Huge size Horse

[HamsterKun]

How would I make a Huge size horse? I want my Paladin to have a horse the size of an elephant, both for mounted combat and travelling.

EDIT
For clarification, everyone in my party’s 14th Level btw

[Sigreid]

I'd ask my DM if I can have a horse with the stats of an elephant or a mammoth.

[HamsterKun]

I'd ask my DM if I can have a horse with the stats of an elephant or a mammoth.

My thoughts were it be an Elvish warhorse, bred by the High Elves for combat, optimizing size, strength, and speed through centuries of selective breeding. They are faster than most horses (base speed 80ft) grow to 24-27hh (NOT A TYPO), and have the combined strength of a two draft horses. They also are almost impossible to spook, which is a nice plus.

The catch? They’re worth quite a pretty penny; one of them normally sells for around 12,000 GP, and even higher when one gets put on auction

[JackPhoenix]

My thoughts were it be an Elvish warhorse, bred by the High Elves for combat, optimizing size, strength, and speed through centuries of selective breeding. They are faster than most horses (base speed 80ft) grow to 24-27hh (NOT A TYPO), and have the combined strength of a two draft horses. They also are almost impossible to spook, which is a nice plus.

The catch? They’re worth quite a pretty penny; one of them normally sells for around 12,000 GP, and even higher when one gets put on auction

That doesn't sound very elvish to me. Elves are more about elegance, precision and speed than about sheer size and brute force, and huge horses are impractical for multiple reasons. They take more space, which is impractical both in forested enviroments elves prefer and in mass battles, they would require more care and feed, which is impractical from the logistical perspective, and their size means any enemies would be out of the rider's reach. And compared to an elephant who has the same disadvantages, horse lacks the resilience and useful natural weapons. And overgrown horse looks just stupid, not intimidating like elephant.

[Aussiehams]

Is there a reason to not just have an elephant?

[HamsterKun]

That doesn't sound very elvish to me. Elves are more about elegance, precision and speed than about sheer size and brute force, and huge horses are impractical for multiple reasons. They take more space, which is impractical both in forested enviroments elves prefer and in mass battles, they would require more care and feed, which is impractical from the logistical perspective, and their size means any enemies would be out of the rider's reach. And compared to an elephant who has the same disadvantages, horse lacks the resilience and useful natural weapons. And overgrown horse looks just stupid, not intimidating like elephant.

Despite being the size of a small elephant, they are faster and more agile than most horses, let alone an elephant. And keep in mind that they’re the result of hundreds, thousands of years of selective breeding.

[Sigreid]

Yeah, you just want a super horse. In my campaign it would be a hard no. Sorry, I won't be able to help you here.

[Imbalance]

Wow. Of all the giant creature variants, why so much hate for a horse?

[Sigreid]

Wow. Of all the giant creature variants, why so much hate for a horse?

If that's directed at me, no hate. Just not up for introducing a mount to my game that is that strong, fast and agile in a non magical beast.

[HamsterKun]

If that's directed at me, no hate. Just not up for introducing a mount to my game that is that strong, fast and agile in a non magical beast.

I forgot to mention that it IS magical actually. This is a breed made by the elves of all races after all.

[Sigreid]

I forgot to mention that it IS magical actually. This is a breed made by the elves of all races after all.

Still too much for my campaign. Talk to your DM though as he may be game.

[Hytheter]

Might want to look at the giant elk. Huge size. It's not faster than a horse, but it is still as fast. It's Strength score isn't much higher than a draft horse but it's size gives it double the carry capacity, so very literally "the combined strength of two draft horses". It's also got way more dexterity than any horse, and even has some natural armour. Combat-wise it has a charge attack that does some nice damage and knocks things prone. They're smart too, and even understand Elvish - there's your elf flavour.

Huge. Agile. Fighty. Elfy. You want a giant elk.

