I never use my mount for my level six swordsman/archer paladin, and I need a good idea to approach the DM with He offered me a bonus feat instead — is that fair?
[RPG] a fair trade for a Paladin’s mount in exchange for alternate abilities, feats, and skills
class-featurednd-3.5epaladin
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Well, if it is a dragon dragon (not some goofball wannabe), a powerful, intelligent being that doesn't tend to be friendly to humanoids and other pests, a more important factor than the amount of gold would be simply respect.
For a dragon to be feel treated with respect, providing a massive hoard and a comfy lair is a good start. If the dragon is treated with the proper deference, he might even overlook if the hoard is not quite up to his expectations (keyword: might). The dragon might even have goals compatible with the paladin's and take that into account.
So to answer the original question, yes, a dragon 'steed' can certainly be fussy and a fussy dragon can be deadly.
How to deal with it? Create a dragon NPC with a suitable personality and decide by roleplaying. If your paladin treats it like a horse bought with a bunch of gold pieces, he shouldn't survive for very long. If she does things right, she might get something much more valuable than a steed with a lot of hit points.
Officially, probably not...
There are no precise limits provided that state exactly under what circumstances an item is attended, except that the item be "grasped, touched, or worn" (PH 166), and attending an item is the usual bar for determining whether an effect that affects only a creature also affects that creature's gear. (Further, attending an item also allows the item to share the attender's saving throws.)
Thus, the DM must decide if the mount is attending the cart. While the mount is technically touching the cart, that seems a little suspect given the cart's size, and a DM that permits the mount to attend the cart must, for example, also rule if, by extension, a captain on deck attends that ship.
...But this is cool enough that this DM would allow it
It's really hard for a low-level PC to take a forge (or an alchemist's lab or a water clock) on the road, and I think most dwarf gods would approve of a dwarf paladin using his holy mount for such a purpose rather than—or in addition to—war. ("Crafting weapons is war!" sayeth the dwarves... or something.)
As long as nobody else could be considered attending the cart when the mount's dismissed, this seems a reasonable use of the special ability. However, I'd draw the line at allowing the mount to attend multiple carts.
Best Answer
This post contains all alternative class features published by WotC. Here are the mount replacements listed there, along with sources:
Depending on the rulebooks you use, these may be more desirable. Given how feat-starved most characters are in 3.5, though, I'd say this is a fair trade, and it does seem to be about on-par with the ones here.