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I was helping one of my players make a backup character for our game. She's making a paladin and picked the Find Steed spell. We're playing in Fantasy Grounds so I was making up a PC sheet for her mount, since it has its own attacks, HP, and place in the initiative .

While putting the attacks in I got to wondering, are mounts obtained through this spell magical? Namely the attacks?

Part of me wants to say yes, it's a mount that's gotten through magic, altered from the beast's natural form, given extra intelligence so that it's sentient, can talk, and has a telepathic link to it's master. But then there's the thing about things in 5e doing what they say, and there's nothing in the spell description that says the attacks are magical.

I assume the RAW is going to be that the attacks are not magical but I wanted to see if anyone had another view on this.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What do you mean by "magical attacks"? There is no particular thing in 5e. There are magical and non-magical weapons which deal bludgeoning/slashing/piercing damage, and spells which deal fire, cold, necrotic, radiant etc. damage. \$\endgroup\$
    – enkryptor
    Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 9:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ @encrypted Similar to the Monk feature Ki-Empowered Strikes: "Starting at 6th level, your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to non magical attacks and damage." See also Druid's Primal Strike feature. It matters because many monsters resist non-magical bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dacromir
    Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 16:55

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The steed’s attack’s are not magical

The summoned steed is a spirit that has the statistics of a beast. The beasts described do not have magical attack options.

It may appear that the mount cannot attack: this is not true. While being ridden the mount cannot take the Attack action but it can use its reaction to make an Opportunity Attack if the requirements are met. Further, there is no requirement for the Paladin to ride the steed; if it is not being ridden it has all the normal options any creature has, as well as any described in its stat block.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Why do you say the mount cannot take the Attack action? The summoned mount is intelligent, and PH p.198 in the "Controlling a Mount" section says: "You can either control the mount or allow it to act independently. Intelligent creatures, such as dragons, act independently." and "An independent mount retains its place in the initiative order. Bearing a rider puts no restrictions on the actions the mount can take". \$\endgroup\$
    – azurefrog
    Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 18:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ @azurefrog A past answer, now deleted in response to this one, had a tweet from Crawford stating that while ridden, despite the increased intelligence, a mount from the Find Steed spell acts as a controlled mount, not an independent mount. \$\endgroup\$
    – Miatog
    Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 19:41
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    \$\begingroup\$ You may want to update the final paragraph of your answer based on this: Is a pegasus summoned by Find Greater Steed controlled or independent when mounted?. As of now it is not completely accurate. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rubiksmoose
    Commented Mar 13, 2018 at 18:03
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    \$\begingroup\$ @DaleM: You are not the DM at OP's table either, so your answer should probably acknowledge Crawford's statement even if you would not DM it that way. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Commented Mar 19, 2018 at 20:00
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    \$\begingroup\$ @DaleM: The problem right now is that your answer is representing that statement, not as your opinion as a DM, but as a fact from the rules. However, your statement is not factual or at least there is authoritative dissent about it. It seems dishonest not to mention that. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rubiksmoose
    Commented Mar 19, 2018 at 21:06
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The steed's attacks are not magical

According to the Monster Manual errata:

[A] magical attack is an attack delivered by a spell, a magic item, or another magical source

A steed summoned by Find (Greater) Steed fits into none of these categories.

The steed is not a spell or a magic item

The creature is not a spell, it is a creature summoned by a spell. This is confirmed by Jeremy Crawford here:

A creature you summon/create/animate with a spell is not a spell. It was summoned/created/animated by a spell.

The steed is obviously not a magic item.

The steed's attacks are not "another magical source"

Which means that the only other way it could count is if it came from "another magical source". However, the Find (Greater) Steed spells do not say anything about granting the creatures summoned by them the ability to have their attacks count as magical. In fact, they say:

The creature has the statistics provided in the Monster Manual for the chosen form, though it is a celestial, a fey, or a fiend (your choice) instead of its normal creature type.

Having the statistics of another creature means that it should be exactly like that creature in all respects except for the exceptions laid out in Find (Greater) Steed. Thus, the summoned steed will have the same attacks as the default creatures.

Jeremy Crawford describes how to tell if a monster's attacks are magical here:

A monster's attack is magical if its text says so, it's a spell attack, or a trait like Angelic Weapons says so.

However, none of the steed options available have any of those in their stat block.

Thus, the steed's attacks cannot be considered a "magical source" which means that the steed's attacks must be non-magical in nature.

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