Difference between revisions of "Horse Handling I (sage ability)"

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Allows the character to handle the mount in order to perform the simplest of moves or tasks, those that do not require an intricate knowledge of the horse's movements or that needed for competitive or aesthetic performance. The character is able to employ the [[Animal|animal]] in an everyday working capacity and control the horse while riding and fighting from horseback. In combat, there is a time penalty when operating the mount.
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[[File:Horse Handling I (sage ability).jpg|right|455px|thumb]]
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'''Horse handling I''' is an [[Knowledge Points|amateur]]-status [[Sage Ability|sage ability]] in the [[Sage Study|study]] of [[Horseback Riding (sage study)|Horseback Riding]] that allows the character the basic skill to ride or manage a [[Horse (domestic)|horse]] through the simplest of moves or tasks. The character can use the horse for everyday work, as a draught animal, or for riding and fighting from horseback. It provides no knowledge of competitive or aesthetic performance.  Characters without this skill '''cannot ride a horse''' on their own.
  
== Working Horses ==
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Handling I gives knowledge on how to properly load a horse, how to ready it with bit, bridle and saddle, how to harness a horse to a vehicle and how to use the horse's muscle to drag or shift heavy objects.  With these skills comes an understanding of the horse's limitations and when the horse needs attention, such as a [[Horseshoeing (sage ability)|new shoe]]. Knowledge of what [[Horse Feeding & Diet (sage ability)|feed]], water and [[Domesticate Horses (sage ability)|shelter]] a horse needs is discussed under other sage abilities.
With this level of knowledge, the character is able to use the horse as a draught animal, having knowledge of how to properly fix or shift a load onto the animal or harness it with a bit, bridle, saddle or yoke. The horse may be harnessed to vehicles and used to pull logs or other burdens, often for use in construction purposes. Such employment can be done without any meaningful chance of injuring an animal in the short or long term.
 
  
Horses so used will be able to perform as heavy a workload as they are able; however, with this level of handling the amateur will not be able to prevent irreparable damage that could be done to a horse not bred for work, if employing a riding or war horse for heavy working purposes. It is therefore recommended that characters use only animals bred for the purpose for labour.
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== Movement ==
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Rules describing the manipulation and movement of a horse are necessarily complex.  Horses have a potential for great speed.  They can maneuver as pliably as a two-legged creature when handled well.  In real life, these things can be handled by touch and instinct; in D&D, however, they must be understood mechanically so that the horse's movement can be coordinated with the movement of humanoid combatants.
  
== Horse Riding ==
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==== Gait ====
The character is able to master the horse at the four ordinary [[Horse Gaits|gaits]] for which a horse is able: walk, trot, canter and gallop. The point costs for these gaits is described under the link. To start a horse moving, or to move from one gait to another, the character will need to expend 2 [[Action Points|action points]] (AP), needing more time than a more experienced rider in order to manage the animal. Note that for an amateur, it will require 8 AP (2 rounds) to take a horse from a standing position to a gallop.
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{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 15px; text-align: center; background-color:#d4f2f2;"
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|-
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! Gait !! [[Combat Hex|Hexes]]/AP
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|-
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| Walk || 1-3
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|-
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| Trot || 4-5
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|-
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| Canter || 6-10
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|-
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| Gallop || 11-17
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|}
  
Trotting is limited to two hours for characters of this ability, after which the horse must be walked for an hour, else the horse will stiffen up and be subject to potential trauma, becoming ineffective for a period of 24 hours.
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The domestic horse possesses 6 [[Action Points|action points]] (AP).  These are spent according to the horse's "[[Horse Gaits|gait]]," which describe the animal's "[[Movement (stride)|stride]]."  Unlike a humanoid, the horse's maximum stride is '''17'''; it moves much faster than we do.  There are four gaits that can be employed with horse handling-I: walk, trot, canter and gallop.  The number of hexes per AP that each allows is shown on the chart.
  
