Tomb of Annihilation has a price list of tame dinosaurs, and there are regular dinosaurs races in Port Nyanzaru. There are multiple pieces of artwork in Tomb of Annihilation that include people riding dinosaurs. Assuming that the party arrives in Port Nyanzaru with all characters size medium (eg not halflings). Tomb of Annihilation lists deinonychus, triceratops, and hadrosaur as purchasable mounts. How many characters can ride each of the different kinds of dinosaurs available for sale? This is similar to the situation where two size medium humanoids can ride a horse but only one can ride a donkey.
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9\$\begingroup\$ To what rules are you referencing that two medium humanoids can ride a horse but only one can ride a donkey? \$\endgroup\$– PyrotechnicalJun 6 at 22:02
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\$\begingroup\$ @Pyrotechnical 5E isn't as specific about mounts, but real world I've certainly seen two people ride one horse. \$\endgroup\$– Michael ShopsinJun 7 at 18:09
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\$\begingroup\$ @MichaelShopsin How many have you seen on a dinosaur? \$\endgroup\$– Comic Sans StrikephimJun 8 at 11:43
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1\$\begingroup\$ Real life, riding pillion is heavily dependent on the people and the horse in question, and it's a lot more complicated than just pure weight. A fairly average 16-hand horse should be able to handle 250 lbs of rider, which can be two if they're not real heavy folks (note D&D vastly overrates how much a horse can carry safely), but that puts a lot of pressure on the hindquarters so you have to pick a horse that's kinda built for it. Even on a huge draft horse, it's usually recommended that a second rider be a child or somebody of similar size to avoid hurting the animal. \$\endgroup\$– Darth PseudonymJun 10 at 16:08
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2 Answers
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Looking in the monsters section of the adventure, the Deinonychus is listed as medium sized, making it inappropriate as a mount for a medium creature and usable only for halflings or similar.
The Hadrosaur entry lists it as a Large creature with Strength 15 (slightly weaker than a riding horse), which gives it a carrying capacity of 550 lbs, likely enough to carry two medium creatures and their most important gear with little trouble. The DM will be the ultimate arbiter of how many creatures can sit on the back of a hadrosaur, but from a weight perspective there seems no reason to claim you couldn't have a second character riding pillion. (Most real-life hadrosaurs were quite big and probably push the boundaries of the Large size category, so I'd be inclined to be permissive on this front.)
The triceratops in the Monster Manual is listed as Huge beast with a massive 22 Strength (exactly the same as the elephant from the same book), giving it a carrying capacity of over 1,300 lbs. With a proper harness (likely some sort of howdah), one triceratops could probably carry your entire party! Space may be the limiting factor more than weight capacity here, so again it's going to be up to the DM to decide how that's going to work.
answered Jun 8 at 13:42
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1\$\begingroup\$ "550 lbs, likely enough to carry two medium creatures and all their gear with little trouble." The average weight of a human in D&D is 165 lbs, and those on the taller end go up as high as 270 lbs. Plate armor weighs 65 lbs, a long sword and shield add 9 lbs, and plain Explorer's pack weighs 59 lbs., before adding any other gear. That's already enough for two average weight human riders to go 50 lbs. over the weight limit. Obviously not everyone wears plate, but then, not everyone is just average weight, and not everyone grabs just an Explorer's pack and decides they're ready to adventure. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 9 at 3:44
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\$\begingroup\$ Well, my mental math was taking a Fighter and a Wizard (strength 15 and strength 10), each with enough gear to bring them to just under "heavily encumbered" by the variant rules, plus 150 lbs each as a fast approximation of human weight. 150 lbs gear for one and 100 lbs gear for the other = 250 lbs gear, plus 150*2, equals 550 lbs total, which is the beast's limit. Obviously this won't work if one character is particularly huge or has strength 20 and uses it all or if both characters are big dudes. It's an approximation. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 9 at 13:57
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2\$\begingroup\$ I'll edit it to not claim all their gear since yes, that could be a lot and you might want an extra pack-deinonychus to carry some of your stuff. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 9 at 14:00
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As many as the DM allows
(Subject to carrying capacity)
The rules state:
A willing creature that is at least one size larger than you and that has an appropriate anatomy can serve as a mount, using the following rules.
The “following rules” clearly only anticipate one rider per mount but they don’t expressly outlaw more.
If your DM decides that means one, then one it is. If they decide as many as there are angels on the head of a pin, then it’s that many.
