One of the greatest treasures to find in a hexcrawl.

Characters have the opportunity to cover twice or even three times the amount of ground when they have reliable mounts. It’s great for the players most of the time. It can be a royal headache for the Game Master who has to plan the sandbox four to six hexes further ahead of the party. Days’ worth of hex crawling have been cut in half, bypassing or possibly fleeing some encounters.

Characters are no longer anchored to one point on the map and dependent upon finding supplies as much because they can travel faster and farther in search of food, water, and a dry place to sleep. They can also scout ahead and often avoid danger a lot easier.

As with anything, there are a few drawbacks to having mounts in a hex crawl.

GM headache aside, there are just some things mounts don’t help the group with. Rough terrain is just as hard on mounts as it is on pedestrians. Mounts can’t go in dungeons very well. If anyone in the group doesn’t have a mount, there are only so many options if they want to travel fast.

Traveling on land has inherent disadvantages. There can be holes in the trail, wagon ruts, and loose ground can trip people and mounts. Twisted ankles, broken legs, and nasty falls can result. There are dozens of other terrain hazards just on a regular trail. Thorns, itch weed, biting or stinging insects, and venomous wildlife such as snakes and scorpions can affect mounts as much as people on foot. Then there are floods and rivers to consider.

Mountains, steep hills, deserts, narrow pedestrian bridges, and large bodies of water also present challenges to mounts as much if not more than just a regular adventurer on foot. There’s also a constant drain on resources and extra encumbrance associated with mounts. Want a wagon? Now there are lots of places it can’t easily go, either. Especially mean GMs can go after mounts and wagons regularly to nullify the advantage presented by them. (I would advise you to do this sparingly lest you face the ire of your players.)

If the group runs across a set of ruins or underground complex to explore, what do they do with the mounts? Most will not fit very well in the narrow underground corridors, presuming the mount doesn’t panic outright at the very idea of going in. If the group leaves the wagon and the horse unattended, what happens to them? There is that table in Dragonbane for when the party leaves an adventure site.

Then there is the age old dilemma posed when only a few members of the party are on mounts. What about everyone else? It’s nice having a mounted outrider or two in the group, but eventually the ones on foot begin to slow the party down. A wagon helps, but only on passable terrain. Riding double or even triple will tire the mount more rapidly, and they can only carry so much at a time.

So far we’ve only touched on relatively “normal” mounts such as horses. Next time we’ll dive into all the mounts I have planned for the new campaign world. It’s likely going to be a while before Morgan and the boys find any kind of mounts anyway. So far the Otterkin don’t believe in using animal labor and the Ophidslakt haven’t had any need for mounts beyond an ox or two to pull the plow.

Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.