Trampling

[SaxBasilisk]

Between my campaign and reading the Vulgate Story of Merlin, I'm considering how to handle trampling.

1) Is it possible against prone opponents, or those on foot?

2) What roll is necessary (Horsemanship)?

3) How much damage does it inflict (same as a lance charge, or a bit less)?

4) Is there any way to discourage this as a combat technique?

[Morien]

I didn't check but the ultimate discouraging is to limit it to fight-trained horses. But if you want something less drastic:

1. Prone only

2. Horse's DEX (but with +5/-5 for prone)

3. Half the charge damage (a sharp tip concentrates the force from the fast movement)

4. The opponent will be hitting the valuable horse to fight back. Also, needs to be prone, so you'd only use this because your sword can't reach him. Otherwise you are better off using your sword.

 

 

 

 

 

[SirUkpyr]

And don't forget - a prone opponent who does a good hit just DISEMBOWELED your horse!

[Voord 99]

Story seed: there was a medieval story told about the famous bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitol in Rome — which people did not know was a statue of Marcus Aurelius — in which it was a statue of a Roman called Marcus who defeated an enemy king who was a magician by having his horse trample on him, because the magician could not be killed with weapons. 

Obviously, though, killing a fellow knight by having your horse trample on them would be, under normal circumstances, unchivalrous behavior.  I mean, it’s unchivalrous if you don’t dismount and fight them on foot, let alone if you don’t even allow them to get up and just have your horse stand on them. 

[piersb]

On 10/16/2021 at 4:31 PM, Voord 99 said:

Obviously, though, killing a fellow knight by having your horse trample on them would be, under normal circumstances, unchivalrous behavior.  I mean, it’s unchivalrous if you don’t dismount and fight them on foot, let alone if you don’t even allow them to get up and just have your horse stand on them. 

Presumably Saxons are eminently trampleable-upon.

[SaxBasilisk]

Who does get trampled, and who does the trampling? I'll toss in some examples from The Story of Merlin (Pickens translation):

Quote

 

And Sir Gawainet took a lance and was the very first to break ranks... He then trampled [King Claudas] with his horse, and Claudas fainted from the agony. (p. 296)

When the six thousand six hundred knights whom King Arthur was to go back to fetch came down from the mountain, they rode into the crowd in such a way that the Romans saw none of them... They struck them down one atop the other and went about trampling them under their horses' hooves and killing them with their swords. (p. 470)

 

(Edited for brevity)

These are not the only examples, but they are examples of our putative heroes engaging in this behavior. Then again, maybe their foes deserve it within the narrative?

 

 

[Call Me Deacon Blues]

If you wanted to be super literal about it, I'd probably roll Horsemanship against a prone enemy, treat it kind of like an unarmed strike just with the horse's damage.

Though I don't think this exactly needs modeling. Fighting-horses give +5 to attack rolls already models them kicking, biting, and trampling, and plenty of times in battles and such where a PK unhorse their opponent I've described the foe as being trampled under their horse's hooves... both of those examples given mention first striking with a lance, and the other killing with swords, I think that's all we really need.