Two days before, Bathan had ridden out
of town, his saddle bags heavy with the
gold he'd won at the tournament. After a
quiet journey through the forested countryside,
he pitched camp in the high forest
by the road. It was late, and the stars were
bright and cold.

Just as he was pulling his blanket closer
around him, huddling by the fire, he
heard the sound of hooves approaching.
He flipped back the blanket and snatched
his sword and shield in a lightning movement.
Bandits! he thought, as the cries of
attacking men echoed in the forest.

Bathan, winner of the jousting and
mounted-swordsman events only days
before, vaulted onto his mighty warhorse
and met the charge of the brigands head
on. With desperate, powerful strokes, he
hacked at the bandits as swords rang and
men cursed the darkness. Though weary
from lack of sleep, which caused him to
miss some of the attackers wildly, Bathan
soon drove the bandits before him.
 
 

Okay, so what's wrong with this story?
Among other things, the first time Bathan
missed a bandit, he should have gone to
the ground, sword arm first!

The reason is simple. At night, his horse
would not be saddled -- and more importantly,
no mention was made of stirrups.
Without them, it is impossible for a
mounted fighter to remain mounted.

An  AD&D ® game world must have stirrups
in order for mounted troops to exist.
Of course, this does not mean that every
society in the world needs to use stirrups.
It adds an interesting flavor to a campaign
if each area of the world is at a different
technological level. But, to maintain the
game?s balance, the society the player
characters come from should be the most
technologically advanced society in its area
-- i.e., it should have stirrups.

Player characters can be made to appreciate
the value of the stirrup if they happen
to steal a horse while escaping from
an evil wizards castle, but forget to get
saddles as well. Or, perhaps a vengeful
thief who was cleaned out by one character
at cards last night (or a leprechaun or
other practical joker) has cut the stirrup
leather on the PCs? saddles almost
through; at the worst possible time ?
Boing! Splat!

Historical background
The stirrup is believed to have first
appeared in China some time in the 5th
century. It slowly spread through India
and Pakistan to Iran; finally, in the early
8th century, it reached Europe. It was
here that the Frankish emperor recognized
and exploited its military value, and
stirrups (and knighthood) came to flower.

The stirrup-feudalism relationship stems
from the fact that horses are not cheap. It
requires a lot of land to raise horses. It
also requires expensive, time-intensive
training to become proficient at fighting
on horseback. To support this new type of
warrior and his costly training, the medieval
kings partitioned their land and gave it
to their vassals, who promised to provide
their own training and equipment, and to
fight for their liege if another king in the
next kingdom tried anything. The king?s
vassals built castles, collected outrageous
taxes from the poor peasants living on
their land, and practiced at being good
knights. This rapidly evolved into a highly
structured feudal society with a small
upper class, a huge lower class, and an
almost nonexistent middle class.

Attacking without stirrups
If your PC ends up in
combat on a horse without stirrups, his
fighting style will have to change. No
shield can be used; that hand is needed to
hold on to the horse by the reins, saddle,
or mane. The one-handed weapon used by
your character must be light, 50 gp weight
or less, such as a short sword or a horseman
's mace; using anything heavier
greatly increases the chance of falling off.
Attacks from horseback are made at -2
to hit and at -2 on damage, with a base
chance of 20% of falling off for each miss
when using a light weapon. If circumstances
force the use of a heavier onehanded
weapon, attacks are -3 to hit and
-3 on damage, with a base chance of 50%
of falling per miss.

Defensively, your character does not
fare much better. If hit by a light weapon,
the stirrupless PC has a 30% base chance
of being dismounted; a heavy weapon has
a 75% base chance. Of course, the normal
damage for being hit, plus damage for the
fall, are assessed.

The base chance is figured for a PC with
a dexterity of 15. Vary this figure by 2%
down or up for each point above or below
15, respectively, and subtract 5% for every
strength point below 12. These numbers
are used because it is the ability to maintain
balance which keeps a PC mounted.
However, if he's a weakling, the weight of
the weapon will help pull him off.

