Mount · Game Mechanic Compendium

Definition

A mount is the call: a spell, item or command brings a creature or vehicle to the user, or makes one, that carries the user faster than on foot until it is dismissed, its time runs out, or an attack ends it. Riding as such is not the ability. A summon fights; a mount carries, and fighting is incidental (Unearthed Arcana’s Phantom Steed does not fight). Flight is movement by the user’s own body or by a carried item such as a broom or carpet; a flying creature called to the user is a mount. Dash and haste give speed without a carrier, and recall returns the user over a long distance to a bound point. Vehicles boarded where they stand and a mount granted once and kept are outside the definition.

Behaviour

The user activates a token, spell or call, and the carrier appears beside the user, grows from a figurine, or travels to the user. Speed is the effect: 24”/turn for the Ebony Fly, 60% or 100% faster than walking in World of Warcraft. Counterplay targets the carrier or the context. Phantom Steeds dissolve under damage, World of Warcraft mounts unsummon indoors, and Ghost of Tsushima forbids the whistle in combat.

Variations

Conjured temporary steed (Unearthed Arcana; Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition): the animal lasts for the spell’s duration and vanishes at the end or when damaged.
Recalled companion (Ocarina of Time; Ghost of Tsushima): a persistent, named horse travels to the user when called.
Token mount (Greyhawk; EverQuest): the carrier is stored as an object and grows from it or is called by it.
Flying mount (Greyhawk’s Ebony Fly; Secret of Mana; the 1978 Chariot of Sustarre): the called carrier flies.
Escape mount (Greyhawk’s Goat of Fleeing): the mount runs “until it reaches the haven named”, then loses its magic.

Gating

Tabletop rations the carrier. The Greyhawk figurines work once per week or month, and the Goat of Fleeing once only; the 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide caps the goats at three uses. Spells spend slots from 1985 on, with long cast times beside them, from one round to ten minutes, and the 5th edition ritual route trades the slot for ten extra minutes. Video games make the call at will once it is unlocked and move the limit to acquisition and context: World of Warcraft’s level 40 and 100 gold, Secret of Mana’s late-quest drum, no call indoors or underground, and Ghost of Tsushima’s combat ban.

History and provenance

The earliest documented use is Greyhawk (1975), whose Figurines of Wondrous Power grow into mounts on command. The 1974 set has only the broom and carpet, which are flight, and Greyhawk’s paladin may obtain a gifted horse once in ten years, an antecedent with no call. The 1978 Players Handbook adds the Chariot of Sustarre; the spells Mount and Phantom Steed date from Unearthed Arcana (1985). Secret of Mana (1993) is the earliest cited video form; Phantasy Star’s earlier Landrover is an unconfirmed candidate. EverQuest (2001 expansion) and World of Warcraft turned the mount into a permanent unlock; Ocarina of Time and later open-world games tie the call to one horse.

Notable examples

Notable examples, in chronological order. Notes describe how the ability behaves in each game; gating is what limits its use there; the latest reference is a widely played game from 2020 or later.
Game	Year	Medium	Gating	How the ability behaves
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz (TSR)	1975	Tabletop RPG	Cooldown, Consumable	Figurines of Wondrous Power grow into mounts on command. The Ebony Fly carries a rider at 24"/turn, "the speed of a Dragon", and shrinks on command, once per week for up to a day. The Marble Elephant carries the owner and others for up to a week, once a month. The Goat of Fleeing bears two riders at 48"/turn to a named haven, then becomes a non-magical figurine.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Unearthed Arcana Gary Gygax (TSR)	1985	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots	Mount, a 1st-level magic-user spell with a 1-round cast, brings an animal that serves as a mount and disappears "at the expiration of the spell duration", from mule or light horse up to warhorse, camel and elephant by caster level. Phantom Steed, a 3rd-level illusionist spell, makes a quasi-real horse moving 4" per caster level that does not fight and is dispelled by more than 12 points of damage.
Secret of Mana Square	1993	Video	At will	The Flammie Drum, received late in the quest, calls Flammie, a dragon that "sweeps all of you into the air", and the player steers him across the world map with a world view on Start. "Flammie cannot find you when you are inside a building or underground", and he cannot land on buildings or among trees.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Nintendo	1998	Video	At will	Adult Link plays Epona's Song on the ocarina to call the horse Epona, found at Lon Lon Ranch, and ride her around Hyrule Field. Riding is allowed only "in certain places", and on-screen carrots count the speed boosts available.
EverQuest Verant Interactive	1999	Video	At will	Mounts arrived with The Shadows of Luclin on 4 December 2001. Players buy a horse "in designated locations" and "summon their horse with the aid of a magical whistle" to "traverse greater distances in shorter periods of time and even battle from their mounts". The in-game items are reportedly bridles whose speed bonus rises by tier.
World of Warcraft Blizzard Entertainment	2004	Video	At will	Riding opens at level 40, where 100 gold and riding training buy a mount 60% faster than walking; at level 60 one 100% faster costs 1,000 gold. Players "cannot attack while mounted", and the mount "unsummons" indoors and on death. Paladins and warlocks earn class mounts by quest, and summoning reportedly takes a 3-second cast.
Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition Wizards of the Coast	2014	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots, At will	Phantom Steed, a 3rd-level wizard ritual with a 1-minute cast, makes a horse with 100 feet of speed for 1 hour that ends if dismissed or "if the steed takes any damage"; as a ritual it spends no slot but takes 10 minutes longer. Find Steed, a 2nd-level paladin spell with a 10-minute cast, summons a bonded steed that can be dismissed and summoned again.
Ghost of Tsushima Latest Sucker Punch Productions	2020	Video	At will	Pressing left on the d-pad makes Jin whistle, "beckoning the horse to his location", and whistling again does not speed its return. "When you're in active combat, you can't whistle for your horse." The horse cannot be hurt, and the player can call it while sprinting and climb straight into the saddle.

