Ride skill question

[Dreamcatcher]

if you already have the ride skill, do you still have to practice it alot before you can ride good enough to go out of the city?

[Forest Junkie]

if you already have the ride skill, do you still have to practice it alot before you can ride good enough to go out of the city?

The skill 'ride' is no different than any other skill. In order to master it, you must first practice it.

[Seeker]

In order to cross the vast wastes of Zalanthas it is often useful to ride certain beasts of burden. This skill represents one's familiarity with all pack and riding animals, and also one's proficiency in fighting while mounted. A certain level of skill must be attained to ride expertly in non- combat situations, and a greater degree still to perform well in combat. Rangers and half-elves have a greater rapport with animals than do others. To use the ride skill, all one has to do is mount an animal, and then enter a directional command (e.g., north).

Notes:

One hand must always be free for holding the reins, until you reach
high levels of skill.

Low skill levels will result in being thrown from your mount during
combat and being injured in the process. It is possible to be knocked
unconscious by being thrown from one's mount (in which case, one will
then find oneself at the tender mercies of any hostile character in the
vicinity).

Even if you start out with skill ride, it probably makes really good sense to practice quite a bit before taking a beast into possibly dangerous situations.

Seeker

[fearwig]

Not entirely good advice--you're going to send this guy riding around the city block, thinking he's getting better at it.

Remember that in Zalanthas, people only learn from their experiences if they fail at them. It's magick! But it's a good hint, right?

I don't want to play devil's advocate, but there is only one way to fail riding when you've already got the skill, and it's not that pretty. Just thought you should know before, as I said, you ride in circles, trying hopelessly to twink it out.

[Ghost]

Not quite so.  With the newbie level riding, you can just fail trying to move your mount.  The mount refuses to move, that is a fail.

If your mount is not refusing you anymore, you are adequate at riding but not an expert.  If you want to be an expert ridier, you need to be able to control your mount in difficult situations.
Like, rodeo?  If you can control your mount, while blocking an attack and landing your own and still you are not falling down, consider yourself very close to be the expert.
The expert level comes just after it.  If you can manage to ride your mount over your opponent and trample them down with it, you are an expert rider.

[fearwig]

His question involved having the actual ride skill. That would be, as you describe it, "adequate". When you have the "ride" skill, as, say, a ranger does (as is said in the helpfiles), you can ride an animal in any normal circumstance without difficulty. Which is what I said. You're not going to fail simple attempt at movement, ever, if you have the ride skill.

Now we're getting into technical stuff, I realize, but I hope this is considered elementary enough as to be safe. My point was simply that the answer to the guy's question wasn't to ride around the street all day, thinking his character is learning something by this practice.

[Ghost]

His question involved having the actual ride skill. That would be, as you describe it, "adequate". When you have the "ride" skill, as, say, a ranger does (as is said in the helpfiles), you can ride an animal in any normal circumstance without difficulty. Which is what I said. You're not going to fail simple attempt at movement, ever, if you have the ride skill.

Again not quite so.

If you don't have the ride skill in your skill list, when you try to ride a mount you will get the message "You have no knowledge of riding" kind and there is no way your mount will move when you don't have it in your skill list.

If you have the skill in your skill list, but you have not had any practice with it, you will face approximately 80% of your attempts as "The kank/erdlu/inix/dragon refuses to move".  And it will get better as you try and fail this way.

If you are a ranger, your ride skill starts at a higher percentage.  And you get that failing at movement message like once in ten attempts.  But still, you fail once in a while.

[fearwig]

Ahh, I see then.

Though I would correct you on the bit about rangers failing occasionally. I've never played a ranger who couldn't ride perfectly, so long as no fighting was involved. Not one failure.

So you can see where my assumptions came from, I suppose.

[Cavus]

If you don't have the ride skill in your skill list, when you try to ride a mount you will get the message "You have no knowledge of riding" kind and there is no way your mount will move when you don't have it in your skill list.

If you don't have skill and try to move your kank, it will give that message, but then you can see ride skill after that first try. First try add "ride skill" to you list.

[Forest Junkie]

Though I would correct you on the bit about rangers failing occasionally. I've never played a ranger who couldn't ride perfectly, so long as no fighting was involved. Not one failure.

You are incorrect. And likely extremely lucky.

Every ranger I played who was of human nature failed -many- times before perfecting the ride skill. None of them were perfect directly after creation.

[Anonymous]

When you are on a mount you have much reduced defense right? So does riding around for a long while make you better at defending on a mount? (I don't mean figting in general, just better defense on a mount.)

[Cavus]

When you are on a mount you have much reduced defense right? So does riding around for a long while make you better at defending on a mount? (I don't mean figting in general, just better defense on a mount.)

A general answer. You should practice the exact situation for getting better at it..


Note: If this is too IC, please delete my post.

[Maybe42or54]

Maybe, just maybe.

[fearwig]

When you are on a mount you have much reduced defense right? So does riding around for a long while make you better at defending on a mount? (I don't mean figting in general, just better defense on a mount.)

A general answer. You should practice the exact situation for getting better at it..


Note: If this is too IC, please delete my post.

A better general answer. You should practice the exact situation with a chance to -fail- at it in order to get better at it. Otherwise you're not challenging yourself, I suppose.