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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition – Mounted Combat

Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition – Mounted Combat

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mounted CombatWith the feat  “Mounted Combat” you gain advantage on attack rolls when attacking targets smaller than your mount (including on a charge). Not  just the damage, but being knocked prone is a huge disadvantage  when fighting mounted combatants as they can knock their foes prone almost at will.

Prone targets (p.190-191 PHB) must spend their movement action to stand up and only move half their movement  after they stand. Also, attacking a prone target gives you advantage on the attack  roll to anyone attacking them.

Mounted Combat in Dungeons and Dragons

Another advantage when attacking from a mount is Reach. When using any melee weapon you are considered one size category larger and therefore gain the reach advantage against smaller foes. This making combat against you very difficult with other feats such as Sentinel. Melee weapons that grant reach have their reach extended an additional 5 feet thus increasing the threat. The reach also allows for “Move D&DBy” style attacks without the threat of being attacked by melee attacks on opportunity when leaving the threat range. Although melee combatants with reach can still possibly hit you it is very unlikely.

The next thing to take note of is mounted combatants gain a significant movement advantage in combat. The rider’s move speed becomes that of his or hers mount. This making them very hard to close with, in open field combat.

Mounted Combat in 5th Edition, How do You Ride?

Another advantage for mounted combatants who use Ranged Weapons and/or Spell Casting takes into account not only the movement, but the ability to see targets clearly from a taller vantage point allowing them to ignore cover from foes or allies on the ground, or smaller objects being used as cover. Of course casting a spell while mounted is a feat unto it’s self., but sense there is no feat dealing with this currently in Dungeons and Dragons 5e, I think the DM would have final say on this matter.

Creatures that have a “Centaur-Like” in appearance can also take advantage of mounted combat advantages but with fewer rewards in that they cannot re-direct damage from themselves and also suffer from fatigue. They do however gain the reach advantage in that most of them mounted combatare at least of large size. They also benefit with ranged weapons as discussed earlier.

So, you see even though in D and D 5e mounted combat doesn’t give you a damage bonus, it still provides you with a clear advantage in open field combat.

I hope this shed some light on the often over looked advantages of mounted combat in D&D 5e. I just wanted to bring to light some rules clarifications and point out the clear advantage a mounted warrior in combat has.

In previous editions the charging combatant would simply gain a damage bonus to the dice rolled if they just moved X amount then took a swing. Now with the advantage and disadvantage systems you can get a feel for the tactical side of mounted combat or jousting.

With that, have a great adventure and happy Dragon Slaying on your new mount…!

~ Art Wood

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Art Wood

I'm a nerd from the days of OLD! Nuff Said!

6 Comments

  • Mike Knox
    October 2, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't seem to find anything in the core books that suggests that you gain reach while mounted. Also wouldn't the mount still be subject to attacks of opportunity during you Move By combat portion.
    Thanks for the article, though. outside of the stuff listed above where I'm confused, I enjoyed it.

  • Ty Johnston
    October 3, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    By the rules, I don't believe you would gain reach while mounted unless utilizing a weapon that gives reach, such as the lance.

  • Tom Taylor
    October 9, 2015 at 10:04 pm

    It's not that you gain reach, it's that you go from being medium size (one 5ft by 5ft square) to large size (four 5ft by 5ft squares) and can attack from any point you occupy therefore technically increasing your threat range although as mentioned below unless you have a reach weapon the new large size would still trigger opportunity attacks.

  • Art Wood
    October 21, 2015 at 4:48 am

    The mounted combat feat takes care of the mount being attacked. You don't actualy gain "reach" persay but you occupy more space. A "Lance" however is a REACH weapon so with that in mind you would have reach.

  • Craig G Robinson
    December 22, 2015 at 6:26 pm

    I have a question in regards to Mounted Combatant. PHB pg157. it says you can force an attack targeted at your mount to target you instead. My question is what AC do you use ? the mounts or the riders? if a spear is tossed at your mount how can you force it to target the player instead? and again is the AC of that the players or mounts? and if there are 5 mobs all attacking at the same time can the player force all those attacks to himself? Thanks in advance.

    • Rich Little
      August 24, 2018 at 1:10 am

      since the attack is being redirected to you, you use your AC. Also yes, any and all attacks made against your mount can be redirected to you with the Mounted Combatant feat.

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