Provenance

Earliest documented use: Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975), tabletop rpg. Confidence: medium. The claim rests on the Figurines of Wondrous Power in Greyhawk's Miscellaneous Magic (pp. 56-57): the Ebony Fly, which "upon command grows to gigantic size" so that "a man may ride upon its back", the Marble Elephant, and the Goat of Fleeing, each shrinking or reverting after use. The 1974 boxed set has no called mount; its Broom of Flying and Flying Carpet are flight. The paladin's horse, which Greyhawk (p. 8) lets him "obtain" once in ten years, is a one-time grant with no call or dismissal and is an antecedent. The spells Mount and Phantom Steed first appear in Unearthed Arcana (1985), not the 1978 Players Handbook, whose only conjured carrier is the druid's Chariot of Sustarre; Eldritch Wizardry (1976) lists no such druid spell. Pre-publication campaign play and The Strategic Review remain unsurveyed. The earliest video example cited is Secret of Mana (1993); Phantasy Star (1987) has a Landrover vehicle item whose deployment is unconfirmed.

Sources

Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz. (1975). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk. Tactical Studies Rules. Rulebook Miscellaneous Magic, Figurines of Wondrous Powers (Ebony Fly, Marble Elephant, 3 Ivory Goats), pp. 56-57; Paladin, p. 8. Accessed 2026-10-24. The figurine mounts, their speeds, weekly or monthly use and dismissal on command; the paladin's horse obtainable once in ten years.
Gary Gygax. (1985). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Unearthed Arcana. TSR. Rulebook Magic-User Spells (1st level), Mount, c. p. 53; Illusionist Spells (3rd level), Phantom Steed, c. p. 69. Accessed 2026-10-24. The Mount and Phantom Steed spells, their cast times, caster-level scaling and dismissal by damage.
Gary Gygax. (1978). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook. TSR. Rulebook Character Classes, The Paladin, item 8; Druid Spells (7th Level), Chariot of Sustarre. Accessed 2026-10-24. The paladin's warhorse that "will magically appear" once every ten years; the flaming chariot that carries the druid and up to 8 others.
Gary Gygax. (1979). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeon Masters Guide. TSR. Rulebook Treasure (Miscellaneous Magic), Figurines of Wondrous Power, pp. 144-145. Accessed 2026-10-24. The revised figurines with weekly and monthly allowances, a cap of 3 uses on the goats, and command-word dismissal.
TSR. (1976). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement III, Eldritch Wizardry. TSR. Rulebook Druid spell list, 7th Level. Accessed 2026-10-24. A druid 7th-level list without the Chariot of Sustarre.
Wizards of the Coast. (2016). System Reference Document 5.1. Wizards of the Coast. Rulebook Spells: Find Steed, p. 144; Phantom Steed, pp. 168-169; Rituals, p. 102. Accessed 2026-10-24. The 5th edition steeds, the ritual route around slots, and dismissal on damage; the rules date from the 2014 edition.
Square. (c. 1993). Secret of Mana instruction booklet. Square Soft. Rulebook Travel: Cannon Travel, Dragon Flight, Landing (c. pp. 30-31); Flammie Drum (p. 33). Accessed 2026-10-24. The drum that calls Flammie, steering on the world map, and the ban inside buildings and underground.
Nintendo. (1998). The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time instruction booklet (US). Nintendo. Rulebook Ride the Horse. Accessed 2026-10-24. Riding limited to adult Link in certain places, and the carrots that count speed boosts.
Flying Omelette. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time songs FAQ. Website Epona's Song. Accessed 2026-10-24. Adult Link uses the song to call Epona and ride her around Hyrule Field.
Sony Online Entertainment. (2001). Sony Online Entertainment Takes EverQuest Players to the Moon With EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. Horses bought in designated locations and summoned with a magical whistle for faster travel; retail release on 4 December 2001.
Blizzard Entertainment. (2005). World of Warcraft community site, Info, Basics, Mounts. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. Mounts at levels 40 and 60, their speeds and prices, no attacking while mounted, unsummoning indoors and on death, and the paladin and warlock quest mounts (Wayback snapshot of 2 June 2005).
Wowhead and the Vanilla WoW wiki (Summon Warhorse, Summon Felsteed). Wiki The class mount spells and the reported 3-second cast time.
Morgan Shaver (Prima Games). (2020). How to Call Your Horse in Ghost of Tsushima. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. The d-pad whistle, the horse travelling to the player, and the ban during active combat.
Jeff Cork (Game Informer). (2020). Five Little Flourishes That Help Make Ghost of Tsushima Great. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. Calling the mount while sprinting and climbing into the saddle.
Sega. (1988). Phantasy Star instruction manual (US). Sega. Rulebook Important Items, LANDROVER, p. 25. Accessed 2026-10-24. The Landrover, "a vehicle to move rapidly across the surface planets"; the manual does not say how it is deployed.

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West, James, Jr. (2026). "Mount." Game Mechanic Compendium, updated 2026-10-24. http://localhost:4321/abilities/mount

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