Braden Campbell wrote:My current campaign now focuses on a trek across the Old Kingdom, and I'm suddenly faced with the question of what the locals (ie non-humans) ride around on. Orc barbarians on _horses_ just doesn't seem right. So, what do we have for cannon exotic mounts... or do I have to invent a few beasties to fit the bill?
Greetings and Salutations. If humans are considered the dominate species of the world, and humans use horses, horses would likely still be common, if for no other reason than having looted them off of humans. Setting that aside though ...
PFRPG, page 53, Horsemanship: Exotic includes elephants, camels, lamas, pegasus, gryphons, dragondactyls, melech, giant insects, and other monstrous beasts trained (or willing).
Per Monsters & Animals, page 203, Elephants would only be common in the southern most section of the Old Kingdoms.
Camels and lamas I don't recall being officially stated out in any of the PF books, but I could've missed them. Note: This post has my notes to help stat out Camels, if interested:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=166018Pegasus are only known to exist in the north, but there's mention of the Elves taming them during the Elf-Dwarf War ... so it's possible some still linger in the Old Kingdom Mountains (not really official, but plausible within canon).
Gryphons are common in mountains, and the Old Kingdom does have some. So this is an option in those parts. Personal Note: In my games, Dwarves had started to tame Gryphons as a counter to the Elven Pegasi during the Elf-Dwarf War., but that's not official as far as I can recall.
Dragondactyl are in the Old Kingdom Mountains, especially to the south.
Melech aren't very common there, but when found will typically be in the south towards Mount Nimro and Land of the South Winds.
In addition to those ...
Monsters & Animals, page 136, the Silonar are used by the Eandroth as riding animals. As far as I'm aware, only the Eandroth use them, and the Eandroth are primarily located in the Baalgor Wastelands, but do spread out to the nearby regions of the Old Kingdoms.
Baalgor Wastelands, page 57, Rock Buzzers are domesticated riding beasts
exclusive to the Wastelands. However, they can survive most warm climates (but natural instinct seems to keep them only in the one region). This would probably fall into the giant insect category.
Adventures in the Northern Wilderness, page 71, there are the Arbolytes. I don't believe there are any 2nd Edition stats for these creatures, but they're mentioned to be related to Silonars. On page 73 (with stats on page 74), Orcs on Arbolytes is a thing. However, keep in mind this is for the Northern Wilderness.
Those are the ones I know of (without going through each monster description one by one) that are official (per the request of the OP). If you're willing to expand into unofficial material, I could add a few more to that list. Hope that helps. Farewell and safe journeys.[/justify]