Magic that improves speed or dexterity
(a potion of speed or gauntlets of dexterity,
for instance) may help prevent falling, but
they won?t change the penalties to hit and
to damage. Likewise, a character slowed
by magic will fall after his first miss, regardless
of other factors, but at least he
had normal "to hit" penalties.

If you use some form of critical-hit tables
in your role-playing game, include a
broken stirrup as a possibility; a 2%
chance is about right. When a stirrup
breaks, there is a 70% chance of having
the rider fall off at full gallop. If this seems
high, remember the character will probably
have most of his weight on the stirrup
when it breaks. Combat with one broken
stirrup becomes more difficult. Melee on
the side with the broken stirrup is conducted
as above. Combat on the side with
the good stirrup is affected, but not as
much. Attacks with a light weapon are at
-1 to hit and at -1 on damage, with a
base chance of 10% of falling. With a
heavy weapon, attacks are the same as
with a light weapon without stirrups.
Chances for falling off the horse when hit
are lessened by a factor of 20% over having
no stirrups at all.

A lance cannot be used without two
good stirrups. The rider must hold the
lance firmly underarm, bracing himself
and allowing the momentum of the horse
to drive it into its target. Without stirrups,
this is impossible; the shock of the attack
will unseat the rider. Spears suffer the
same problem if used during a charge.
However, lances and spears may overpenetrate
and get stuck! This will happen
whenever more force is used than can be
generated by the shoulder and arm of the
wielder. Assume this can only occur when
the spear is used during a charge; in close
melee, the extra force would not be generated.
The chance of the weapon becoming
stuck in a target equals the amount of
damage done, expressed as a percentage.

A development parallel to the introduction
of the stirrup was the addition of
metal crosspieces on the end of heavy
spears, which would prevent them from
penetrating too deeply. If a spear does get
stuck and the character was not anticipating
it (i.e., he planned on thrusting and
leaving), he will lose the initiative on the
next round because of the struggle to free
the spear. It requires dismounting and
pushing the spear through the target to
free it. This action takes one round, and
the character can't attack or defend during
that time. In addition, larger monsters
stuck with a spear or lance may still be
alive and quite active.

If the opponent isn't slain, things become
messy. The spear is stuck, but the victim
can still fight. If the character maintains
his grip on the spear, 1-3 hp damage per
round can be done by pushing and tugging
on the spear. Assume if the character?s
strength is greater than 12, he can maintain
his grip; otherwise, he loses it after
the initial hit. Once a grip on the spear is
lost, it cannot be regained. During this
time, the victim fights at -3 to hit and at
-3 on damage from the pain. There is
also a 20% chance per round of the victim
falling down, which will result in the lossof
the user's grip on the spear. When the
victim is killed, the spear is still stuck. Note
that a spear will not get stuck in a monster
lacking a hard shell or skeleton.

The lack of stirrups or the presence of a
broken one will not affect missile attacks.
A halfling on his pony can stand back and
zing arrows all day; likewise, he can throw
daggers, burning oil, and other such stuff,
with a -2 penalty if the horse is moving.

Repairs to stirrups
So, during a minor skirmish with some
orcs, a stirrup broke. Presently, your
character is in the middle of nowhere. Can
the stirrup be fixed? It depends on what
broke: the metal or the leather (50%
chance for either). Let's consider the metal
first. Unless one of the party has a secondary
skill as an armorer or a metalsmith, <The Smith>
the answer is no. Even if your warrior is a
superb blacksmith, access to a forge is
required. He might be able to patch it up
to ride with, but it will break at the start
of combat. When he reaches a village, any
capable metalsmith will be able to fix it;
the cost of repair should not exceed 10 sp.
(unless the metalsmith is crooked and
enjoys turning a major profit on desperate
adventurers).

If the leather broke, a character with
leathersmith skills and a few tools can
make it as good as new. Any player can
patch it up enough to ride but, again, it
will break at the beginning of combat. A
leathersmith charges the same as a metalsmith
to fix a broken stirrup.

