Tensers Floating Duckblind

[Andor]

Ok, still don't have the books here, but from what I've seen apparently the Tenser's Floating Disk ritual in 4e lasts for 24 hours and can be moved at the casters will rather than simply following behind him. It seems to be the concensus that a Wizard can ride on top of his own floating disk and direct it at will.

So apparently there is nothing to stop someone from making a mini-fortress and riding about in it like a slow-motion hovertank. Indeed given that anyone with a skill and a feat can use rituals now, an entire party drift about in steel shells unleashing arrows, eldritch blasts and fireballs like a fantasy version of Hammer's Slammers.

This wasn't practical in the previous 3 versions of D&D because of limited durations and the fact that the disk would only follow the wizard and could not be moved at will.

Is this a deliberate change on the part of wizards or simply an accident of design? It seems impossible to me that the 4e design team could have let something like this slip through by accident, but an adventuring party floating around in zap dispensing towers like a pod of hovering Daeleks seems very un-4e.

 

[small pumpkin man]

As cool as that would be, unfortunately it has a weight limit.

 

[Starbuck_II]

As cool as that would be, unfortunately it has a weight limit.

Agreed. So no heavy armor dudes more than likely.

Also costs money as a Ritual.

 

[Zsig]

It's not like you can go wherever you want with it.

It stands one foot off the ground.

Still pretty cool, and useful if you want to avoid difficult terrain.

 

[Mort_Q]

... there is nothing to stop someone from making a mini-fortress and riding about in it ...

Just watch me.

 

[bganon]

Also, it's only three feet in diameter, which isn't really very big. And being made of force, I don't think there's any way to firmly attach a steel shell to it. Getting the full 2000 pound limit requires a bonus to Arcana of at least +20, which even a Wizard can't really do until well into the paragon tier. And if I understand the rules correctly, cover works both ways, so anyone inside the hovertank should take a -5 penalty (superior cover) when attacking anyone outside.

So yeah, you might be able to put a shell on a floating disk and fire spells through a slit, but you're giving yourself a -5 to attack rolls and anyone with decent strength can probably just push the shell right off the disk, trapping you.

Besides, everyone knows that the discerning Wizard uses a Bigby's Grasping Hands + Otiluke's Resilient Sphere combo. You can't attack from inside the sphere but nothing says you can't direct the Hands to attack for you.

 

[Kraydak]

As cool as that would be, unfortunately it has a weight limit.

meh... 500lb is good enough for a decent wooden box+wizard+some loot.

 

[Saeviomagy]

So apparently there is nothing to stop someone from making a mini-fortress and riding about in it like a slow-motion hovertank. Indeed given that anyone with a skill and a feat can use rituals now, an entire party drift about in steel shells unleashing arrows, eldritch blasts and fireballs like a fantasy version of Hammer's Slammers.

The counter to a tank of this sort of technology level is close quarters and infantry.

Guess what's in plentiful supply in a dungeon?

 

[baberg]

The counter to a tank of this sort of technology level is close quarters and infantry.

Guess what's in plentiful supply in a dungeon?

Not to mention the fact that I'd rule that, if you're going the "steel box with one arrow slit" route, I'd rule that your allies no longer had LOS to you, that your loss of situational awareness meant you were always granting combat advantage to enemies not directly in front of you, and that with sufficient lateral force you would be knocked off your disk and crushed under the steel box that you put on in the first place.

Plus any fireballs cast by opponents who had LOS directly inside the box would be contained entirely within the steel box, doing triple damage.

 

[Vaeron]

The counter to a tank of this sort of technology level is close quarters and infantry.

Guess what's in plentiful supply in a dungeon?

Can you imagine driving that thing into the middle of a gelatinous cube? Not just trapped inside the cube, but trapped inside a cube inside the cube? You'd never get out!