Getting around
Horses
A horse is yours for good, with its gear, its saddlebags and its name. You may own up to 3.
The stables' horses
| Breed | Price | Its work | At a cart | Under a rider |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old nag | 500 groschen | Old nag | 300 kg | a little slower |
| Pack pony | 900 groschen | Pack horse | 450 kg | a little slower |
| Farm horse | 1200 groschen | Farm horse | 600 kg | a little slower |
| Rouncey | 2200 groschen | Riding horse | 350 kg | a riding horse's pace |
| Draught horse | 3000 groschen | Draught horse | 1000 kg | a little slower |
| Palfrey | 3500 groschen | Riding horse | 350 kg | a riding horse's pace |
| Jennet | 4500 groschen | Ambler | 320 kg | faster |
| Cuman steppe horse | 5500 groschen | Steppe horse | 400 kg | faster |
| Courser | 8000 groschen | Courser | 350 kg | faster |
| Racing horse | 13000 groschen | Racer | 250 kg | the fastest |
| Destrier | 20000 groschen | Warhorse | 550 kg | a riding horse's pace |
Each breed has its work: what one horse of it pulls in front of a cart, at the cart's full pace (its strength makes it up to 30% more or less), and how fast it goes under a rider. A faster horse carries a fifth less in its saddlebags. /hinfo shows a horse's work.
Buying a horse
- The stable's horses
Talk to a stable master > the horses (or F2 > My belongings > Horses > At the stable). Each breed is a card: its price, its week of upkeep, its strength, agility, vitality and courage, what it pulls and how it goes, how many coats, manes and tails it may wear, and its rank - Humble, Common, Sound, Good, Fine, Noble, Princely. A card says how much you are short when your purse and account do not cover it. Click the card you want.
- The showroom
You are taken a moment to open ground near the stable, in a world of your own, lit at night, and the horse of that breed stands before you. Turn round it with the mouse (drag to turn and raise the view, the wheel to zoom, Q / E to turn). ‹ › switch to the next breed. Nobody in a fight, bound, robbed, serving a sentence or in a raid or siege can go there. A wanted character may still buy a horse: it is shown before them where they stand, without the showroom.
- Its name and its look
Give it a name (a name of the period is drawn for you; the die draws another), then choose its coat, mane and tail in the gallery: every piece with its picture, the coats grouped by colour - Bay & Brown, Chestnut, Black, Grey & White, Dun & Gold, Roan, Dappled, Spotted, White marks. The look is included in the price. The dearer the breed, the more looks it allows: an old nag wears only the plainest, a destrier the finest; a piece out of reach says from which breed up.
- Buy
Buy this horse: paid from your purse, the rest from your account. You are back where you stood, and your new horse waits beside you, wearing its look.
A new look: Appearance
F2 > My belongings > Horses > the horse > Appearance opens the same gallery on your own horse, with the camera on it. The horse must be out and near you (the button is greyed out, and says so on hover, while it is not); Rename beside it is free. Trying on is free and everyone around sees it; leaving without keeping it puts back the old look. A new look costs, in KCD Points, 30 for the coat, 15 for the mane, 15 for the tail - only the parts you change - or one horse Appearance token for the whole look. When both can pay, you choose; a token used for fewer than the three parts asks you first. Short of points, Get KCD Points opens the store, and Back to my horse brings you back with the look you were trying. Every account received one horse Appearance token. The look is saved with the horse and comes back at every call.
