea, but they do fine unmounted or moving relatively slowly...okay, riding them slowly requires some headroom. Still, it seems workable.