A horse can change direction easily and in any direction, even back and forth from the left to the right and back again, when handled by a superior rider. However, an amateur will often have trouble turning a horse at higher speeds, as much conscious thought is necessary to properly manage and command the horse. Thus, even though a horse may have the potential to dance around, an amateur rider is limited by the cost in action points necessary to make a change in the horse's facing.
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When a horse "walks," it performs a four-beat gait, moving its legs in sequence: left-hind, left-front, right-hind, right-front, in regular 1-2-3-4 beat.  The "trot" is a two-beat gait, moving its legs in diagonal pairs: left-hind & right-front, right-hind & left-front. The "canter" is a three-beat gait, moving one of the horse's left or right hind feet first. If the cantering horse starts with the right-hind, then it moves its left-hind and right-front together, then its left-front, producing a regular beat-BEAT-beat sound.  The "gallop" is an uneven four-beat gait, similar to the canter except the middle beat is separated a split-second apart.  Racing horses can manage strides faster than 17 hexes per AP.
  
These are the extra penalty action point costs for changing the direction of a horse, over and above the cost for moving the horse into the next hex (which always has a cost):
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== Handling ==
:*'''From a standing position''': The rider can move the horse in any direction, directly forward, 60º or 120º to the left or right, without an AP cost. However, turning a horse upon its hindquarters, 180º, will cost 2 AP.
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With '''handling-I''' ability, to start a horse moving requires 2 AP from ''the rider's'' movement.  2 AP '''must be spent every round regardless''' when riding a horse, to "handle" it.  A started horse must move at a walking pace for the first 2 AP of ''the horse's'' movement.  If the ''rider'' expends another 2 AP that round (4 AP altogether), the horse can use the rest of it's AP for that round in moving at a trot.
:*'''From a walking gait''': The rider can move directly forward or 60º to the left or right without an AP cost. A 120º turn will cost 2 AP. The rider cannot turn the horse upon its hindquarters without stopping.
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:*'''From a trotting gait''': The rider can move directly forward without an AP cost. A 60º turn will cost 1 AP. The rider cannot turn the horse 120º or upon its hindquarters without slowing or stopping.
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: '''For example,''' Ginnie the elf has 4 AP; she's riding her horse Handsome, with 6 AP.  Using 2 AP, Ginnie starts Handsome moving at a stride of 2 hexes per AP, leaving Ginnie with 2 AP left.  Handsome starts off, covering 4 hexes, using 2 of Handsome's AP.  Ginnie spurs it forward to a trot, at stride-5, using the rest of her AP; whereupon Handsome speeds up, using 4 AP to cover an additional 20 hexes.
:*'''From a cantering or galloping gait''': Like moving at a trotting gait, except that a 60º turn will cost 2 AP.
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<br>
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The next round, she can use 2 additional AP to push Handsome to a canter, or 4 AP to push the horse to a gallop.  In the hands of a character with [[Horse Handling II|handling-II]], this expenditure of AP is reduced.
When trotting upon a horse with an encumbrance of better than 50%, riders should reduce the endurance of a horse by one hour.
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<br>
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It can be seen immediately that the horse's movement can easily dominate that of humanoids on the battlefield, giving a sense of how dangerous and maneuverable cavalry can be.
<br>
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See Also,<br>
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== Turning ==
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Upon a hex-map, there are three possible turns that adjust the horse's facing from directly forward; the '''roll''', which turns the horse left or right 60-degrees; the '''pivot''', which turns the horse left or right 120-degrees; and the '''whirl''', which turns the horse on its hindquarters, 180-degrees.
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Horses can roll or pivot easily and in any direction, even back and forth, from left to right, and back again, when handled by a superior rider. However, an amateur with handling-I will often have trouble turning a horse at a trot, a canter or a gallop, as much conscious thought is needed to properly handle the horse.
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From a '''standing position''', the character can roll or pivot the horse at no extra AP cost. However, whirling the horse has a +2 AP cost over and above the 2 AP normally needed every round to handle a horse.
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When the horse is '''walking''', the character can roll the horse at no extra AP cost. Pivoting the horse costs +1 AP. A rider with handling-I cannot whirl a horse in motion.
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When a horse is '''trotting''', rolling the horse costs +1 AP.  A rider with handling-I cannot pivot a trotting, cantering or galloping horse.
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When a horse is '''cantering''' or '''galloping''', rolling the horse costs +2 AP.
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== Travelling ==
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When riding a horse with handling-I, the horse can be ridden at a trot for 3 hours a day and at a walk for 5½ hours; during the remaining time of a day's travel, the rider must get off the horse and lead it.  The number of hours trotting must be halved when another horse is being led.  If the horse took part in battle the day before, then the time for BOTH trotting and walking must be halved for that reason.
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If these limits are not respected, the horse will stiffen up the next day and will be visibly in pain while travelling.  Trotting will be out of the question and the horse will need to be walked without a rider for at least half the day.  If this limitation is also ignored — possibly because the horse must be pressed past its limitations — then a malady roll must be made for the horse.
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When travelling, cantering and galloping can be done for such short periods that their effects on distance travel are not worth noting.
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== Working a Horse ==
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Horses can carry a great deal of baggage and weight, including the rider; the exact amount of [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]] is based upon the weight of the horse.  This will reduce the number of AP the horse possesses.  Even so, a horse with only 1 AP can still move at any gait — only, not for long.  A horse encumbered so that it has 2 AP or less has a 5% chance of requiring a malady check for every round that it's either cantered or galloped.
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Whenever a horse is used for work, the handler understands how to treat the animal with care and patience, asking only what the animal can manage without probable injury.  Someone without handling-I skill would put an animal at potential risk by poorly harnessing it to a vehicle, overworking it or otherwise creating a meaningful chance of the horse becoming injured.
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It is also understood by the character why an animal that's bred for racing or war cannot be employed as a work horse.  Irreparable damage to the animal's tendons and musculature would surely result, making a highly valuable animal useless for the purposes for which it's been bred.
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See also,<br>
 
