Any good uses for a Decanter of Endless Water?

[Coidzor]

So far it seems like any PC will usually have much better things to do in combat than to use an action and a bonus action together to use the Geyser function to do some damage and knock an enemy prone, and our particular group hasn't really acquired minions, let alone ones durable enough to participate in combat, even on the periphery like that.

I've so far considered talking to my DM about training my Raven familiar to say the command word and using it on enemies, enslaving a bunch of goblins to make seasalt out of the salt water that the decanter produces, and using engineering to rig it up so that it adds to our propulsion.

We're playing Storm King's Thunder, so settling down and enslaving a large group of goblinoids or getting a bunch of ordinary peasants to make seasalt for us and try to adventure to increase our market share of the salt industry really isn't going to work out.

Since our primary mode of transportation at this point is a ~5 story stone tower (Storm King's Thunder), I'm not sure if I'd be able to generate enough force to appreciably speed us up, especially since we're already moving by magic as far as I can tell.

So, what all have you done with it in the 5e paradigm or that would still work in 5e from older editions?

[Foxhound438]

it's your full turn, but it's garunteed damage specifically against a fire elemental

beyond that, free water.

[Sigreid]

Here are some uses I've put it to, granted some of them require DM cooperation.

1. Extinguishing fires
2. Fill the pit your dumb rear end fell into full of water so you can swim out.
3. I've used it to dig. High pressure water is good for that.

[RickAllison]

I somehow think you could rig a hydraulic elevator using it! If you only need to travel between two levels, you could use a version of the Pythagorean cup. You float up on top of the water column, get out on the appropriate floor, then activate it one more time to establish suction and drain the column. There are a few other systems that could work, but that one is simple enough to work without lots of work.

Could be useful for your flying tower.

[furby076]

Water boarding.
Get all the answers you need from that pesky kobold

[NNescio]

So far it seems like any PC will usually have much better things to do in combat than to use an action and a bonus action together to use the Geyser function to do some damage and knock an enemy prone, and our particular group hasn't really acquired minions, let alone ones durable enough to participate in combat, even on the periphery like that.

I've so far considered talking to my DM about training my Raven familiar to say the command word and using it on enemies, enslaving a bunch of goblins to make seasalt out of the salt water that the decanter produces, and using engineering to rig it up so that it adds to our propulsion.

We're playing Storm King's Thunder, so settling down and enslaving a large group of goblinoids or getting a bunch of ordinary peasants to make seasalt for us and try to adventure to increase our market share of the salt industry really isn't going to work out.

Since our primary mode of transportation at this point is a ~5 story stone tower (Storm King's Thunder), I'm not sure if I'd be able to generate enough force to appreciably speed us up, especially since we're already moving by magic as far as I can tell.

So, what all have you done with it in the 5e paradigm or that would still work in 5e from older editions?

Flood an entire dungeon (30 gallons/round, no limit). Now cast Water Breathing and explore it.

Could take a while though, as every 5-ft cube of volume (125 cubic feet) requires ~935 gallons to fill (~3 minutes), but ehh... just use an Animate Dead Zombie/Skelly or an Unseen Servant to do the hard work for you.

On a smaller scale, flood a room or floor and force the supports to collapse from the weight.

[Philistine]

If your party ever comes across the Augean Stables, you'll be set. No river diversion necessary!

[stkr]

if you're a wizard and you need through a door ice has greater volume than water and ray of frost would freeze it.
you could also aim it at the floor and use firebolt to cause a small explosion ~1d6 fire to all in the area.

[Herobizkit]

I've had a PC use several as a plumbing and irrigation system for their city and surrounding farms.

It makes for great fun with the shape water cantrip.

Flood a room with your enemies in it and cast water breathing on your team.

Set up your own terrain/control effects via control water.

Make a moat.

Terraform a wasteland.

[JackPhoenix]

if you're a wizard and you need through a door ice has greater volume than water and ray of frost would freeze it.

Doesn't work, puddle of water isn't a creature and it can't be targetted by Ray of Frost


you could also aim it at the floor and use firebolt to cause a small explosion ~1d6 fire to all in the area.

Water doesn't explode when you shoot fire at it.

[Beelzebubba]

Build an oasis in a horrifyingly dry place.

