When a creature summoned through Find Steed is dismissed or killed what happens to its barding, saddle and saddlebags?

Question

From page 240 of the Player's Handbook, find steed says, in part:

You summon a spirit that assumes the form of an unusually intelligent, strong and loyal steed, creating a long lasting bond with it. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the steed takes on the form that you choose, such as warhorse, a pony, a camel, an elk, or a mastiff....

When the steed drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. You can dismiss your steed at any time as an action, causing it to disappear. In either case, casting this spell again summons the same steed, restored to its hit point maximum....

It seems convenient for it to show up with the regular attire of a mount, and to have that stick with it. However, this basically gives it the functionality of the "leomund's secret chest" (p254) which is a level 4 spell with a 5,050gp cost.

What's to stop a player from loading the summoned warhorse with luggage and dismissing it until they feel like accessing it again?

I am not looking for "it's up to the DM" type answers. Rules as intended are best, rules as written will substitute, and info from official WotC sources is great too.

Answer 1

Rules as intended, it's the DM's choice. Jeremy Crawford, lead rules designer of D&D 5e, was asked this exact question, and said that it's up to the DM. Not what you wanted to hear, but you did say rules as intended was the best type of answer. Weirdly, he has since said that the steed leaves gear behind.

RAW, on the other hand, would suggest that your steed can't take anything with it.

When the steed drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. You can dismiss your steed at any time as an action, causing it to disappear. In either case, casting this spell again summons the same steed, restored to its hit point maximum.

"It" disappears, not "it and everything it's carrying". And when you cast the spell again, "the same steed" appears, not "the same steed and everything it was carrying last time it disappeared".

It's also worth considering that "you summon a spirit", which "assumes the form" of a steed. It's not a physical steed that you're summoning and dismissing, so it doesn't make all that much sense for you to be able to summon and dismiss physical objects along with it.

Answer 2

This question came up in my campaign. This is how I ruled on it:

My first gut instinct when I re-read the spell was that the steed shouldn't take any equipment with it when it disappears. I'm thinking that when you cast Find Steed, you summon a spirit which assumes the form of a mount as envisioned by the spell caster and limited by the guidance provided in the spell description. The spirit arrives and takes the form of that mount. I have no problem assuming that some basic riding gear (saddle, bridle, stirrups) are all part of the form the spirit takes. In other words, it shows up ready to be ridden. This avoids any in-game need to "worry" about riding gear. If the caster expects to ride in a saddle, the steed comes with a saddle when it manifests and the saddle will disappear when the steed does. If the caster is a bare back rider, the steed shows up with nothing.

After that any saddle bags, extra weapons strapped on, equipment, and even barding would have to be placed on the steed and would also be left behind when the steed disappears.

The bond is with a specific spirit (with memory of past appearances), however I wouldn't expect the spirit stays in steed form when not present with the spell caster. I think the steed would re-form each time (also manifesting riding gear if appropriate). This becomes an alternate identity of the spirit so long as the bond to the spell caster exists.

Answer 3

Regardless of whether the steed comes with bags, I fail to see why anything you put on it would go away when the steed discorporeates. Anything in the bags should just drop to the ground below.

Answer 4

Consider allowing the character to craft or hire someone to craft a new armor for the steed if they truly want to have armor go with it. Simple +1 armor is already rare so an armor that can attach to the spirit would most likely be very rare at the least if not legendary. Could even base a quest around finding one if you don't want players crafting it.

Once placed on the creature it will be bound to that creature and can not be used for another. Consider it an investment to modify the spell a bit but allowing the player to still give their mount armor without having to lug it around when the steed goes away. I think this brings in a bit of balance as the character will have to invest in either crafting the item themselves or finding someone to craft it for them. This will also cut into that characters share of other loot.

Now for the matter of saddlebags traveling with it I would allow the same as armor above but would advise it would be both simpler and cheaper to buy or make a bag of holding to store the gear you would store in saddlebags.