Horses are the ever-present companions of heroes great and small, and, as such often get magically enhanced so they can keep up with their heroic owners and partners.

In the following chapter, a number of magicical items and spells affecting horses are described. Use and enjoy.

Creatures (usually horses and similar mounts) may have permanant magical enchantments placed upon them in the form of magical brands.

These brands can imbue mystic auras into the posessing creature that enhance it in some way: making it more effective in battle, or able to perform magical feats

Prerequisite: Spellcaster level 3rd+.

Benefit: The character can scribe a creature with any enchanted brand whose prerequisites the character meet.

Scribing an enchanted brand takes 1 day for each 1,000 gp in its price, in preparation. Actually scribing the brand is performed during a ceremony that takes one hour per each 1,000 gp in its price.

To scribe an enchanted brand, the spellcaster must spend 1/25 of the brand's price in XP and use up raw materials costing half of this price.

Some brands incur extra costs in material components or XP as noted in their descriptions. These costs are in addition to those derived from the brand's base price. The character must pay such a cost to scribe the brand.

Caster Level: 7th

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, blink

Market Price: 30,000 gp

On command, this brand makes the creature blink, as with the blink spell.

Caster Level: 3rd

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, change self, invisibility

Market Price: 12,000 gp

As a free action, the creature can gain the ability to magically blend in with the surroundings. This adds a +15 bonus to the creature's Hide checks. As a standard action, the craeture can also command the brand to utilize the spell change self as often as he or she wants.

Caster Level: 11th

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, spell turning

Market Price: 4,000 gp

This brand allows a single spell of 1st through 6th level to be cast into it. Should that spell ever be cast upon the creature, the spell is immediately countered, as a counterspell action, requiring no action (or even knowledge) on the creature's part. Once so used, the spell cast within the brand is gone. A new spell (or the same one as before) may be placed in it again.

Caster Level: 15th

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, summon monster VI, all appropriate spells

Market Price: 200,000 gp

All four types of elemental command brands are very powerful. Each has certain other powers as well as the following common properties:

• Elemental of the plane to which the brand is attuned can't attack the creature, or even approach within 5 feet of him or her. If the creature desires, he or she may forego this protection and instead attempt to charm the elemental (as charm monster, Will save DC 17). If the charm attempt fails, however, absolute protection is lost and no further attempt at charming can be made.

• Creatures from the plane to which the brand is attuned who attack the creature suffer a -1 penalty to their attack rolls. The brand creature makes applicable saving throws from the extraplanar creature's attacks with a +2 resistance bonus. The creature gains a +4 morale bonus to all attacks against such creatures. Any weapon the creature uses bypasses the damage reduction of such creatures, regardless of any qualities the weapon may or may not have.

• The branded creature is able to converse with creatures from the plane to which the brand is attuned. These creatures recognize that he or she wears the brand. They show a healthy respect for the creature if alignments are similar. If alignments are opposed, creatures fear the creature if he or she is strong. If the creature is weak, they hate and desire to slay him or her. Fear, hatred, and respect are determined by the DM.

The possessor of a brand of elemental command suffers a saving throw penalty as follows:

In addition to the powers described above, each specific brand gives its creature the following abilities according to its type.

• Feather fall (unlimited use, creature only)

• Resist elements (electricity) (unlimited use, creature only)

• Gust of wind (twice per day)

• Wind wall (unlimited use)

• Air walk (once per day, creature only)

• Chain lightning (once per week)

• Meld into stone (unlimited use, creature only)

• Soften earth or stone (unlimited use)

• Stone shape (twice per day)

• Stoneskin (once per week, creature only)

• Passwall (twice per week)

• Wall of stone (once per day)

• Resist elements (fire) (as a major brand of elemental resistance [fire])

• Burning hands (unlimited use)

• Flaming sphere (twice per day)

• Pyrotechnics (twice per day)

• Wall of fire (once per day)

• Flame strike (twice per week)

• Water walk (unlimited use)

• Create water (unlimited use)

• Water breathing (unlimited use)

• Wall of ice (once per day)

• Ice storm (twice per week)

• Control water (twice per week)

Caster Level: 5th

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, protection from elements

Market Price: 16,000 gp

This brand continually protects the creature from damage from one type of energy-fire, cold, electricity, acid, or sonic. When the creature would normally take such damage, subtract 15 points of damage per round from the total to account for the brand's effect.

