Bahtel - Horse

Bahtel

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-12 in wild
ARMOR CLASS: 16
MOVE: 18”
HIT DICE: 5+4
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 hooves, 1 bite, and 1
head butt
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8/1-8/1-4/2-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Rear-leg kick
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT. Neutral
SIZE: L (see text)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
LOAD: 4,500/7,000


Bahtel (bah-TEL) are large, powerful horses that excel in combat. They are intense, high-strung, and always ready to fight. They are sometimes referred to as berserker horses or whirlygigs for their wildly aggressive behavior in battle. They are not as fragile as normal horses, having thicker legs and stronger bones. In melee, they bite with their strong jaws, kick with their front hooves, and use their large, bony foreheads to butt opponents. Unlike other horses, bahtel can attack on the first round of melee. Every other round, a bahtel can kick with its rear hooves (both hooves thrusting at a single target) for 2-12 hp damage (save vs. paralyzation for one-half damage). This rear attack can be directed against an opponent in front, as the bahtel can leap up and kick its rear feet forward. An opponent hit by a bahtel's rear hooves must make a dexterity check on 4d6 or be knocked down. There is only a 1% chance that bahtel will panic and bolt from a fight while mounted, but they always retreat if wounded while facing poor odds.

During combat, only cavaliers and characters with riding proficiency are able to stay in the saddle of a berserker horse. Others are thrown in 1-6 segments by the beast's continual wild bucking and twisting as it fights. All but cavaliers have their number of attacks per round reduced by one, so that a 9th-level ranger would have one attack every two rounds and a thief of the same level would have none. All attacks by the rider are at -2 to hit. A rider must use one hand to hold the bahtel's reins while it fights, his other hand being free to hold a weapon. An unskilled character could tie himself into the saddle and but there are some thus stay on the horse, obvious problems with this. Spell-casting from the back of a fighting bahtel is impossible, and only simple magical item use is possible. For instance, a character could not (safely) use an item that required aiming, such as a wand of paralyzation, but could use a figurine of wondrous power. If there is not sufficient room for the bahtel to thrash around in melee (about 10' x 20' plus 14' vertically), its armor class is one point worse (AC 7) and it does not get its rear-leg attack. However, riders have only a - 1 to their attacks, and they have their attacks reduced to the next lowest level of attacks per round (e.g., from 5/2 to 2 attacks per round, from 2 to 3/2 attacks per round, etc., with a minimum of one attack per round). A bahtel's large hooves can be equipped with extra-heavy shoes for better effect in combat. This adds + 1 hp to the damage rolled for each attacking hoof ( + 2 hp to the rear-hoof attack), but this also reduces the bahtel's movement rate to 15.
Bahtel wear any barding and can be fitted with any normal saddle, but they must have special bitless bridles in order to accommodate their huge jaws. Berserker horses are not particularly loyal, usually following whomever feeds them best. However, since they are somewhat intelligent, they do pay attention to their masters and riders, showing preference for skilled and aggressive cavaliers, paladins, rangers, fighters, barbarians, and clerics. Riding mastery is slightly more important to them than food, so the better rider wins out over the rich one. If one master is killed, a bahtel will go with the next best one. For some reason, berserker horses are not fond of gnomes and halflings, preferring to avoid or kick them. They tolerate dwarves, but recognize them as nonriders. They are neutral with regard to all other species except unicorns, which bahtel dislike. Bahtel are not interested in (or intelligent enough for) matters of good and evil, or law and chaos.

A bahtel can learn to recognize 2-5 simple verbal commands. These can be for any simple action such as charge, wait, or come. It takes a minimum of two weeks for the beast to learn each command, and it obeys the command if a roll of 1d100 is less than or equal to its loyalty score (10d4, +5% per month of service, modified by the rider’s charisma (the loyaltybase modifier 19 is maximum score). Bahtel communicate among themselves in a simple language of grunts and thin whistles. During melee, they sometimes whistle quite loudly, with any nearby bahtel answering. A bahtel willingly fights any creature, including another bahtel. Due to their thin, rough hide, berserker horses are not at all suited to cold climes and prefer hot, wet regions. They take 150% damage from cold-based attacks (e.g., taking 15 hp instead of 10 hp damage) and always try to avoid snow and ice.

Bahtel are omnivores, with a normal diet of grasses and fruits supplemented with eggs, small mammals, insects, and lizards. They eat one-and-a-half times as much as medium war horses. In the wild, bahtel travel alone or in small packs. All berserker horses have very good eyesight, and they are very difficult to catch alive. Once captured, they require six months of training in order to mesh successfully with heavy, armored riders and mounted companies, though they are subject to loyalty rolls. They never go underground or into any buildings other than stables.
They are indifferent to most magic. Bahtel can sometimes be bred with other horses (see note which follows), but the horse genes dominate and sterile, normal, fair-quality war horses always result. Female bahtel are larger and stronger than males and get + 1 hp on each hit die rolled; females absolutely refuse any non-bahtel stud. All bahtel have short, broad bodies with thick, muscular legs and long, very flexible necks. Their heads are short and wide, with a heavy knot of bone over the eyes. They are usually striped in wide, vertical bands of gray, white, or black. They have no manes; their tails are short, thick and hairless. Males are usually about 15 hands and females 16 hands. Bahtel are rather short-lived, maturing in one year and living to about 12 years of age.