Since you asked specifically about those, I gave them a look first, starting from “Jousting and Horseback Riding Ruleset.” I don’t know how much of that is directly ported from Genesys, so I’m looking at it on its own merits.
(FYI, the tables don’t show up as tables; they just have the |’s separating them)
Looking at the Failure Consequences, those would fall more into the jurisdiction of Threat or Despair. Failure means that you fail the task you were attempting. If you fail a check to stay on the horse, you would fall off the horse. If you fail a check to stop your horse from spooking, it would spook. But if you fail a check to charge, it doesn’t therefore mean you fall off the horse. There are different ways to mechanically adjudicate such a failure. Maybe the horse balks, maybe the horse wheels, etc. I would certainly leave the consequences up to the GM, but the proposed consequences belong in the realm of Threat and Despair.
Why do the mounts have Soak below their Brawn? Every one of them has a Soak equal to Brawn-1. Base Soak for creatures is equal to Brawn, and some animals would be particularly tough, increasing their Soak. Horses, like any creature, are pretty vulnerable in certain spots, but they’re also pretty hard to take down. Mounts in FFG Star Wars have Soaks/WTs that hover around 5/15. Even if you think 15 WT is a bit high, and it may well be, I think 4-5 Soak is about right for most mounts.
A note on speed: I don’t remember how Genesys does mount speed, but the SWRPG sets speed to half Agility (rounded up). I recommend instead allowing the horse to move the equivalent of a number of Maneuvers equal to Agility. So an Agility/speed 1 creature moves at the same speed as a person, an Agility/speed 2 animal covers twice the distance, etc. In a setting without vehicles, I think this method of handling it is easier to wrap one’s head around and mix into encounters.
I like the special effects you gave the horses. They do a great job at distinguishing them.
Attacking from horseback at speed shouldn’t add Boost. For Melee attacks, it changes your reach and limits your mobility. For Ranged attacks, it makes your target a moving target if it wasn’t already, and accelerates the movement if it already was. It makes the math a lot harder, and that’s before factoring in the necessity of controlling the horse and/or maintaining balance. For Ranged, I’d add Setback per Speed (with perks and equipment to reduce that) and for Melee, I would add a Setback to attacks made at Speed 0. However, melee attacks made on horseback could add the mount’s current Speed to damage. The advantage of horse archers lies in their mobility and flexibility, the advantage of cavalry lies in their heavy-hitting and shock value.
Galloping, not galopping
Looking at the Riding checks, it looks like every time a mounted character is hit, they have to make a check to keep their seat? I think that’s better left in the realm of narrative results. E.g., “2 Advantage: If the target is mounted, force them to make an Average Riding check to keep their seat.” Something to that effect. Having it apply on every hit makes it highly likely that the character will be unseated given enough hits, and slows the game down by requiring a lot of “saving throws.” Additionally, this increases the value of Knockdown weapons, because they can directly unseat a rider when other weapons don’t natively have that ability. In my 2 Advantage example, this would effectively mean that Knockdown weapons do the same thing, but without the opportunity for the character to save.
I have a similar issue with having Riding checks required alongside attack checks. This adds multiple points of Failure to an attack, so even if you assume the character has a 70% chance of passing each check, that nets out to a 49% chance of actually succeeding in aggregate. Not only does it slow the game down, but it undercuts the character’s effectiveness. Moving a horse to engage is, in my view, a simple Maneuver. I would recommend making a Charge a brute-force horse attack, the cavalry smashing into enemy lines. Moving at Speed 2 or higher, deal damage equal to the mount’s Brawn+Speed+rider’s melee weapon damage (so a Sword with +2 damage would deal Mount Brawn+Speed+2). Something more like that. One check abstracts both the horse’s impact and the rider’s attack. Failure would result in the horse balking or wheeling at Short range of the enemy, leaving you vulnerable to a counterattack.
Trample is an interesting concept. I would execute slightly differently, though. I’d make it a standard attack with a base damage equal to twice the mount’s Brawn, but add the Blast quality (at Brawn) alongside Knockdown. A horse that rears and kicks is extremely dangerous. 1 Wound and 2 Strain doesn’t cut it, and in most circumstances isn’t useful. At the same time, guaranteed knocking Prone is pretty strong, but out of step with how this system executes on such effects. It also doesn’t feel earned in the same way that an effect that costs Advantage feels earned.
Another way to execute on Trample would be to drop it entirely and instead give the mounts their own attacks, varying the damage, crit, etc. as feels appropriate. Then, “Trample” becomes either the mount’s attack, or an action that allows the rider to use his Riding skill to perform the mount’s attack. This is the approach taken in the SWRPG.
In summary, here’s how I’d approach mount control, movement, and attacks:
- The rider may spend a Maneuver to control his mount; if he does so, it moves according to his wishes. Otherwise, it moves of its own accord.
- The rider may have his mount ac/decelerate by 1 speed as an incidental.
- The mount’s move Maneuvers cover a number of movements equal to its current speed.
- The rider gains certain special attacks he can perform with his mount.
- The mount’s weight and speed increase the impact of some melee attacks.
These changes work towards keeping the number of checks at 1 per turn. The way it was written, the character would probably average two rolls per round, ranging from 1 to 3 or even more, depending on how many times he was successfully attacked.
I haven’t made my way all the way through the section, but this was a lot to think through and write down, so I’m going to leave it for you to think about. It may also affect how you want to handle some of the jousting rules and tables, so I’ll wait to see if you want to make any changes there first before continuing. This is kind of a lot, but I hope it’s useful.