The "Create Well" Spell

[Splendor]

OK I wrote down a spell called "Create Well" and for the life of me I can't seem to find where I found the spell. I suspect it was a 3.0 spell....
I also wrote down "It creates a well up to 100' towards a water source"

Any one know what book it's in?

[Splendor]

found it "Sweet Water" in defenders of the faith.

[Adumbration]

There might be a newer version in Sandstorm.

[bokodasu]

There's definitely a version in Sandstorm; I was just looking at it and wondering why anyone would want it in a world with Decanters of Endless Water.

[Yuki Akuma]

There's definitely a version in Sandstorm; I was just looking at it and wondering why anyone would want it in a world with Decanters of Endless Water.

When you need it now and can't spend the several days crafting said Decanter?

[bokodasu]

For the hopelessly unprepared, there's Create Water. For mobile societies, you've got the decanter. Create Well has a niche, I suppose, but it's pretty tiny.

[ericgrau]

There's definitely a version in Sandstorm; I was just looking at it and wondering why anyone would want it in a world with Decanters of Endless Water.

Because a decanter costs more than 2 houses? Assuming the spell is permanent, it's probably a heck of a lot cheaper. Even to pay an NPC to cast it. Heck, digging a well is cheaper.

[Randel]

Create Water:
gets you water 'right now'
no costly material component
decent way to use 0-level spells
can't be stolen
the cleric can always use it as long as he can cast spells

Decanter of Endless Water:
Portable source of endless water
the decanter can be stolen
costs alot to make one and requires decent level spell to make
can be used for stuff like rockets of fire hoses
its great until something happens to the bottle or someone tries to steal it
putting a fair amount of money and xp invested into one magic item


Sweet Water spell:
creates a nonmagical well
potentially an endless water supply (like any normal well)
depending on what the material component cost is, could be much much cheaper than a decanter.
Once the spellcaster learns to cast it, they can cast it over and over again as long as they've got the spell slots and components.
You can make a whole bunch of wells and charge different people for their usage, not putting much monetary investment in them.
If someone destroyes one well then its no biggie since you can just make another one.
The only way someone could 'steal' a nonmagical well is if they stay near its location, at which point you know where they are.

Plus, this creates a physical hole in the gound that hits water. You could probably use it for other stuff like burying treasure or trapping enemies or sneaking into underground passages.


Digging a well yourself (or using other spell effects, constructs, or slaves):
Same as above but without using magic and takes a bit longer.



Basically, when you own a decanter of endless water then you have to be careful somebody else doesn't show up and steal it (if you're in a desert setting then expect an endless line of small-time bandits or rival groups trying to steal your decanter) and it takes lots of time, money, and XP to make them.

A physical well however is just a hole in the ground you can get water out of. The only people who might 'steal' it are people with the forces to defend it from other groups and the well ain't going anywhere. While a decanter is something you want to keep safe and protected, a well is just something you put in the ground, get water out of, and charge people to use it if needed. They tend to pay for themselves pretty quickly.

A spell that lets you dig wells faster just speeds up the process, you could plop a well in every town you stop at and leave somebody behind to sell the water. At worst, the guy selling water for you will leave or work for himself and you'll be out whatever the material component cost is. If you do get a steady income from the well then it should pay for its component cost fairly easily.

Even if you are in a nomadic tribe, if you plop wells behind you whenever you stop to rest then you can set up markers where your wells are and have a pretty good claim to that spot of land or at least the well. Other people might use the wells or animals might be attracted to the water which gives you something to look forward to on your return trip, eventually you can set up a nice route and just use the water wells you set up before.

So yeah, mundane wells are cheaper than decanters, are harder to steal, and are easier for groups/villages or whatever to keep track of.

[bokodasu]

Creating a well has all the drawbacks of a mundane well, too - it can never hit water, it can dry up, and you have to create a new one wherever you go (and hope there's water within 100 feet of the surface. I know people who went to 300 feet in the last drought, and those dried up too, and it's not like I live in a desert). A decanter is expensive, but your tribe/family pays the cost once, and passes it down from generation to generation; if your well-drilling spellcaster dies, you're just as out of luck as if someone steals your decanter.

I tried to figure out how many decanters it would take to change a desert to a rainforest, but gave up on the math. It would be kind of a lot, but it would also be entirely possible, which is kind of interesting.