[strangebloke]

Find Greater Steed can give you, amongst other options, a rhinocerous or a giant elk.

These are both huge sized.

There you go! Just summon up a rhino and refluff it as a super horseunicorn! Its even on the paladin spell list! You'll get it by 13th level, or earlier if you've a lore bard and a ring of spell storing.

If you wanted to buy such a thing... well, that's hard to say. For comparison, a 4th level spell scroll is supposed to cost something like 3,000, but none of the classes typically assumed to make scrolls (clerics, wizards) can cast find greater steed As a DM I'd price such a thing at 5k, since it is a powerful thing, but also something that can be lost or killed.

The real problem here is that you're asking the DM to establish the existence of these creatures within the Lore. As a DM, I'd be annoyed about that. I might allow it, but only begrudgingly. If you want to ease him into this idea, make it clear to him that you respect the setting information, by grounding it in whatever he's provided you.

in other words, don't say "Giant Elf Horse," say "Horse bred by the Avanari elves of Terrelon, bred to hold fast against the hordes of Draxelmor." Explain it as an idea that flowed out of the setting, rather than something that you're trying to impose on the setting.

[hamishspence]

The coursers in David Weber's War Gods series, while slightly more magical, fit the "huge horse" niche fairly well. Typically around 2 tons, which is the normal minimum weight for Huge in older editions.

[Imbalance]

If that's directed at me, no hate. Just not up for introducing a mount to my game that is that strong, fast and agile in a non magical beast.

Not directed; just generalizing the responses. Sorry if 'hate' is overly strong to describe the amount of nope that surprised me.

I'm not a horse guy, exactly, but I have a deeply embedded memory from my childhood of walking into a stable and coming face to ankle with a towering Friesian. It was one of the most beautiful and imposing animals I've ever seen. Big horses are big, even now that I've grown, but nothing quite matches that impression from my youth. I think a giant horse would be cool.

In another fiction, a similar breeding program was developed by elves resulting in powerful and swift beasts to pull war chariots at speeds that would rival normal, unburdened horses. They were not to be ridden, iirc, and had evolved with no ear cartilage, receiving their master's commands only psychically.

[Sigreid]

Not directed; just generalizing the responses. Sorry if 'hate' is overly strong to describe the amount of nope that surprised me.

I'm not a horse guy, exactly, but I have a deeply embedded memory from my childhood of walking into a stable and coming face to ankle with a towering Friesian. It was one of the most beautiful and imposing animals I've ever seen. Big horses are big, even now that I've grown, but nothing quite matches that impression from my youth. I think a giant horse would be cool.

In another fiction, a similar breeding program was developed by elves resulting in powerful and swift beasts to pull war chariots at speeds that would rival normal, unburdened horses. They were not to be ridden, iirc, and had evolved with no ear cartilage, receiving their master's commands only psychically.

My personal hangups are 2 fold. First, I think breeding that size is out of character for at least my elven cultures that value light and sleek. The second, more practical objection would be this is essentially "I want a nitro injected monster truck faster than a Lamborghini".

[Imbalance]

"I want a nitro injected monster truck faster than a Lamborghini".

If Batman can have one, why can't OP's paladin?

Other than DM parameters, of course.

[Sigreid]

If Batman can have one, why can't OP's paladin?

Other than DM parameters, of course.

If the DM is on board, there's no problem. My belief is that the OP believes the DM would take convincing and he came here for help with his persuasion attempt. My position is that my position ok n wouldn't be changable.

[Mr. Crowbar]

Find Greater Steed can give you, amongst other options, a rhinocerous or a giant elk.

This is the answer here. A giant elk seems pretty elfy to me and the closest existing stat block to what you're going for. But it seems like you already know what you want, so why not just bring it to the DM?

