Floating Disk: Scoot Your Loot
Usable By: Wizard
Spell Level: 1
School: Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Duration: 1 hour
Components: V, S, M (a drop of mercury)
This spell creates a circular, horizontal plane of force, 3 feet in diameter and 1 inch thick, that floats 3 feet above the ground in an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within range. The disk remains for the duration, and can hold up to 500 pounds. If more weight is placed on it, the spell ends, and everything on the disk falls to the ground.
The disk is immobile while you are within 20 feet of it. If you move more than 20 feet away from it, the disk follows you so that it remains within 20 feet of you. It can move across uneven terrain, up or down stairs, slopes and the like, but it can’t cross an elevation change of 10 feet or more. For example, the disk can’t move across a 10-foot-deep pit, nor could it leave such a pit if it was created at the bottom.
If you move more than 100 feet from the disk (typically because it can’t move around an obstacle to follow you), the spell ends.
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
I’m pretty sure I’ve taken Floating Disk on the last two or three wizards I’ve multi-classed into with my general mindset of “It's a ritual spell; it's basically free! I’m sure I can find plenty of uses for a floating stepladder!” Truthfully, I have never once cast this spell and thought “This was fun and neat; I’m so glad it took it!”
I can’t find realistic use cases for this. It’s like a temporary, sluggish donkey you can’t even ride. It’s a footstool that can hold five-hundred pounds that is awkward to position after the initial cast. It's a spell that does a worse job at helping you explore an environment than mundane adventuring equipment, or even just random objects like rocks around you.
As a 1st level ritual spell, I have such a hard time saying this is unusable. It is so easy to get, costs you just a slot in your spellbook, and does something. At the same time, that something is so replaceable and pointless I can’t even say the cost of taking up space in your spellbook is worth it. Even if you never prepare it, even if you’re casting it every morning, you still would rather just have something like a cart, horse, or just a backpack. With my experiences with it, I have found it functionally near useless. Maybe you’ll fare differently, but if you’re on the fence, I’d make sure you’ve already got the other 1st level rituals before this like Detect Magic and Identify. If you’ve gotten all the other rituals you want and still are looking for more ritual goodies, I guess you can try Floating Disk.
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