A character may use his Horsemanship skill to ride any animal with which he is familiar. The character will roll a D100 whenever his Horsemanship comes into play. The type of mount will also modify the roll:
Mount Familiarity
At rank 1, the Horseman is familiar with Horses (GM may allow a different animal as the Horseman’s first animal depending on culture and background). At ranks 4, 7, 10, the Horseman may choose another type of animal, but must be able to train with that animal type (i.e., a Horseman cannot choose Elephant as his new familiarity if he does not have an elephant to practice with). A Horseman suffers no penalty to ride a mount with which he is familiar (see table above). The duration of training, over and above the normal training time for Rank, is increased by (Penalty x 2) days. A Horseman gains another familiarity every 2 ranks after 10 (12, 14, 16, etc.).
Mounts and Combat
A mount who is not trained for combat will require the full attention of the rider during combat or other unpleasant situations or it will buck and/or flee.
Combat
A novice Horseman must make a skill roll prior to every action in combat, and compare it to the table below.
- Blunder Fall off horse. 2 x Luck roll to avoid Grievous injury from being stepped on by horse.
- Absolute Failure Fall off horse. 1d4 damage. 2 x DEX to land on feet. Fumble object(s) in hand.
- Failure Action fails. 4 x DEX to avoid falling from horse. If fall indicated, drop held object(s) and 4 x DEX to land on feet. If fall not indicated, 4 x DEX roll to avoid fumbling object(s) in hand.
- Partial Success -25 to action.
- Near Success -10 to action.
- Success No penalty.
- Absolute Success No penalty. Need not roll again for number of actions equal to rank (minimum 2 actions)
Wielding Objects
A novice Horseman requires one hand to control his horse and thus, can only wield one handed weapons and objects.
Acrobatics and Horsemanship
Horseman who also have Acrobatics skill can combine the two to perform actions such as leaping from a galloping horse, tumbling and landing on their feet with weapon drawn. Such actions will generally require skill rolls (both Horsemanship and Acrobatics), unless the Horseman is high enough rank to declare such an action a success.
Rank 3 – The Horseman can use two-handed weapons and objects, provided he is also rank 3 or higher with the weapon or object being wielded.
Rank 5 – A Horseman who is also rank 5 or higher in a ranged weapon, can use it while riding.
Rank 6 – The Horseman only needs to make a Horsemanship roll once per round rather than once per action. A rank 6 Horseman can also mount his horse as a free action if he makes a 2 x DEX roll. If the Horseman is also rank 6 or higher in Acrobatics, no roll is necessary.
Rank 7 – A Horseman who is skilled in fighting with two weapons at once can do so while riding, provided he is also rank 7 or higher with the weapons being wielded.
Rank 8 – The Horseman does not need to make a Horsemanship skill roll every round unless the horse in injured. A rank 8 Horseman can also mount a horse as a free action.
Rank 10 – The Horseman can perform stunts such as clinging to the side of his horse or picking something up off the ground while riding (requires 4 x DEX roll for an object that is easily grabbed while riding at full TMR, down to 1 x MD roll for a difficult object while galloping at double TMR). A rank 10 Horseman can also mount his horse, even if it is moving at full TMR, providing he can either catch it or intercept it.
Rank 15 – Once per game session, the Horseman may declare one action to be successful without making a die roll. The action cannot be one that causes damage to someone but could be something like “While riding full bore across the plain, I lean down in the saddle and pluck the magic sword from the hand of the corpse.” An action such as “While riding at full bore across the plain, I lean down in the saddle and pluck the magic sword from the commander’s sheath”, can be declared but, if the commander is alive, he can react and possibly prevent the action from succeeding. The GM is the final arbiter on deciding if a declared action is allowed or not.
Rank 16 – Another such declared action is gained at rank 16 and each rank thereafter. |