So, besides GM Fiat and "cause we said so in flavor text", I don't see any way a Ghostwise Halfling to accomplish this within the rules - "Clan warriors known as nightgliders bond with and ride giant owls as mounts." The only thing I could think of was going beastmaster ranger, but that is limited to no larger than a medium 1/4 CR creature and giant owls are large. Part of me was very surprised that an owl is tiny and a giant owl jumps all the way up to large. I would have thought it would be medium and then this is possible. Otherwise RAW, this flavor text is just "oh, it is my friend", and so a bit game specific.
Just seemed like they shouldn't throw such specific and iconic feeling flavor text around without actual rules support. I think it is a stretch to just put that flavor text as a "it is a rule that Ghostwise clan warriors can do this because it is in the descriptive text.
There are a number of races in D&D that are associated with specific animals without any rules for it. Goblins ride dire wolfs/wargs, drow ride giant lizards, duergar ride steeders. In Eberron halflings ride dinosaurs. There are several ways you could aquire one. DM Fiat as you mentioned, but you can also train one yourself from a young age, buy one from a trainer, attempt to tame one using animal handling, or cast animal friendship. The point is that you don't need a class skill to aquire a mount.
In terms of beastmaster rangers, the medium size limit means that most characters (that are medium) can't ride any of the options. It's not intended as a mount. Find steed and find greater steed is the way to get an improved mount from what you can easily buy. If you want to make it work you can scale down the stats for a giant owl and say it's a juvenile or use the stats from a pteranadon or giant vulture that are medium sized flying beasts.
The mount rules are deliberately open-ended. Any trained or intelligent willing creature with suitable anatomy can serve as a mount. You don't special rules support to allow a ghostwise halfling to have a giant owl mount any more than a fighter needs special rules to have a horse mount.
Whether the DM allows you to start the game with one is a different issue. Just because ghostwise halfling clan warriors train giant owls doesn't mean they get to keep them if they choose adventuring life over service to their clan, just like creating a Duergar character doesn't automatically entitle you to a Steeder mount.
I guess what is really bugging me is that the medium size limit seems a bit overkill on an already fairly weak subclass. Like, I can't have a ranger bonded to a horse? I think the CR 1/4 already really covers any balance issue. I am really looking forward to whatever they end up doing to fix ranger other than making subclasses that don't really address one of the iconic subclasses. And what I was keying on was "bond with" where animal bond is a spell for example and I was inferring a bit more than "lookie, I got a horse" and more like a special choice for a Find Steed spell for example. (edited to remove where I found what you referenced buried in the mounted combat section, duh me) Mounts just feel incredibly tacked on and overall ignored even while being a part of some iconic classes and subclasses is just like "oh and you can ride something" (cough - cavalier which has almost nothing for mounted abilities really).
Sub-classes? Is this a question about classes, or about a type of halfling? Or just frustrated about mounted rules being so light? Each one is a separate issue to be addressed.
The cavalier, paladin, beastmaster, etc is very light on mount mechanics because, frankly, that's what the people wanted. Mounts might be neat looking in theory, but in execution, they're a pain in the arse for games. Nine times out of ten, you're not taking the paladin's mount into a dungeon or inside that wizard's tower. They get in the way and end up more frustration than benefit. A subclass that revolves around being on a horse (or whatever) is a subclass that's not played. And the dev team was very careful about extra companions in game, so most times they're fairly weak or underwhelming options (though they made Conjure spells way powerful, go figure).
I mean, it sounds like you're not in the AL, so if you want help tweaking the owl for being fit for a beastmaster to use as a mount, we can help. But it sounds more like you have issues with animal friends or companions in general. So, not sure what you really want here?
It really goes for all the races/classes in that there are flavor descriptions of certain things that simply do not have any mechanical/rules support. Many mentioned in the above responses and I was more looking at the fact that rules are starting to get a bit scattered and maybe I was missing something in the extra book or somewhere.
All very interesting comments. I am building a Ghostwise Ranger as a NPC. That might get used later as a PC. I am thinking of a Gloomstalker, with an Investigator background. So my question is; does the giant owl get an attack?
All very interesting comments. I am building a Ghostwise Ranger as a NPC. That might get used later as a PC. I am thinking of a Gloomstalker, with an Investigator background. So my question is; does the giant owl get an attack?
As Fangeye said a Giant Owl can attack so you're good as NPC but for a player character you may need DM's approval before you get such a flying mount.
I recently found the Ghostwise Halfling. The only documentation I have found said I would unlock the option in the store but I am new enough to the system to not know how to go about that task. Could anyone help me, please? Thank you!
So, besides GM Fiat and "cause we said so in flavor text", I don't see any way a Ghostwise Halfling to accomplish this within the rules - "Clan warriors known as nightgliders bond with and ride giant owls as mounts."
