A druid in my game can wild shape into a Dire Wolf, which is really handy when you want to run the hell out of somewhere. The question is, can a large beast pick up a willing human in its mouth? Can it run with said human in its mouth? Can it dash? I can't really figure out if there are rules set in place for this or if this gets very much into the realm of house rules.
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2 Answers
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It should be possible
Carrying another creature should just be a grapple. To my knowledge, there aren't really rules on "attacking" a friendly creature, but it would be reasonable to guarantee a success on an unresistant target. While grappling, remember that your speed is reduced by half, unless of course you happen to be carrying a small creature (two sizes smaller than a large dire wolf). By RAW, you do not need to take any action to sustain a grapple, so subsequent turns could be used dashing, although your speed is still halved by the grapple. You can release the held creature at any time with no action cost.
Rules for mounts are currently slim (I expect more will be featured in the DMG). What I can say is that a horse is a large beast, and so is a dire wolf. This would imply that a dire wolf could be mounted by a medium creature. However, without a saddle, you will not have advantage when making checks to remain mounted, so if wolf-riding becomes a thing, the party may want to invest in a special saddle.
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\$\begingroup\$ +1, grappling is a really neat solution to this problem. \$\endgroup\$– MinimanOct 27, 2014 at 3:07
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\$\begingroup\$ I think this answer goes in the right direction. Trying to imagine it now I can't really think of how a dire wolf would drag a 150lb character 25' in 6 seconds without doing some damage, but it gives me some ideas. Maybe throwing the character over it's back, requiring some sort of dex save or acrobatics check, and riding is an option. Game night is tomorrow, lots to think about... \$\endgroup\$– BestyNov 1, 2014 at 1:32
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You can work out the carrying capacity of a creature by its size and strength.
From the Player's Basic rules v0.2, p.60:
Carrying Capacity. Your carrying capacity is your Strength score multiplied by 15. [...]
Size and Strength. Larger creatures can bear more weight, whereas Tiny creatures can carry less. For each size category above Medium, double the creature’s carrying capacity and the amount it can push, drag, or lift. For a Tiny creature, halve these weights.
Variant: Encumbrance
[...]
If you carry weight in excess of 5 times your Strength score, you are encumbered, which means your speed drops by 10 feet.
If you carry weight in excess of 10 times your Strength score, up to your maximum carrying capacity, you are instead heavily encumbered, which means your speed drops by 20 feet and you have disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws that use Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
As to the practicality of a creature carrying a person in its mouth, it's not specifically mentioned anywhere, as far as I know.
Another option is having the person ride the Dire Wolf. Though I can't find a rules reference, I believe you can ride creatures one size category larger than you. Humans being Medium and Dire Wolves being Large, this should be possible.
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\$\begingroup\$ I would have thought that a Large creature is more likely to drag a Medium creature in its mouth than carry it. This is liable to cause loss of hit points. Riding would be a far more dignified way to travel by direwolf, if one is conscious enough to manage it... \$\endgroup\$ Oct 28, 2014 at 7:55
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\$\begingroup\$ Yeah riding would be the way to go, but this strategy has so far been used to evacuate dying characters. You're right about losing hit points though... I might end up ruling that this is not a valid strategy, or at least not one that doesn't hurt the dying player a little bit more. \$\endgroup\$– BestyNov 1, 2014 at 1:34