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Now, I know that planets can’t be disc-shaped. However, if a relatively small planet had a very strong magnetical pull, could it have a ring system that could make the planet from afar seem disc-shaped?

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Worldbuilding! A planet's magnetic field has nothing to do with its ring system - that's all gravitation. It can disrupt a ring system, but not form one. $\endgroup$
    – jdunlop
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 1:05

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Yes, and it has nothing to do with magnetism.

From afar, Saturn's rings make it look like an ellipse. With low resolution equipment, the rings appear attached to the planet itself; small telescopes show Saturn as an oval.

The geometry of the flat ring disc appears as... a disc.

If you really want, you can move the inner boundary of the rings inward and make the planet a similar color to the rings to achieve a disc appearance at higher resolution.

enter image description here

Consider also: you could make the planet a super-Saturn whose ring system is so massive compared to the planet itself that it appears as a disc even when crystal clear. The image below is an artist's depiction of a real exoplanet.

enter image description here

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Note that the earth is not a perfect sphere. The distance from the surface to the center of the earth is slightly bigger at the equator than at the poles. This is due to the rotation of the earth and the centrifugal forces. If your alien planet is rotating at a much higher speed you can make this effect much stronger and get to a planet that is approximately lentil shaped.

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    $\begingroup$ There is a formula somewhere that will let you calculate the max rotational speed before a planet (of realistic mineral and elemental composition) tears itself apart. I'm not sure you can get very far from a spherical shape before this happens, pizza dough notwithstanding. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Witthoft
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 15:54
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    $\begingroup$ @CarlWitthoft I guess the question would be if it still is a single planet with a walkable surface or becomes a bunch of loose rocks flying around each other. I would be very interested if you can find the formula. $\endgroup$
    – quarague
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 16:01

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