The only thing I could think of was going beastmaster ranger, but that is limited to no larger than a medium 1/4 CR creature and giant owls are large. Part of me was very surprised that an owl is tiny and a giant owl jumps all the way up to large. I would have thought it would be medium and then this is possible. Otherwise RAW, this flavor text is just "oh, it is my friend", and so a bit game specific.
Just seemed like they shouldn't throw such specific and iconic feeling flavor text around without actual rules support. I think it is a stretch to just put that flavor text as a "it is a rule that Ghostwise clan warriors can do this because it is in the descriptive text.
There are a number of races in D&D that are associated with specific animals without any rules for it. Goblins ride dire wolfs/wargs, drow ride giant lizards, duergar ride steeders. In Eberron halflings ride dinosaurs. There are several ways you could aquire one. DM Fiat as you mentioned, but you can also train one yourself from a young age, buy one from a trainer, attempt to tame one using animal handling, or cast animal friendship. The point is that you don't need a class skill to aquire a mount.
In terms of beastmaster rangers, the medium size limit means that most characters (that are medium) can't ride any of the options. It's not intended as a mount. Find steed and find greater steed is the way to get an improved mount from what you can easily buy. If you want to make it work you can scale down the stats for a giant owl and say it's a juvenile or use the stats from a pteranadon or giant vulture that are medium sized flying beasts.
The mount rules are deliberately open-ended. Any trained or intelligent willing creature with suitable anatomy can serve as a mount. You don't special rules support to allow a ghostwise halfling to have a giant owl mount any more than a fighter needs special rules to have a horse mount.
Whether the DM allows you to start the game with one is a different issue. Just because ghostwise halfling clan warriors train giant owls doesn't mean they get to keep them if they choose adventuring life over service to their clan, just like creating a Duergar character doesn't automatically entitle you to a Steeder mount.
I guess what is really bugging me is that the medium size limit seems a bit overkill on an already fairly weak subclass. Like, I can't have a ranger bonded to a horse? I think the CR 1/4 already really covers any balance issue. I am really looking forward to whatever they end up doing to fix ranger other than making subclasses that don't really address one of the iconic subclasses.
And what I was keying on was "bond with" where animal bond is a spell for example and I was inferring a bit more than "lookie, I got a horse" and more like a special choice for a Find Steed spell for example. (edited to remove where I found what you referenced buried in the mounted combat section, duh me)
Mounts just feel incredibly tacked on and overall ignored even while being a part of some iconic classes and subclasses is just like "oh and you can ride something" (cough - cavalier which has almost nothing for mounted abilities really).
Sub-classes? Is this a question about classes, or about a type of halfling? Or just frustrated about mounted rules being so light? Each one is a separate issue to be addressed.
The cavalier, paladin, beastmaster, etc is very light on mount mechanics because, frankly, that's what the people wanted. Mounts might be neat looking in theory, but in execution, they're a pain in the arse for games. Nine times out of ten, you're not taking the paladin's mount into a dungeon or inside that wizard's tower. They get in the way and end up more frustration than benefit. A subclass that revolves around being on a horse (or whatever) is a subclass that's not played. And the dev team was very careful about extra companions in game, so most times they're fairly weak or underwhelming options (though they made Conjure spells way powerful, go figure).
I mean, it sounds like you're not in the AL, so if you want help tweaking the owl for being fit for a beastmaster to use as a mount, we can help. But it sounds more like you have issues with animal friends or companions in general. So, not sure what you really want here?
As a note.
The Pteranodon has almost the exact same stats as a Giant Owl, except it is smaller and fits within the Ranger rules.
It really goes for all the races/classes in that there are flavor descriptions of certain things that simply do not have any mechanical/rules support. Many mentioned in the above responses and I was more looking at the fact that rules are starting to get a bit scattered and maybe I was missing something in the extra book or somewhere.
I am working on a write up for this, I will have to share it if you are still interested.
@Riski, yes, I would like to see a write up as well.
All very interesting comments. I am building a Ghostwise Ranger as a NPC. That might get used later as a PC. I am thinking of a Gloomstalker, with an Investigator background. So my question is; does the giant owl get an attack?
This roughly five year old thread was originally regarding a Beastmaster Ranger and the CR 1/4 beast they get from Ranger's Companion.
As a Gloom Stalker you don't have a class feature to give you a mount and would have to obtain one through other means.
Giant Owl specifically has high mental attributes and so could serve as either a controlled or independent mount per the mounted combat rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/combat#ControllingaMount
As Fangeye said a Giant Owl can attack so you're good as NPC but for a player character you may need DM's approval before you get such a flying mount.
I recently found the Ghostwise Halfling. The only documentation I have found said I would unlock the option in the store but I am new enough to the system to not know how to go about that task. Could anyone help me, please? Thank you!
Here: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/marketplace/sourcebooks/sword-coast-adventurers-guide). Scroll down, it’s one of the subraces.