One of my players is a magic user (invoker) and has been using the ritual "Tinser's Floating Disk" for quite some time now. The players are currently level 8, but this player got the ritual around level 1 or 2 I think, so he's been using it for a while. He raised the question way back then if he could stand on the disk and fly around on it like a hover board type thing (Silver Surfer and such). I read over the description of the ritual and at the time (my early DM'ing days), I couldn't come up with a good enough reason why he COULDN'T do it that way, so I just let him go with it. Later on, there were some environment effects that came into play and some questions regarding height off the ground and such. We made a house rule at that time that he could use it as a hover board and that was it.

Fast forward about a year or so and I've gotten a better grasp on the rules and more DM'ing knowledge under my belt. I had an encounter that had open graves, and a lich that would push players into the graves. If they succeeded in a saving throw they were still hanging onto the edge of an open grave and they would need to pull themselves up as a move action. He was on his hover board and said he didn't need to take the movement penalty because he could just rise up on the hover board. SO....we had an argument, and ultimately I let it go because I realized at that point that I needed to research the ritual a little more to see what others were doing.

After researching, I found that it's kind of a hit or miss thing and it's split 50/50 as to whether the player can use it as a hover board or just to carry stuff around. I found some official WoTC faq on the matter and they said that you could NOT use it as a hover board. I'm not a huge stickler for the rules if it gets in the way of fun, but I thought the player had an unfair advantage with a ritual that states that you cannot ride on top of it. So I told the player that I would be taking the hover board ability away next time we play. He didn't like it and we argued for a while....but in the end, I'm erasing the house rule we originally agreed upon because of my new knowledge of the game, experience, etc.

SO, here's where I need help. I can understand that my player is upset, so I want to make it up to him. Although I'll be taking away the ability to float around, I want to give him something (other than just gold) to make it a little less painful. His complaint is that he's built his character around the ability to hover and that I'm taking away part of his character. I agree somewhat, but this is just a case of a rules clarification (errata if you will). There's no ill will really at this point, I just want to make it up to him. Suggestions???

Perhaps let him keep it as a hoverboard but restrict it, for example it can be used 1 round per encounter, tell him that the constant use of him using it as a hoverboard has taken it's toll and it's usability has become unstable over time. Tell him the more he uses it the more unstable it becomes with a chance of collapsing completely at any time (preferably when he's as high as possible!)

Suggestion: let him keep it. If he has gone this long with it and had defined his character around it, as overpowered as it is (especially early on), just let him keep it.

Now, this does not mean you cannot make other adjustments. For example, perhaps you should compensate the other characters to level the playing field. Also, since he has this superior advantage, as a DM, make use of unique challenges to it. Not always going after him, but have low ceilings, uses lurkers and cloakers, creatures with reach and flight (better flight than him), and maybe even some people can dispel the disc or do a contested will check to try and take control of it. Use environmental challenges (poison gas clouds, spikes, etc.) to make him want to use it judiciously.

It is too bad that he was able to get this early on but I think that instead of depriving him of it at this point, work the other aspects of the game to mix it up.

the only problem I have with letting him keep it is that I now have to do extra work on top of everything else to work around the house rule. I am the "expert" in my group as none of the other players choose to read up on the rules, so everything falls on me. I've only been DM'ing for about 3 years now so I feel like I'm still cutting my teeth.

The problem with this disk thing is that I can't just destory it...it's a ritual....so he could keep bringing it back. I would've found a way for him to break it long ago but he can just summon it again and again.

His point is that he's built his character around it. To me, this is like saying I've built my a character around the fact that I can do 3 flips in the air before every attack according to the rules. Errata came out and said that you can't do flips and attack at the same time, so now my crazy acrobatic guy is no longer that way. I was taking advantage of an exploit (even if it was approved by the DM), but new clarification means I can't do that. Life goes on. Now I build my character around a new dynamic.

I dunno...house rules are great and all, but when I have to keep up with 2 manuals, one for house rules and one for official rules...it's just too much for me to do. If I had 3 other players or something that all knew the rules well enough, then I could concentrate on the house rules and they could call me out on official stuff that wasn't done right. Anyway, for me, making a house rule means that something else official will have to change...and I don't want to deal with it.

So I'll go back to my original question ...what can I offer to him to make up for me taking away the floating ability?

The rules are clear from WTOC, you only do what the spell says and nothing else. i.e. Fire ball doesn't melt ice unless it says so.

I haven't read the ritual, but I'm in favor of letting him keep it.

But you need to understand the implications. It should not provide any extra benefits. 4e is pretty clear about that. So 1 foot off the ground, and stops working over water, etc. Yes the disk will fall to the bottom of a grave..

If he gets pushed into a grave, he falls off the 'board' and grabs the side of the grave or the disk goes to the bottom leaving him hanging on the side.



PS. I once raised a similar ish question for Pathfinder's Midgard setting. They wanted a 'dragon kin' race and I mentioned flight should be power for wind dragons. It was soundly put down because it would severely alter the balance of the game. i.e. @ level 1 you can fly over traps.

The point is, you can't unbalance the game, no matter what your game is.



PPS. In old D&D I once had a Gnome illusionist. He developed a variant of the Illusionary Mount spell. It was a floating pillow that he'd sit on. I was clear with the DM that it would work like a horse, but it was small enough for me to use indoors. It didn't provide any advantage, but it looked cool which is what role playing is all about.

Glad you found your answer.

As a side note, since you feel that your are still cutting your teeth, do not feel like you have to jump on every errata that is issued or at all. There are people that still play 4E RAW from the book with no errata and it works fine.

My mage wanted to ride their Tenser's disk as well, so I just let her research and improve it and I gave her the following homebrew variant:

Tenser's Hovering Disk

Component Cost: 10 gp, Time: 10 min. Duration: 24hr.

You create a 3 feet diameter slightly concave, circular plane of force that floats a foot off the ground and can carry the load specified below. It remains stationary unless you move more than 5” away, in which case it moves with your base speed once per round until it is within 5”. You can command the disk to move up to your speed as a move action. If you are more than 5 squares from the disk for 2 rounds, the disk disappears.

For every 2” of expended movement per turn, the disk may move to be (or hover) 1” (or 5 feet) above the floor.

Your Arcana check result determines the maximum load the disk can carry: 9 or lower: 250lbs, 10-24: 500lbs, 25-39: 1,000lbs, 40+: 2,000lbs