Fill the water reservoirs and private water troughs of the hospitals, orphanages, and poorest parts of every town you go through.

Use Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, and a charismatic Bard to make a riveting performance of a ship full of sailors escaping a water spout and a Kraken.

[GorogIrongut]

Trigger your decanter to flood the narrow aperture of your escape route. Use the cantrip Shape Water to freeze the water creating difficult terrain. Run away or stand behind your frozen bottleneck and shoot everyone trying to approach you.

[Spore]

Build an oasis in a horrifyingly dry place.



Sell the water to locals for high prices. What do you mean, we don't play the campaign in the desert? We clearly went there now.

[Lance Tankmen]

Riot control

[stkr]

Doesn't work, puddle of water isn't a creature and it can't be targetted by Ray of Frost



Water doesn't explode when you shoot fire at it.

ray of frost might not work, but what i mean is causing a lot of steam with firebolt it would work like a pressure cooker.
also thought up another use is with a bit of electricity you could create a highly flammable gas called hydrogen then light it.

[sir_argo]

I love items like Decanters of Endless Water. They don't have much use in combat, but they can add so much flavor out of combat.

Besides the obvious, which is to provide a source of clean, fresh water to a castle (although a person would have to be designated to say the command word every 6 seconds as it automatically stops at the start of your next turn), it can be used to get out of pits (already mentioned), fighting fires (imagine you come across a farmhouse that was set on fire by raiders), erasing evidence of a battle (wash away the blood), ruining an enemies crops (spray salt water over their fields), geez... the list can go on and on. That's why I love these kinds of items. You get a +1 sword and you can pretty much swing it at an enemy. Get a Decanter of Endless Water, and you've got as many options as your imagination can come up with.

Edit.. thought of some more:

Create the water necessary to summon a water elemental.
Ritually cast water breathing on all party members, then fill up a room with water and perform a long rest.
Fill up a Demiplane with water. Next time you need over 200k gallons of water really fast, just cast Demiplane on the ceiling and open the door, letting 30' cubic feet of water dumping out.
Spray it at anything you think might be an illusion. If it is real, the water will bounce off of it. If it is an illusion, the water will pass through it.
Keep your beast ally giant frog moist as you adventure through even deserts.

I love this kind of item.

[Madbox]

Play bootleg Mario Sunshine. Either 1) Geyser obeys Newtonian physics and has nasty recoil that could be used as propulsion, or 2) No recoil, so blasting yourself to go flying will work just fine.

[King539]

Flooding dungeons/the Underdark.

[mgshamster]

End a local drought. I once ran a campaign where a city was built around a secret decanter of endless water. No one knew that was the water source, but when it was stolen, an entire population was threatened.

Create an oasis/survive in the desert. In another game, we were tasked with protecting a princess far away from her home. We were given a decanter of endless water and we made our own private oasis in the desert. Contracted with some fey for some quick trees and plants, and built a wall around it. Fortified oasis and a secret garden. Also, we used the decanter to survive the trip through the desert to that location.

While I had that decanter, my PC also used it to power some river boats, create a warning signal by firing it into the air, push some (much) stronger enemies off a cliff (we were only level 3), and more!

It doesn't always have to be about combat and doing the most optimized thing every round.

[theMycon]

Flood an entire dungeon (30 gallons/round, no limit). Now cast Water Breathing and explore it.

As popular a suggestion as this is, "tell everyone in the dungeon that there's someone out front willing to kill them all, and give them several hours to respond to it" tends to be a mediocre plan in practice. Not to mention all the issues with waterproofing a multi-story dungeon.

[Coidzor]

As popular a suggestion as this is, "tell everyone in the dungeon that there's someone out front willing to kill them all, and give them several hours to respond to it" tends to be a mediocre plan in practice. Not to mention all the issues with waterproofing a multi-story dungeon.

Against a small dungeon where you just want to flush out an encounter or two out of terrain where the monsters would be at an advantage and the PCs wouldn't be, though, it can be some fun times.

I'm 99% sure that's about all I could really ever hope to accomplish with that sort of stratagem with anyone I've ever played with.

[Phoenix042]

Stuff a bunch of sod and tree seeds into your bag of holding, go to the elemental plane of fire, pick a high place to stand on with your decanter, and make like your cheering on your friend "Geyser" in his big fight.

Terraforming!