D&D 5E Can a Phantom Steed pull a wagon?

[ccs]

Depends. How entertaining is this going to be?
The more entertaining to me (the DM), the lower the DC I'm going to assign to the Arcana check you're about to make.

 

[Irda Ranger]

What spell are you guys reading? My 5E Player's Handbook clearly says "you or a creature you choose can ride the steed".

The spell also says that if the saddle or bridle are taken 10 feet away, they disappear into a puff of smoke. Which implies that you can take them off and hold them in your hands, so they have some "quasi-real" physical heft.

The spell further says that the creature uses the statistics for a riding horse, except its speed is 100 and can travel 10 miles in an hour. Those are the only differences, so presumably the carrying capacity and pull weight are the same.

My take on "only you or a person you choose can ride it" is because it's a created creature that obeys your commands only. If anyone else tries to ride it, it will just stand there.

My take on "quasi-real" means that it looks and feels like a horse, but if it takes any damage it unravels into a puff of smoke.

Anyway, my DM has already ruled in favor of this. The spell says it's a creature, so it can be targeted by other spells as a creature. Not only did I summon a Phantom Steed, I summoned four Phantom Steeds, cast Water Walking on them, and we pulled our becalmed ship into harbor.

 

[Oofta]

What spell are you guys reading? My 5E Player's Handbook clearly says "you or a creature you choose can ride the steed".

The spell also says that if the saddle or bridle are taken 10 feet away, they disappear into a puff of smoke. Which implies that you can take them off and hold them in your hands, so they have some "quasi-real" physical heft.

The spell further says that the creature uses the statistics for a riding horse, except its speed is 100 and can travel 10 miles in an hour. Those are the only differences, so presumably the carrying capacity and pull weight are the same.

My take on "only you or a person you choose can ride it" is because it's a created creature that obeys your commands only. If anyone else tries to ride it, it will just stand there.

My take on "quasi-real" means that it looks and feels like a horse, but if it takes any damage it unravels into a puff of smoke.

Anyway, my DM has already ruled in favor of this. The spell says it's a creature, so it can be targeted by other spells as a creature. Not only did I summon a Phantom Steed, I summoned four Phantom Steeds, cast Water Walking on them, and we pulled our becalmed ship into harbor.

You bolded the part that people believe disqualifies pulling a wagon. A wagon is not a creature.

Having said that, I don't see a big issue with how your DM ruled.

 

[jgsugden]

Rules as Written versus Rules as Intended. Under RAW, I think it is allowable. Under RAI, it is questionable.

In instances like this, I ask:

1.) Does it break the game? (Clearly, no).
2.) There is nothing else to ask - let the clever use of the spell stand.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

What if you hitch the wagon to the rider and not the horse? Might be a bit uncomfortable but it should work, right?

 

[Irda Ranger]

You bolded the part that people believe disqualifies pulling a wagon. A wagon is not a creature.

Which is why a wagon cannot ride a phantom steed.

 

[jasper]

I would say that a phantom steed could pull only a phantom wagon. The reason that only the person the steed was summoned for can ride it is that, except for that person, the steed isn't real or actually present.

This interpretation can lead to some hilarious situations. Suppose someone on a phantom steed was being chased by other riders. One of the pursuers leaps from their horse onto the phantom steed behind the rider.......and falls straight to the ground.

So you are the reason I occasionally fall thru carriages in Assassin Creed. Icky nasty DM.

 

[Tony Vargas]

You bolded the part that people believe disqualifies pulling a wagon. A wagon is not a creature.

The wagon, in his example, is not riding the Steed...

...OTOH, a beholder, blue whale, or gelatinous cube you designate /could/ ride your Phandom Steed, becaue creature.

;|

Having said that, I don't see a big issue with how your DM ruled.

"Rulings not rules" FTW, yes.

I think it'd be amusing to just let the spell be cast with some ad-hoc variations that conjures the steed equipped with tack & harness instead of a saddle, ready to be hitched to a wagon that you, or a creature you designate, can then drive, or with a yoke, ready to pull a plow, or whatever. Why not?

You should be able to conjure spectral hownds and a [/i]shadow falcon[/i], too, so you can go hunting with the Duke in proper illusionist style...

 

[Wiseblood]

Phantom steed, note that it does not say phantom team. It will carry a rider not two riders. It is not a pack animal.

 

[AmerginLiath]

No. But not for the reason you are thinking of:
An unladen Wagon is 400lbs, the carry capacity of a riding horse is 480. For reference, A nude hafling weighs about 40 lbs.
This means there is basically no way for a single steed to pull a wagon, it's rider, and all of the junk you are going to put into it.
Two steeds maybe, but who is really going to sit around for two+ hours while the illusionist hitches a wagon?

Alright DMs, your party’s next encounter is with a naked halfling, barreling down the road in a empty cart seemingly pulled by nothing. Roll initiative!