Is it possible to turn Tenser's Floating Disk into a chariot?

Question

Is it possible to turn Tenser's Floating Disk into a chariot in AD&D 1st edition?

There are several problems that I'm not sure can be solved:

• How would the harness be attached to the disk?
• Can a mount pull the disk at a higher movement rate than the disk can move by default, without causing the spell to break?
• How difficult is it to pull the disk – how much weight does it count as?

It seems that a naive interpretation has the disk weight at nearly nothing, especially since it can move rather quickly, and I can think of some rope/knot patterns that would hold even the most slippery of disks – meaning a mount could move at maximum speed while pulling the disk.

Answer 1

No speed limit is given except when it moves by direction of the caster (6" rate). It would seem unnecessary to secure it since it remains 6' from the caster... but you could certainly envelop it with a net or similar rope arrangement. Move the caster at high speed, and the magic will keep the disc nearby.

It doesn't seem to be possible to cut holes in the magical disc, so attaching a handle or wagon-tongue is an unexplained situation. Think of it as unbreakable as a wall of force, I'd guess.

Note that if the caster is on horseback, the caster should position the disc to one side (6' away of course), lest it impact the horse's rear hooves; it maintains a height of 3' above ground. (Watch out for potholes and other terrain issues; it will bob around, matching the contour, and aprupt changes may affect its load.)

Answer 2

It may be usable as a component of a chariot.

Looking at @Seven's answer, a null-grav plate would be incredibly helpful if included as part of a chariot's construction. From a simple point of view, you could replace one or more wheels or axles with floating disks, providing a levitation effect for transit over rough terrain. If the disk is linked to the caster via a specific distance, have the caster sit in the "cart" so created. While this may not be the fastest on-road travel, there are quite a few "hovercraft" opportunities that a construction like this would support. The rough principle is a braced construction that expands the effective area of the disk(s) by using it/them for support.

Answer 3

It can't be all that slippery, or things would slide off it all the time, and one would think there would have to be some kind of reflection of that in the rules for it. So tension-based attachment mechanisms like clamps or vises should work reasonably well.

Answer 4

I think if the player comes up with a creative way to effectively do it...and since the caster I feel should be able to make slight changes to the spell as they are casting it, I feel the caster should be allowed to do it.

Course I play more freeform styled games where slight bending of the rules is expected!

Answer 5

No, it can't be used as a chariot.

The Disk is described as a "circular plane of null-gravity" (PHB, p. 68). It operates not by being a physical barrier upon which things are heaped and held up by a physical surface, but rather it prevents things that are in contact with its plane from falling. Think of it as a movable circular area that grants levitation to things touching it from above, and less as a physical disk. Being an "bare" effect that lacks an accompanying physical object, there's nothing there that you could hope to manipulate with ropes, and so therefore it cannot be pulled.