If your players come up with some
ingenious idea to get around a broken
stirrup, like making a noose in a piece of
rope, it will be fine for riding, but will not
work in combat (treat as one broken stirrup,
regardless of which side the PC is
attacking).

Saddles without stirrups can be bought
for 15 gp. However, these will not be war
saddles, but rather saddles made for a
leisurely Sunday ride through the countryside.
They resemble an English riding
saddle. Any attempt to wear more than
leather armor when using one of these
saddles is doomed; the rider will constantly
bounce around, and both hands
will be required to maintain balance.

The stirrupless kingdom
If adventures should lead the PCs to a
country where the stirrup is not in use,
and trouble is brewing with the next kingdom
over (I'm sure the DM can arrange
something), the characters may make use
of their superior military knowledge by
selling their services as great generals.

A stirrupless society is not necessarily
primitive. You need only go back to the
Roman Empire to see what can be
achieved without stirrups. There may be
large, well-trained legions of foot soldiers
for the player characters to form into
cavalry units. Their usual weapons may
differ from those your characters use.
Historically, the stirrup caused a metamorphosis
in weapons. In the Frankish Empire,
the Frankish battle axe and barbed
javelin, both well suited to infantry, disappeared.
The sword developed into the long
sword, and the kite shield appeared (its
shape offers better protection for a rider?s
legs than does a small round shield).

For a new general, the first thing to do is
round up horses and outfit the saddles
with stirrups. Then, modify the weapons
so they will be suitable for horseback. This
entails removing the barbs from the
spears and making heavy spears with
crosspieces on the end to use as lances.
Also, replace the small, round shields the
soldiers are probably using with kite
shields. Remember, however, that the
warhorses are not trained. Keep the
weight of the man's armor down and use
no barding.

Your character probably will not find
armor much heavier than chain mail in
use, as anything heavier would tire a foot
soldier. In a cavalry unit, the horse carries
the weight; also, heavier armor is required
to withstand the powerful attacks made
possible by shock cavalry.

The cavalry divisions may not be overly
proficient, but they will be the best the
region has seen. They should fight as light
cavalry regardless of their degree of training.
But, even with poor training, a group
of infantry will not last long against a
charging mass of horses moving as a
mounted phalanx. In the process, one can
make a bundle of money as he overruns
the evil kingdom next door. . . .

If forced to fight without stirrups (despite
begging and pleading, the local king
has refused to lay out the gold for such a
strange idea), mounted divisions can still
serve your character well. Horses can be
used by archers to enable them to move
around the battlefield quickly and
mounted infantry can prove invaluable.
They just ride up to confront the enemy,
then dismount to fight on foot. These
troops could be held back as reinforcements.
The horses enable them to move
up fast and strengthen a weak line. Of
course, without stirrups, no cavalry
charges can be made. The penalties to
combat are doubled for these horse soldiers,
because they are not experienced in
mounted combat. If they attack without
stirrups, they will fall off the first time
they miss or get hit. Maybe your character
can form a division of mounted magicusers.

These penalties do not necessarily apply
to the officers. They may have always
used horses and may be able to fight at
their normal level with the appropriate
penalties to hit and damage. It is even
possible for their horses to have stirrups.
Since the military advantage in stirrups
has not been recognized, cavalry divisions
were never formed.

This is what happened to the Anglo-
Saxons. They failed to capitalize on the
stirrup and never developed a feudal
society. As a result, when William the
Conqueror and the Normans invaded
England, the Anglo-Saxons used tactics
two centuries behind the Normans ? and
were soundly defeated.

At first glance, the stirrup appears to be
a minor piece of equipment, but the lack
of it causes major problems in mounted
combat. In fact, until the invention of the
stirrup, mounted shock combat did not
exist. Your player characters will have
stirrups, but there are many situations in
which they may find themselves without
access to them. And that is when the game
gets unpredictable and fun. Just how
imaginative can they be at overcoming this
problem?