[[Charging]]<br>
 
[[Charging]]<br>
[[Horseback Riding (sage study)|Horseback Riding]]
 
  
[[Category:Lacks Image]]
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[[Category: Don't Review until 2022]][[Category: Sage Abilities]]

Latest revision as of 22:16, 23 September 2023

Horse Handling I (sage ability).jpg

Horse handling I is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Horseback Riding that allows the character the basic skill to ride or manage a horse through the simplest of moves or tasks. The character can use the horse for everyday work, as a draught animal, or for riding and fighting from horseback. It provides no knowledge of competitive or aesthetic performance. Characters without this skill cannot ride a horse on their own.

Handling I gives knowledge on how to properly load a horse, how to ready it with bit, bridle and saddle, how to harness a horse to a vehicle and how to use the horse's muscle to drag or shift heavy objects. With these skills comes an understanding of the horse's limitations and when the horse needs attention, such as a new shoe. Knowledge of what feed, water and shelter a horse needs is discussed under other sage abilities.

Movement

Rules describing the manipulation and movement of a horse are necessarily complex. Horses have a potential for great speed. They can maneuver as pliably as a two-legged creature when handled well. In real life, these things can be handled by touch and instinct; in D&D, however, they must be understood mechanically so that the horse's movement can be coordinated with the movement of humanoid combatants.

Gait

Gait Hexes/AP
Walk 1-3
Trot 4-5
Canter 6-10
Gallop 11-17

The domestic horse possesses 6 action points (AP). These are spent according to the horse's "gait," which describe the animal's "stride." Unlike a humanoid, the horse's maximum stride is 17; it moves much faster than we do. There are four gaits that can be employed with horse handling-I: walk, trot, canter and gallop. The number of hexes per AP that each allows is shown on the chart.

When a horse "walks," it performs a four-beat gait, moving its legs in sequence: left-hind, left-front, right-hind, right-front, in regular 1-2-3-4 beat. The "trot" is a two-beat gait, moving its legs in diagonal pairs: left-hind & right-front, right-hind & left-front. The "canter" is a three-beat gait, moving one of the horse's left or right hind feet first. If the cantering horse starts with the right-hind, then it moves its left-hind and right-front together, then its left-front, producing a regular beat-BEAT-beat sound. The "gallop" is an uneven four-beat gait, similar to the canter except the middle beat is separated a split-second apart. Racing horses can manage strides faster than 17 hexes per AP.

