Question about Tenser's Floating Disc

[Valmur_Dwur]

Of course your welcome to do whatever you want with the spell The way I read it is that you can climb aboard by giving it a mental command to stay there or stay in this spot or whatever. This allows you to move next to it and even climb aboard. However, it is not vehicle it is merely a load saver Think of it like a child's wagon. You can put stuff in it and pull it along with you. The handle provides the motion behind you. Now use the same image and climb in the wagon and grab the handle. you don't move anywhere unless someone else takes the handle and pulls or pushes the wagon from behind with you in it. That's how I see Tenser's Floating Disk YMMV, void where prohibited, slighly higher in Alaska

 

[Zaruthustran]

So now I've got this image of a fat, lazy wizard, riding his Floating Disc, holding onto the reins of his Cat familiar as the familiar drags the disc around.

 

[Entrebat]

So now I've got this image of a fat, lazy wizard, riding his Floating Disc, holding onto the reins of his Cat familiar as the familiar drags the disc around.

Or pulled by his lackey assistant. That's a great vision of an NPC in a metropolitan city.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Pushed by an Unseen Servant?

 

[Zaruthustran]

With a Thursday night viewing of Lawrence of Arabia fresh in my mind:

Might be cool to have a desert tribe of sorcerers, each casts the Disc, gets on, then deploys a small sail that is anchored to the disc... pretty cool.

 

[dcollins]

I think that the intent of Tenser's floating disk is clear. In multiple places, the spell description specifies that the disk "follows you around" and "will accompany you". It's overly tangled logic to take the single line "if not otherwise directed" and explode it to mean that it can fly aribitrarily according to directions -- that line needs to be interpreted in regards to the relative position at which it is following you. Also, there's no speed given for the disk, other than the rate at which it "will accompany you" according to the normal rate that the caster is moving on their own accord.

Furthermore, this is once again one of those places where the rules language is largely unchanged -- and hence clearly so too the designer intent -- from the 1st Ed. AD&D rules. I'm entirely confident that if asked, any of the designers would reiterate the 1st Ed. DMG clarification that "The caster cannot ride on the Disc." (p. 45).


(Parenthetically, I'd criticize the customer support response, in that nothing in the spell indicates that "pushing" is effective on the disk. The proper response should be that the disk is unaffected by outside force until the weight limit is exceeded, at which time it disappears.)

 

[Caliban]

I think that the intent of Tenser's floating disk is clear. In multiple places, the spell description specifies that the disk "follows you around" and "will accompany you". It's overly tangled logic to take the single line "if not otherwise directed" and explode it to mean that it can fly aribitrarily according to directions -- that line needs to be interpreted in regards to the relative position at which it is following you. Also, there's no speed given for the disk, other than the rate at which it "will accompany you" according to the normal rate that the caster is moving on their own accord.

Furthermore, this is once again one of those places where the rules language is largely unchanged -- and hence clearly so too the designer intent -- from the 1st Ed. AD&D rules. I'm entirely confident that if asked, any of the designers would reiterate the 1st Ed. DMG clarification that "The caster cannot ride on the Disc." (p. 45).


(Parenthetically, I'd criticize the customer support response, in that nothing in the spell indicates that "pushing" is effective on the disk. The proper response should be that the disk is unaffected by outside force until the weight limit is exceeded, at which time it disappears.)

You may be right, but the current version of the spell doesn't have any such prohibition. Many spells have were signficantly changed between 2nd and 3rd edition (look at shield and enlarge)

I'm slightly biased, because it was my character with the tenser's disk. It was only used that way couple of times anyway.

I just know it's a lot more fun when you can ride it, and it didn't seem overpowered or anything (we ruled that it would not float over water when you are riding it, it would only float over a solid surface that can support your weight).

 

[dcollins]

You may be right, but the current version of the spell doesn't have any such prohibition. Many spells have were signficantly changed between 2nd and 3rd edition (look at shield and enlarge)

I think our readings are within the same ballpark. However, from what I see, floating disk is not one of the spells that was changed noticably in 3rd Ed. No, there is no explicit prohibition to the riding -- but there wasn't in 1st Ed. either, and that was still the intent, and it seems for this spell that the language, implication, and intent has all stayed the same.

 

[Oni]

The way I read the "if not otherwise directed," is it allows you to be able to make the disc stay still or follow at a distance other than the default distance of 5ft. I don't believe that phrase empowers the caster to do anymore than that with the disc. The phrasing makes this a much more plausible reading than allowing the caster to direct it however he wishes, in my opinion.


"It floats along horizontally with in spell range and will accompany you at a rate of no more than your normal speed each round. If not otherwise directed, it maintains a constand interval of 5 ft between itself and you. " -PHB pg 265 Tenser's Floating Disc

 

[Stalker0]

I would rule that it could be pushed, but it would take an ungodly strength to do so, basically unless its following you it ain't going nowhere.

I like the idea though, of putting walls on it and making it into a little battle shelter. Its would be cool as hell for a fighterx/wizard 1 to cast it so he could walk, and the wizard or archer could stand on the disk protected by cover.