Caster Level: 7th

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, protection from elements

Market Price: 24,000 gp

This brand continually protects the creature from even greater damage from one type of energy-fire, cold, electricity, acid, or sonic. When the creature would normally take such damage, subtract 30 points of damage per round from the amount before applying. This amount is enough to survive even on the Elemental Plane corresponding to the energy type (if applicable), but it still won't completely absorb powerful spells or special attacks.

Caster Level: 7th

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, jump

Market Price: 25,000 gp

This brand allows the creature to avoid damage as if he or she had the evasion ability. Whenever the creature makes a Reflex saving throw to determine whether he or she takes half damage from an attack, a successful save results in no damage.

Caster Level: 1st

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, feather fall

Market Price: 2,200 gp

This brand acts exactly like a feather fall spell, activated immediately if the creature falls more than 3 feet.

Caster Level: 7th

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, freedom of movement

Market Price: 40,000 gp

This brand allows the creature to act as if continually under the effect of a freedom of movement spell.

Caster Level: 1st

Prerequisites: Scribe Brand, jump

Market Price: 2,000 gp

This brand continually allows the creature to leap about as if a jump spell had been cast upon him or her, adding a +30 bonus to all Jump checks and eliminating the usual maximum distances.

There are some magical items that are created especially for horses. By and large, however, magical equipment is made for the humanoid races. Fortunately, many items not specifically made for horse can be used by horses.

There are, of course, restrictions. (Note that the following restrictions only apply to horses that are not intelligent, cannot speak, and/or cannot cast spells. Horses that break some or all of these assumptions may have fewer restrictions.)

Horses may in general only operate use activated magical items, and then, only those items that a horse can actually use. An oil could be applied, magical armor could be worn, but a sword could not be wielded, and no item requiring a command word could be used.

Also, horses may not use any magical items that require spellcasting ability, such as items requiring spell completion or spell trigger activations.

Magical armor must be either specially made for horses, or have the special quality reshape.

reshape (new armor special quality) - the armor will automatically resize and reshape itself to fit any creature up to two size categories larger and smaller. This quality will, for example, allow magical armor made for a human fit a dog, or that made for a elf to fit a mule. (Caster level ?? Prerequisites ?? Market Price ??)

Artifacts are, by design and necessity, unique and powerful magical items. It is not possible to state general rules that apply to all artifacts with respect to horses.

The best thing to say here is: if it works in your campaign, then go for it. It would certainly be interesting to have Our Hero's Noble Steed pick up and swallow an Orb of Dragonkind, and slowly be corrupted by it while displaying profound powers.

Potions are spells stored in liquid form, to be activated when imbibed. Oils are similar, but must be rubbed into the creature to be affected.

There are no particular barriers to corporeal (non-ghostlike) horses using either of these forms of magical items. Oils, in particular, are easy to apply to horses.

It can be difficult to get a horse to consume a potion. Horses do not normally drink from small vials, and it is difficult to get a trench filled with potion for the horse to drink from. This lead innovative spellweavers to develop alternate forms for potion delivery. The form that works out the best is that of Magical Tidbits (XXX change the name!).

Rings, of course, cannot be used by horses. Magical horseshoes, below, fulfill much the same role.

None of these items can, in general, be used by horses. If a horse got one in its mouth, and started waving it around, who knows what could happen, but this is more generally comic relief than a lifting of a restriction.

As horses cannot be spellcasters, they cannot use scrolls.

In general, most magical weapons cannot be used by horses.

Magical horseshoes may be enchanted to enhance hoof attacks. Most of the special weapon qualities may be applied to magical horseshoes. For example, one could have +4 ghost touch horseshoes.

As a catch-all, there are no hard and fast rules for horse use of wondrous items. Some items, such as horseshoes of a zephyr may clearly be used by a horse, whereas others, such as a horn of valhalla clearly cannot. Use your best judgement.

A bridle of breathing allows a mount to breath in environments where there is no air, such as a vacuum, or underwater. Note that this does not enable the mount to survive environments that are dangerous for other reasons (such as magma), and that it grants no special abilities to the rider.

(Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

A bridle of control grants a +5 competency bonus to all Riding checks made while using it.

(Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

A bridle of speaking enables the creature to speak as though under the influence of speak with animals. XXX ISSUE: this isn't exactly right, as a speak with animals spell only allows the caster to understand the animal, whereas this allows the mount to speak in an understandable language.

Each bridle of speaking is keyed to a particular language. That is, there may be dwarven bridles of speaking that enable mounts to speak in dwarven.

Note that this item does not grant the mount any additional mental capabilities, and doesn't make the animal any more friendly or cooperative than normal. Furthermore, wary and cunning animals are likely to be terse and evasive, while the more stupid ones make inane comments. If the animal is friendly, it may do some favor or service for the character (as determined by the DM).

(Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

XXX ISSUE: some of these saddles may be better as barding/trappings?

When a command word is uttered, this saddle will cause the horse and everything it is carrying to look like something else. Each saddle of disguise is keyed to a particular image. The image is complete: it smells, feels, sounds, and moves like whatever it seems to be.

For example, our hero Omar finds a magical saddle that makes him and his horse look like a small child. While he is riding his horse, and the effect is in place, he and his mount appear to be a small child.

Note that this is illusion only, and that as a small child, Omar and his mount would not be able to crawl into a small hole, etc.

(Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

When a command word is uttered, this saddle will render the mount and all that the mount is carrying invisible.

(Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

This magical saddle provides a rider a +20 enchantment bonus to his riding proficiency check when in danger of being thrown from the mount.

(Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

Magical horseshoes may be enchanted with a wide array of special qualities. Most of the special properties of weapons can also be used for horseshoes. In addition, the following new special qualities may be applied.

Horseshoes of constitution grant the mount a +2 enhancement bonus to its constitution. (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, ??; Market Price ??)

Horseshoes of deception cause all tracks made by the horse to appear to be travelling in the opposite direction than the horse actually travels. A wilderness lore check by an expert travel can discern the deception with a successful tracking check (DC 25). (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price ??)

Horseshoes of dexterity grant the mount a +2 enhancement bonus to its dexterity. (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, cat's grace; Market Price ??)

Horseshoes of endurance allow the mount to travel twice as far before becoming fatigued. (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price ??)

Flying horseshoes allow a horse to fly as though the fly spell were cast upon it. Some horses will panic when flying, throwing the rider (Riding Check DC 15?), and perhaps injuring themselves. (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price ??)

Horseshoes of free motion allow a mount a +5 competency bonus to escaping from bonds. (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price ??)

Horseshoes of jumping allow the mount to jump with a +10 competency bonus to Jump checks, and the jumping distance is not limited by the mount's height. (Caster level: 3rd; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, jump; Market Price ??)

Horseshoes of rock avoidance allows a mount to completely ignore small rocks, holes, and the like in any terrain it is travelling over. (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price ??)

horseshoes of silence allow a mount to move silently in nearly all situations, granting a +10 circumstance bonus to Move Silently checks (Caster level: 5th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, silence; Market Price ??)

Solid earth horseshoes allow a mount to walk across any surface (including water) as though it were a well-maintained road. XXX issues: what about stones, walls, etc?? (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

Horseshoes of swimming grant a +10 competancy bonus to any Swimming checks made by the horse. (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

Icewalker horseshoes allow a mount to walk at half normal speed across the most slippery ice (horizontal surfaces only, not vertical or sharply slanted ones), without slipping or falling. (Caster level: ??; Prerequisites: ??; Market Price: ??)

Horseshoes of speed double a mount's normal movement rate (Caster level: 5th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Haste; Market Price ??)

Horseshoes of strength add a +2 enhancement bonus to a horse's strength (Caster level: 6th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, bull's strength; Market Price ??)

Horseshoes of the Zephyr allow a horse to travel without actually touching the ground. The horse must still run above (always around 4 inches above) a roughly horizontal surface. This means that nonsolid or unstable surfaces, such as water or lava, can be crossed, and that movement is possible without leaving tracks on any sort of ground. (Caster level: 3rd; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Levitate; Market Price ??)

This spell removes the need to excrete from the target creature. No harm will come to the creature. Excrement will be stopped for XXX days...