Keeping a horse
| Where | What |
|---|---|
| The stable master | Buy a horse (see Buying a horse above), bring one out, rename it, or sell it back for half its price (/sellhorse, its saddlebags emptied first). /hsell sells a horse to a player beside you. An impounded horse is claimed here too (/hrelease): see The impound lot below. |
| The old nag | The cheapest horse is too old for new equipment. It wears only the plain saddle, bridle and shoes it came with. Anything else you put on it (a better saddle or bridle, a caparison) goes into its saddlebags. Every other breed takes any gear. |
| Its coat and stats | Every horse has its own coat and its own strength, agility, vitality and courage, from 1 to 30. The dearer the breed, the better the animal: every old nag has 3 in strength and agility and 6 in vitality and courage (enough not to throw you when you spur it), a destrier about 24. The racing horse is the fastest, the destrier the strongest and bravest. Apart from the old nag, no two horses of a breed are quite alike. /hinfo shows them. A new coat, mane or tail: see Appearance above. |
| F2 > My belongings > My horses | Bring a horse out where you left it, whistle for it (it comes to you from anywhere on the map), leave it where it stands, or tether and untie it. |
| Tethering | A tethered horse cannot be ridden off. An untethered one can be stolen, and you will be told. A thief can take one horse a day. |
| A crowd of horses | A horse you get off where 15 or more riderless horses already stand within 30 m is put away after 5 seconds, where it stands, with its bags and gear. Call it back from your horses. |
| A body across the saddle | A body you carry - senseless, bound or wounded - can be laid across a horse you may ride (your own or one on a lent bridle), and you ride on. Anyone on foot may take it down, but a prisoner of the law only the watch or the town court, the one who bound them, the staff, or the horse's rider or owner. |
| Across the lands | Your horse goes with you by coach between Kuttenberg and Trosky, and a horse left on the other land can be brought out here: see Kuttenberg and Trosky. |
| The spare bridle | Lend it to someone you trust (F2 > My belongings > My horses > the horse > Lend the spare bridle). They may fetch, whistle for, ride and tether the horse, even while you are away, and it is not theft. |
| The saddlebags | Standing beside your horse, open its saddlebags next to your pack (the horse's card in F2 > My belongings > My horses, or Z > Here) and drag items either way. They hold 150 weight. The saddle, bridle and caparison stay on the horse. |
| Carrying | A horse keeps its own load of goods on its back, apart from your sack, by its breed: Old nag 90, Pack pony 90, Farm horse 90, Rouncey 120, Draught horse 120, Palfrey 120, Jennet 150, Cuman steppe horse 150, Courser 180, Racing horse 180, Destrier 225 loads. The stable's cards, the purchase and your horse's window say how much. Open your pack (B) while you ride it or within 8 m of it: under your sack, each horse of yours shows its goods and its saddlebags' items against their room. Drag either way, double click or use a line's arrow to bring it into your pack, or press Load everything / Unload everything; a good's right click offers Put on your horse (/horseload too). A horse already holding more than its load keeps it; only more is refused until it is below. When you craft, the goods your recipe needs are taken from your sack first, then from your horses and carts within 8 m. |
| Leading on foot | Lead your horse by the reins: Lead it by the reins in the horse window's Handle card, or on the Z wheel (your own horse or one on a lent bridle, within 3 m, nobody on it, not in a cart's shafts, outdoors). It walks after you, trotting to catch up, and stops 2 m short. It stands where it is when you let go, mount, go indoors or more than 25 m away, or when someone climbs on it. |
| Upkeep | 5% of its price each week: the old nag 25 groschen, a destrier 1 000. Paid at any stable master or town clerk. See Upkeep. |
| The impound lot | The Watch can impound a horse left where it should not be, with a fine (0 to 5000 groschen) and a reason. You are told at once, and again at every login, what you owe. Any stable gives the horse back for a 50 groschen keeping fee plus the fine, taken from your purse first and the rest from your account. An impounded horse cannot be sold. If it is not claimed within 7 days, it is sold off for the town with its saddlebags, and a letter tells you. See The Watch and the law. |
Hurt horses
| Its health | A horse can be hurt or killed by a blow, an arrow or a bad fall. Its health is kept when you leave it, stable it or leave the realm: it comes back as hurt as it was. At rest (in the stable or left waiting) it heals 25 points an hour. /hinfo shows its health. |
| If it dies | A horse that dies is not lost. It goes back to the stable, badly hurt, with its saddlebags and its gear, and you are told roughly how long it needs. It can be led out again once its health is back to 25, about an hour after it fell. /hget tells you how long is left. |