Druids Make the Best Mounts

yourplayersaidwhat:

So, this happened during one of my first campaigns DMing with my friends. We were doing a campaign based off of the Curse of Strahd story, and our group consisted of a Dragonborn Druid, a Gnome Ranger, and a Half-Orc Barbarian. Our group had been wandering through this haunted house for a session already, and had started the new session by heading into the house’s basement.

Me: Alright, so you guys go down these stone steps into the basement and find yourselves in this long hallway with cobbled stone walls and floors. There are three openings on each wall, about seven feet tall, with old wood doors on them.

GR: Okay, I walk up to the first door and open it.

HOB: Yeah, I follow him.

DD: Yeah, nah, I’m going to check out one of the other doors.

Me: Wait, what? Are you sure, you’re going to split the party?

DD: Oh yeah, I’m good with that.

Me: …well, alright then. [Gnome] and [Half-Orc], you guys walk through the first doorway on your guys’ right and find yourselves in a fairly small room with a lot of cobwebs on the roof. At the other end of the room is another, smaller door, which is locked shut.

HOB: Alright, I’m gonna try and break down the door.

DD: And what do I see in my room?

Me: …sigh…Okay, we’re really doing this? You, [Dragonborn], walk through the doorway right next to the one [Half-Orc] and [Gnome] walked through. You find yourself in pretty much the same room they’re looking at, but the door at the end of the room looks damaged and has swung open to reveal a stone coffin.

HOB: …uh oh.

DD: Yeah, this can’t be good. (to me) I walk up to the crypt…cautiously.

Me: Okay then. As you walk up to the coffin, you see the stone lid sort of crack in half, and a grey, decayed hand poke out–

DD: Okay, yeah, I’m getting out of there! I’m gonna…um, use my Change Shape ability to turn into a Brown Bear and run out into the hallway and back to where the others are.

Me: Um…why?

DD: Well, because I haven’t had a good reason to try this form out yet, and I’d rather fight off an undead monster as a bear than as a gangly-ass dragon-boy.

Me: Good point. Alright, you dash out of that room as the corpse drags itself out of the coffin, and run back to the others in the first room.

GR: And as he walks into the room, I look at him and go, “…is that a bear?”

HOB: I look away from the door, look at [Dragonborn], and say, “Yeah, I think so.”

GR: “Well then I’m gonna ride it!”

DD: …can he do that?

Me: I think so. I mean, it’d just be like he’s [Gnome]’s mount, and so [Gnome] would only be able to move when [Dragonborn] moves.

GR: I’m so good with that.

Me: Well, alright then.

For the rest of that campaign, the Gnome and the Dragonborn became the most badass team in the campaign. The Dragonborn used a wide array of mount-sized beasts for the Gnome to ride on, and while the Dragonborn fought off enemies up close, the Gnome would use his bow to pick them off from beast-back. This tag-team combo ended up being essential in taking out the Werewolf Pack later on in the campaign, and just a fun joke throughout the rest of our gaming with each other.