Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Because this effectively multiplies your daily challenges by your charisma mod. Also, given the structure of PFS (typically 3 combats a scenario, rarely more than 5 enemies a combat), this means you have challenge against every opponent you face.
So what is supposed to be a managed resource becomes free.
Venture-Agent, Florida–Altamonte Springs
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There must be way too many cav's somewhere Benjamin, I'm not sure where though, never seen one!
I know 3 people, who each played a cavalier at level 1. All three switched at second level because half their class abilities were left outside a dungeon because horses have problems climbing down a 5 foot hole with a ladder.
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I played with a level 11 human cavalier named Glory Victorious that tried to ride a cryohydra only for it to regen 10 heads at once and one shot him. It's a long story.
I've also played with a tengu cavalier. We had mythic powers at the time, so idk how strong he is the rest of the time. Considering the reputation of a certain NPC with the same race and class, I would give him the benefit of the doubt.
I have my Serpent Shogun with his giant chameleon (thank you mounted tradition boon!), who is mostly bard, but will take more cavalier later (standard action dazzling display --> move action improved dirge of doom is the goal). He's done fine killing Aspis.
If you take precautions for making your mount easy to use, it's really not so bad from what I've seen. Yes, you will sometimes have a scenario that makes it especially hard. Enchanters will occasionally run into a scenario populated entirely eith stuff immune to mind-affecting things, too.
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There's three cavaliers in my area if I recall - one small with a medium mount, one traditional with hosteling armor, and mine which is a huntmaster with a dog. It's possible to have an effective cavalier if you approach it with some forethought. I wonder if I should start a Cavaliers of PFS support group. We could commiserate and discuss how to overcome the difficulties of using mounts in dungeon adventures. :-)
Hrothdane, congrats on having a cavalier hit 11th. My cavalier hit level 11 at Paizocon and I was planning to pick Chain Challenge as his final feat, almost like a "capstone" ability. Shame I won't be able to now. I'll have to locate another feat for Lord Bedevar Nox, Earl of Torchwood, and his faithful companion, Sparkles the Wonder Puppy.
Chain Challenge was a bit too good. It was one of those feats that no cavalier could pass up, a good indicator it might have been overpowered.
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Muddle-headed cavaliers think they are the only mounted cavalry on Golarion, Hah! I'd like to see you ride one 'o my Giant Wasps in to combat an not get stung. That'll be good for a laugh! Knight Captain Buzz Seeker, of the Hongol tribes of Tian Xia. Pleasure. I came to Andoran in my youth, and explored the caves near the family farm. Found a right large nest of these beasts, I did. Most would try to exterminate them, but I found m'self fascinated at how agile they were. Granted, you longshanks may need to wait till they grow up to ride, though I've seen a few crazy enough to ride the babes.
While I comiserate the loss of Chain Challenge it was a feat that was likely a tad bit overpowered. However it was also a feat boosting a somewhat underpowered (and undersupported) martial class and helped in leveling the playing field for cavaliers. In my book a good decision by the designers and a poor decision by the PFS heads as it makes building a strong cavalier (one that could rival Paladins or Barbarians) much harder.
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Venture-Captain, Germany–Hannover
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Chain Challenge was a bit too good. It was one of those feats that no cavalier could pass up, a good indicator it might have been overpowered.
Kinda like radiant charge for paladins?
Guess that happens almost always when feats are written for a specific class and purpose.I don´t have a cavalier, not did i see many in play so far.
Seems this might also depend on regional players and attitudes.
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Kinda like radiant charge for paladins?
Chain Challenge was a bit too good. It was one of those feats that no cavalier could pass up, a good indicator it might have been overpowered.
Not really.
Chain Challenge: Multiply your challenges per day by your charisma to determine how many enemies you can apply it to. Managed resource becomes free.
Radient Charge: Expend all of your lay on hands for the day in a single burst to destroy the enemy. Managed resource gains a new use, but has to be used all at once, making it riskier to use this way.
Really radically different. One makes a managed resource free, the other means a managed resource has to be juggled even more carefully.
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I have two different characters that are currently using the cavalier class.
My first (now level 13.2) spent most of her career un-mounted, but I built her to be non-reliant upon her mount. Her later career saw her mounted more often after I had gotten a griffon, especially after she was able to ride it while it was flying (in larger hallways I could be mounted and above the rest of the group rather than taking up the entire width of the hallway). She has hostling armor, and before she could afford that she used scrolls of carry companion or just left the mount behind. See Jasmine Henderthane for that build.
My second cavalier is currently level 7, and has very nearly always been mounted during scenarios. He is a Halfling bodygaurd. He is a bit more focused upon the mount, using a lance, ect. But is also not built for the Lance charge, no mounted combat ect. Murgen Lancebearer, adds incredibly high amounts of AC to his adjacent companions. Being mounted mostly increases his mobility, but also provides another creature that can also be using bodyguard. Being a small creature on a medium mount has made it much easier to fit him in nearly any scenario.
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Flying spirited charge cavaliers are extremely nasty when they have room to maneuver.
Same is true of non-flying spirited charge cavaliers. Once you get Dragon Style on a land mount, you're typically in a similar position. The hardest part of the cavalier is that you don't get an expanded mount catalog, which is why you see people jumping on the hunter bandwagon.
Of course, you could do 4 levels of cavalier to get Horse Master when you dip hunter...
Anyway, point being that spirited charge is frightening enough on its own.
Venture-Agent, United Kingdom—England—Sheffield
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Because this effectively multiplies your daily challenges by your charisma mod. Also, given the structure of PFS (typically 3 combats a scenario, rarely more than 5 enemies a combat), this means you have challenge against every opponent you face.
So what is supposed to be a managed resource becomes free.
Sensible answer: you get enough uses of Challenge to be using it in every major encounter, long before you reach retirement (you need to be level 7 to qualify for the feat, the point at which you gain a third challenge per day). It's overkill to use it on mooks, so you only use it on principal opponents. Chain Challenge allowed you to use it on mooks without fear of wasting it. It was a cool ability, but not a hugely necessary one.