You are skilled at riding mounts, usually a horse, but possibly something more exotic, like a griffon or pegasus. If you attempt to ride a creature that is ill suited as a mount, you take a –5 penalty on your Ride checks.

Common Uses

Perform Special Action While Riding a Mount

Typical riding actions don't require checks. You can saddle, mount, ride, and dismount from a mount without a problem. The following tasks do require checks.

Action

Varies. Mounting or dismounting normally is a move action. Other checks are a move action, a free action, or no action at all, as noted above.

Modifiers

• Equipment If you are riding bareback, you take a –5 penalty on Ride checks. If you have the Animal Affinity feat, you get a +2 bonus on Ride skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in Ride, the bonus increases to +4. If you use a military saddle you get a +2 circumstance bonus on Ride checks related to staying in the saddle.

Notes

• Ride is a prerequisite for Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge, and Trample.

Ride Unchained

Source PFU

About This Section Optionally, a character who reaches 5, 10, 15, or 20 ranks in a skill unlocks various bonuses and abilities unique to that skill. The unchained rogue uses these rules extensively, but others can gain access to them with a new feat.

In this system, characters unlock additional abilities when they attain 5, 10, 15, and 20 ranks in a skill. The skill unlocks system interfaces with the unchained rogue to make the rogue the true master of skills.

Skill unlocks give characters new abilities and ways to use their skills upon reaching 5, 10, 15, and 20 ranks in a skill. Any character with the Signature Skill feat can earn skill unlocks for a single skill, and they are a prime feature of the revised version of the rogue who uses her rogue's edge ability to gain skill unlocks for several of her most iconic skills. Alternatively, you might make skill unlocks a universal part of the game, but you should be aware they add significant power and flexibility to skills, so giving them for free to all classes would grant power boosts to other highly skilled classes such as the investigator and bard, particularly in comparison to the rogue. Another alternative is to eliminate access to the Signature Skill feat, limiting skill unlocks to rogues and rogues alone.

With sufficient ranks in Ride, you earn the following.

Ridable Creatures

Animals

When reared from birth, the following animals can easily be ridden by Small or Medium humanoids, depending on the riding animal's size. In addition, most of these animals can be purchased already trained for combat. The animals are listed here for convenience when referencing the Ride skill, but are also listed on the Goods & Services Animals and Gear page.

Dinosaurs and Megafauna

The following animals are classified as either dinosaurs or megafauna, and garner a significantly higher price than most animals on the open market. The prices listed are for dinosaurs and megafauna that have been reared from birth in order to serve as pets or mounts. Combat-trained dinosaurs and megafauna are incredibly rare and have similarly extravagant costs (if one can even find a seller). Though not normally readily available, combat-trained dinosaurs and megafauna typically cost an amount equal to 1-1/2 × the price of the standard animal.

Aquatic Animals

Many of the following aquatic animals can be bought at seaside markets or from fisherfolk merchants out at sea. Pirates often make use of sharks, eels, and other nasty sea denizens when interrogating captured prisoners, searching for underwater traps, or retrieving sunken treasure. Some of the larger or rarer creatures, such as whales, are obviously much more difficult to find on the open market, and may only be available in seedy underground bazaars. Most aquatic animals can be trained as normal, though they are rarely sold already trained.

Dire Animals

These feral beasts are all but untamable, and are typically only sought out by violent brawlers or cruel lords, either for brutish protection or to pit against equally vicious creatures in violent animal fights. At the GM's discretion, PCs who acquire dire animals may be required to attempt wild empathy or Handle Animal checks every day to keep their pets from running away or attacking them and their allies. Dire animals are not generally suitable as mounts, though the GM may make exceptions at her discretion.

Other Animals

The following reared animals don't fit into one of the aforementioned categories, but can still be purchased by sellers who have access to them. Some may be purchased already combat-trained at the GM's discretion, and typically cost an amount equal to 1-1/2 × the price of the standard animal.