In appearance, the comet steeds are much like a large, healthy warhorse, always with a pure white coat. The similarity to planet-bound horses stops there however. Comet steeds are natives of space and can travel freely in wildspace and the phlogiston. A fine, gleaming mist, which is actually a cloud of stardust, constantly surrounds the comet steed. When the comet steed flies through space, the gleaming stardust cloud trails behind it, hence its name.

Combat
    Comet steeds are not warlike and tend to avoid combat whenever possible. Considering the great speeds at which they can travel, the beasts can avoid combat as they choose.
    It is extremely rare for a comet steed to attack, but when they do they attack with their front hooves and bite. Like standard equines, they tend to flee at any sign of danger. Only spelljamming ships with Tactical Speed 7 or higher are able to keep up with these animals.
    Natural Spelljammer (Su): A natural spelljammer can attain spelljamming speed (100M miles per day) without the use of a spelljamming helm. This ability has the same requirements for being far away from large objects as a ship with a spelljamming helm. When not moving at spelljamming speed the comet steed moves either by flight, running or walking
    Stardust (Su): The stardust that a comet steed emits is functional in combat. Most important, this dust imparts magic resistance upon the animal. As a secondary function, when the steed is in combat, the dust will gather in a 10 foot radius area around the comet steed and blind the steed's opponents. Anyone involved in melee with a comet steed suffers all effects of blindness. Blinded opponents have a 50% chance to miss in combat, loses his positive dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and grants a +2 bonus to attack rolls to comet steed and others that are not blinded and able to target the blinded creature. Creature blinded also moves at half speed and suffers a –4 penalty on most Strength and Dexterity-based skills, nor can he make spot skill check or perform other activity such as reading that requires vision. The blindness will clear 1 turn after exposure to the dust has ceased.
    Skills: Comet steeds receive a +4 racial bonus to Spot checks.

Traing a Comet Steed
    There are only two ways to obtain a comet steed as a mount. One is to capture a young comet steed and raise it as a mount. Since young steeds are without the ability to fly or travel at spelljamming speeds for the first year of their lives, it is relatively easy to capture a young foal. The difficult task is finding a foal, considering the great rarity of comet steeds.
    The other way to obtain a comet steed as a mount is to use a ring of comet. This enchanted ring is used for summoning comet steeds for use as temporary mounts.
    Training a comet steed as an aerial mount requires a successful handle Animal check (DC 24 for a foal, or 29 for an adult) and that the creature be willing. Comet steed foal are worth 8,000 gp each. Professional trainers charge 2,000 gp to rear or train a comet steed. A comet steed can fight while carrying a rider, but the rider cannot also attack unless he or she succeeds at a Ride check (see Ride, page 72 in the Player's Handbook).
    Carrying Capacity: A light load for a comet steed is up to 300 pounds; a medium load, 301-600 pounds; and a heavy load, 601-900 pounds.

In the Spheres
    Comet steeds are very solitary herbivore animals and often will land on planets to graze for periods of time lasting no more than a few days. When it comes time to mate a herd is formed to help rear the young. The female will bear only a single foal. One year after the young are able to fly, the herd separates, each Comet steed going its own way. Comet steeds may mate more than once in their life, but never with the same mate twice. Over their life span (approximately 200 years) a comet steed becomes part of a herd a few times (maybe four or five times).

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©2002 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

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Comet Steed, © 1990 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
d20™ System, Conversion of Comet Steed ©2002, Mark Doolan
Image by Ron Pollard
Original Source: SJA3 Crystal Spheres