Riding...skill, specialty?

[sageryne]

Hi all,

One thing that I find confusing about TOR is the lack of any sort of riding skill or specialty. I have ridden a few horses in my time and I know there is a skill to it. Some people seem to be able to bond with the horse and get it to do incredible things. In addition to riding, there are also the animal husbandry skills that go with taking care of an animal (keeping it happy and healthy) and training skills (breaking and training the horse).

I was wondering what other GMs and PCs used for a riding skill?

In "Men of Rohan" a fan produced character template written by Christian Vilar he added a new Cultural Blessing "Rider of the Mark" and a new specialty "Horse-riding". These are both good, but I am sure other people besides the Rohirrim are able to ride. I also don't like the idea that you have to have a cultural pre-disposition or a specialty to ride a horse. I am the furthest thing from an athletic person and I still managed to do it (with a very tame trail horse, an easy path and a guide to follow).

Personally, I think I would associate Athletics with riding, Travel with taking care of the horse (or pony, mule or donkey) and Inspire (or perhaps Persuade) with training (convincing the horse to follow your lead).

Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?

TTYL

- Sageryne

[Mordagnir]

My interpretation is similar to yours, Sageryne. Athletics for any feat of riding. I would use Travel for fatigue because cavalrymen get tired too, though the TNs might be easier or they would have to make them less frequently. The rest of the particulars would be very situational and might involve the skills you noted and/or the expenditure of EPs.

[Ferretz]

I wrote up a document of optional house rules for riding and training horses, and using them in battle. Haven't added to it in a while since our campaign has been on hold.

Anyway, I would love to see some "offical" comment on how horses should be handled in The One Ring. I know there is mention of a special horse that can be trained in Heart of the Wild, but what about regular horses? In the Lake-Town booklet, several types of horses are mentioned on a list of stuff that can be bought for Treasure Points, but some rules on how they affect the game would be nice.

I think Athletics would cover riding horses in a scene, and Travel would cover using them for long-distance treks. The Battle skill could represent the use of a horse in combat, maybe, while a new Speciality, Riding, could cover these different situations.

-Eirik

[Robin Smallburrow]

Disagree with comments that Riding sh/be a common skill- it is a specialty linked with certain cultures but not others - look at Bilbo's initial fumbling efforts to ride. You have forgotten Craft & Hunting in your discussions, which is what I use

Robin S