Handling

With handling-I ability, to start a horse moving requires 2 AP from the rider's movement. 2 AP must be spent every round regardless when riding a horse, to "handle" it. A started horse must move at a walking pace for the first 2 AP of the horse's movement. If the rider expends another 2 AP that round (4 AP altogether), the horse can use the rest of it's AP for that round in moving at a trot.

For example, Ginnie the elf has 4 AP; she's riding her horse Handsome, with 6 AP. Using 2 AP, Ginnie starts Handsome moving at a stride of 2 hexes per AP, leaving Ginnie with 2 AP left. Handsome starts off, covering 4 hexes, using 2 of Handsome's AP. Ginnie spurs it forward to a trot, at stride-5, using the rest of her AP; whereupon Handsome speeds up, using 4 AP to cover an additional 20 hexes.

The next round, she can use 2 additional AP to push Handsome to a canter, or 4 AP to push the horse to a gallop. In the hands of a character with handling-II, this expenditure of AP is reduced.

It can be seen immediately that the horse's movement can easily dominate that of humanoids on the battlefield, giving a sense of how dangerous and maneuverable cavalry can be.

Turning

Upon a hex-map, there are three possible turns that adjust the horse's facing from directly forward; the roll, which turns the horse left or right 60-degrees; the pivot, which turns the horse left or right 120-degrees; and the whirl, which turns the horse on its hindquarters, 180-degrees.

Horses can roll or pivot easily and in any direction, even back and forth, from left to right, and back again, when handled by a superior rider. However, an amateur with handling-I will often have trouble turning a horse at a trot, a canter or a gallop, as much conscious thought is needed to properly handle the horse.

From a standing position, the character can roll or pivot the horse at no extra AP cost. However, whirling the horse has a +2 AP cost over and above the 2 AP normally needed every round to handle a horse.

When the horse is walking, the character can roll the horse at no extra AP cost. Pivoting the horse costs +1 AP. A rider with handling-I cannot whirl a horse in motion.

When a horse is trotting, rolling the horse costs +1 AP. A rider with handling-I cannot pivot a trotting, cantering or galloping horse.

When a horse is cantering or galloping, rolling the horse costs +2 AP.

Travelling

When riding a horse with handling-I, the horse can be ridden at a trot for 3 hours a day and at a walk for 5½ hours; during the remaining time of a day's travel, the rider must get off the horse and lead it. The number of hours trotting must be halved when another horse is being led. If the horse took part in battle the day before, then the time for BOTH trotting and walking must be halved for that reason.

If these limits are not respected, the horse will stiffen up the next day and will be visibly in pain while travelling. Trotting will be out of the question and the horse will need to be walked without a rider for at least half the day. If this limitation is also ignored — possibly because the horse must be pressed past its limitations — then a malady roll must be made for the horse.

When travelling, cantering and galloping can be done for such short periods that their effects on distance travel are not worth noting.

Working a Horse

Horses can carry a great deal of baggage and weight, including the rider; the exact amount of encumbrance is based upon the weight of the horse. This will reduce the number of AP the horse possesses. Even so, a horse with only 1 AP can still move at any gait — only, not for long. A horse encumbered so that it has 2 AP or less has a 5% chance of requiring a malady check for every round that it's either cantered or galloped.

Whenever a horse is used for work, the handler understands how to treat the animal with care and patience, asking only what the animal can manage without probable injury. Someone without handling-I skill would put an animal at potential risk by poorly harnessing it to a vehicle, overworking it or otherwise creating a meaningful chance of the horse becoming injured.

It is also understood by the character why an animal that's bred for racing or war cannot be employed as a work horse. Irreparable damage to the animal's tendons and musculature would surely result, making a highly valuable animal useless for the purposes for which it's been bred.


See also,
Charging