Phantom Steed-hopping

[Catullus64]

The duration of the Phantom Steed spell being one hour seems really obnoxious, at least for the purpose of long-term travel. Having to spend eleven minutes casting for every hour traveling is annoying and not at all thematic. So is it possible for me to ritually cast Phantom Steed while riding the previous one to cut down on the downtime? I grant that trying to cast a ritual spell while riding at breakneck speed seems a bit strange flavor-wise, but I can find nothing in the wording of the ritual casting rules to contradict it. After all, you can cast a normal spell while riding a mount, why not a long-duration spell? The only snag I can anticipate is if the DM rules that riding without the use of my hands (Somatic Components) is infeasible or at least requires a check of some kind.

[LudicSavant]

The duration of the Phantom Steed spell being one hour seems really obnoxious, at least for the purpose of long-term travel. Having to spend eleven minutes casting for every hour traveling is annoying and not at all thematic. So is it possible for me to ritually cast Phantom Steed while riding the previous one to cut down on the downtime? I grant that trying to cast a ritual spell while riding at breakneck speed seems a bit strange flavor-wise, but I can find nothing in the wording of the ritual casting rules to contradict it. After all, you can cast a normal spell while riding a mount, why not a long-duration spell? The only snag I can anticipate is if the DM rules that riding without the use of my hands (Somatic Components) is infeasible or at least requires a check of some kind.

You can cast rituals while moving. You can maintain Phantom Steed for the entire party without ever slowing your travel pace. And somatic components don't require both hands.

[JoeJ]

AFAIK, there's nothing in the rules that says you can't cast the spell while moving. I don't allow rituals to be cast while walking or riding a horse (although I do allow them while riding in a vehicle that the caster is not driving), but that's my house rule.

[Mercurias]

Having to spend eleven minutes casting for every hour traveling is annoying and not at all thematic. So is it possible for me to ritually cast Phantom Steed while riding the previous one to cut down on the downtime?

C’mon, didn’t your dad ever to stop every hour and stretch when you’re traveling long distances? :smalltongue:

[Particle_Man]

It would be cute to house rule that house rule and allow the existing spell to be repeated because the somatic components happen to be "holding a bridle" with your hands, which you are doing anyhow. :smallsmile:

[Contrast]

I think the best answer is that the rules are silent under exactly what situations ritual casting is appropriate (no particular limitations are mentioned) but they do require concentration. It does take your action to continue casting.

It is up to your DM to decide what rituals can be cast when and if (and how many) concentration checks may be required if there are distracting/difficult circumstances.

It's also worth saying I could definitely see in universe reasons for the answer being different depending on the ritual. I could def see a DM deciding that in their game the ritual for Phantom Steed was designed to be able to be conducted from horseback while the ritual for Alarm might involve tracing runes on a fixed point and therefore couldn't be undertaken while travelling as an example.

[Catullus64]

AFAIK, there's nothing in the rules that says you can't cast the spell while moving. I don't allow rituals to be cast while walking or riding a horse (although I do allow them while riding in a vehicle that the caster is not driving), but that's my house rule.

Purchase a wagon and hitch it to my Phantom Steed, got it.

[JoeJ]

Purchase a wagon and hitch it to my Phantom Steed, got it.

If a Phantom Steed can pull a wagon (AFB at the moment), that's a good idea regardless of the ritual time saving, because it allows more than one character and/or more weight to be transported.

[Petrocorus]

Or alternatively, you can houserule the duration.