[Imbalance]

Ok, my tongue-in-cheek aside, how prevalent or common are other giant creatures in, let's say, a majority of campaigns that stay near to the published mater? Even setting aside a player-made justification to include this specific beast, there are quite a few instances of stat blocks for bigger specimens of certain creatures. Do DMs not use these? Conversely, if a DM wants to set up an encounter with a really big albino hamster, aren't there conventions in place to facilitate its creation?

So, how come when a player asks for a larger than normal horse the notion is automatically resisted or the idea supplanted with existing options ("just reskin a rhino/elephant")?

I'm just curious, really, so forgive me if there's something I'm missing. I'd like to run a game some day and maybe I'll see things differently from the other side of the screen.

[Sigreid]

Ok, my tongue-in-cheek aside, how prevalent or common are other giant creatures in, let's say, a majority of campaigns that stay near to the published mater? Even setting aside a player-made justification to include this specific beast, there are quite a few instances of stat blocks for bigger specimens of certain creatures. Do DMs not use these? Conversely, if a DM wants to set up an encounter with a really big albino hamster, aren't there conventions in place to facilitate its creation?

So, how come when a player asks for a larger than normal horse the notion is automatically resisted or the idea supplanted with existing options ("just reskin a rhino/elephant")?

I'm just curious, really, so forgive me if there's something I'm missing. I'd like to run a game some day and maybe I'll see things differently from the other side of the screen.

It's the twice the speed of a normal horse that is the dealbreaker for me, not the huge and strong. I might be ok with a normal size and strength horse that was significantly faster than others. In other words, it's not so much the elements of the package but the whole package

[HamsterKun]

If the DM is on board, there's no problem. My belief is that the OP believes the DM would take convincing and he came here for help with his persuasion attempt. My position is that my position ok n wouldn't be changable.

You got it!

[Mellack]

Ok, my tongue-in-cheek aside, how prevalent or common are other giant creatures in, let's say, a majority of campaigns that stay near to the published mater? Even setting aside a player-made justification to include this specific beast, there are quite a few instances of stat blocks for bigger specimens of certain creatures. Do DMs not use these? Conversely, if a DM wants to set up an encounter with a really big albino hamster, aren't there conventions in place to facilitate its creation?

So, how come when a player asks for a larger than normal horse the notion is automatically resisted or the idea supplanted with existing options ("just reskin a rhino/elephant")?

I'm just curious, really, so forgive me if there's something I'm missing. I'd like to run a game some day and maybe I'll see things differently from the other side of the screen.

I am against it since it seems they desire a mount that is better in every way than the already available ones. Why not use the ones that already exist instead of making something that may be unbalanced?

[MagneticKitty]

Ok, my tongue-in-cheek aside, how prevalent or common are other giant creatures in, let's say, a majority of campaigns that stay near to the published mater? Even setting aside a player-made justification to include this specific beast, there are quite a few instances of stat blocks for bigger specimens of certain creatures. Do DMs not use these? Conversely, if a DM wants to set up an encounter with a really big albino hamster, aren't there conventions in place to facilitate its creation?

So, how come when a player asks for a larger than normal horse the notion is automatically resisted or the idea supplanted with existing options ("just reskin a rhino/elephant")?

I'm just curious, really, so forgive me if there's something I'm missing. I'd like to run a game some day and maybe I'll see things differently from the other side of the screen.

I would reflavor rhino or Pegasus (just ground it's flying speed to walking speed, keep stats)
From a dm perspective reflavoring is easier since we know the original is balanced.
Another reason is that you're trying to gear it to cr 2 (find greater steed) specifically, none of those are huge. Remember huge means it can grapple anything one size larger than it... Meaning it can grapple anything in the game. It comes with a host of problems having quadruple carry capacity means the whole party can probably ride it.
It also doesn't fit in most dungeons so if your dm wants to disalllow in dungeons that's not too hard, just have a low ceiling. Also would probably not be allowed in towns because it can easily crush people. The games not really balanced around a huge party member. And when your steed is in combat and shares spells through find steed, it's pretty much a huge party member.