D&D 5E Decanter of Endless Water facts

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The what now?

He's concerned I'm not drinking my eight glasses a day.

 

[Ancalagon]

are these imperial gallons or US gallons, btw?

If we simply use the "1 gallon/person" measure to avoid the issue, a single decanter could supply drinking water for over 400 000 people.

But in many medieval settings, salt was scarce, and very valuable. In D&D, a pound of salt is 5 cp which is... sounds quite low if you ask me... unless you account how a single decanter of water, turn on to saltwater and into evaporation pool, could generate (using US gallons) could generate 54 tons of salt per day, which could provide the dietary salt need for roughly 25 million people.

So yeah, that's why salt cheap in D&D

Edit: Such a decanter could also be used to "salt the fields" ....

 

[jgsugden]

are these imperial gallons or US gallons, btw?

If we simply use the "1 gallon/person" measure to avoid the issue, a single decanter could supply drinking water for over 400 000 people.

But in many medieval settings, salt was scarce, and very valuable. In D&D, a pound of salt is 5 cp which is... sounds quite low if you ask me... unless you account how a single decanter of water, turn on to saltwater and into evaporation pool, could generate (using US gallons) could generate 54 tons of salt per day, which could provide the dietary salt need for roughly 25 million people.

So yeah, that's why salt cheap in D&D

Edit: Such a decanter could also be used to "salt the fields" ....

If you start to think about how magic could be used to feed and care for people, it gets ridiculous. I love ridiculous, so I took it to an extreme and created a nation in my world where every person is required to learn one level of wizardry (or other magic). This allows them to use first level rituals, a selection of cantrips and a fwe select spells each day. I thought about how that plays out in terms of impact on the world, and it created a very evocative setting. The first time the PCs encounter a train created by one phantom steed spell and several sequenced floating disk spells is hailarious. When they see a large farm managed by 1 first level wizard, or a druidic messenger service, it all creates a very distinct picture.

 

[Ancalagon]

If you start to think about how magic could be used to feed and care for people, it gets ridiculous. I love ridiculous, so I took it to an extreme and created a nation in my world where every person is required to learn one level of wizardry (or other magic). This allows them to use first level rituals, a selection of cantrips and a fwe select spells each day. I thought about how that plays out in terms of impact on the world, and it created a very evocative setting. The first time the PCs encounter a train created by one phantom steed spell and several sequenced floating disk spells is hailarious. When they see a large farm managed by 1 first level wizard, or a druidic messenger service, it all creates a very distinct picture.

Magic is mandatory can lead to some interesting places...

I'm a huge fan of Yoon-Suin, in part because Yoon-suin really encourages you to "make it your own". One of the features is that the race that rules the Yellow City, the slugmen, are all magic users. I told myself "what if a player wants to play a non-magic using slugman". So I changed it to most slugmen can use magic.

But that leads to "why are most of them magic users? What does it mean if they can't use magic" - and it led to all sorts of interesting world building. (see Cheating death in Yoon-Suin ).

So in your setting... what happens to people who can't master wizardry? One thing I think it would do is foster a culture of "alternatives" - warlocks, artificers, hedge mages...

I could imagine a sort of "last chance" magical college - results guaranteed! - who is a cover for an old warlock getting news followers for his patron...

 

[jgsugden]

...So in your setting... what happens to people who can't master wizardry? One thing I think it would do is foster a culture of "alternatives" - warlocks, artificers, hedge mages...

I could imagine a sort of "last chance" magical college - results guaranteed! - who is a cover for an old warlock getting news followers for his patron...

It takes the wind out of my sails a bit when someone guesses one of the secret storylines of that area ... Putting the obvious warlock angle aside:

First, under RAW, anyone, in theory, could learn a level of wizardry. If a PC rolled a 3 intelligence they could be a wizard. However, I put that aside and send everyone to school. It takes a non God-touched (a label I apply to people that learn class levels easily - like PCs) 7 degrees to learn to be a first level wizard. Each one can be attempted after a half year of schooling starting at age 12, and requires an intelligence check with a DC of 8 plus the level of the degree (ranging between 9 and 15). You might see a very bright kid get there before turning 16 with luck. Your typical Int 10 person gets there much slower - at ages 19 to 23, typically - but it is entirely possible to still be studying at age 30.

Some families that lack intellect tend to make deals (Warlocks) or use tricks (Sorcerers). Some turn to Religion or giving themselves to the Natural Order (Druids). There are also bards, artificers, and hedges (a homebrew non-combat class that supports tropes for medicine men, hedge wizards, and other spellcasters that wouldn't be trained to fight, but would be trained to support a community).

You are required to be actively pursuing the ability to create magic once you turn 12, and if found to not be doing so before you pass your test, you get exiled. When exiled, you get branded by an Arcane Mark that can be seen by anyone with an official badge of the empire. However, culturally, it is rare to find anyone that would not keep trying until they mastered basic magic.

 

[Bohandas]

If you start to think about how magic could be used to feed and care for people, it gets ridiculous. I love ridiculous, so I took it to an extreme and created a nation in my world where every person is required to learn one level of wizardry (or other magic). This allows them to use first level rituals, a selection of cantrips and a fwe select spells each day. I thought about how that plays out in terms of impact on the world, and it created a very evocative setting. The first time the PCs encounter a train created by one phantom steed spell and several sequenced floating disk spells is hailarious. When they see a large farm managed by 1 first level wizard, or a druidic messenger service, it all creates a very distinct picture.

I tend to imagine most elven societies working like this. That's how the high elves manage to have such a high standard of living dicking around in the middle of the woods and how the dark elves manage to survive despite the fact that they seem to spend all of their time and energy on stabbing each other

 

[tomBitonti]

Note: The England and earth’s surface calculations are 5,280 times too low. One square mile has 5,280 x 5,280 square feet, not 5,280.

Covering England to 100’ would take a bit more than 10 million years.

Covering the Earth to 1’ would take about 250 million years.

TomB

 

[greg kaye]

The big question is; how many decanters have been created? How many have been left open and filling the world? Are the water elemental gods upset by them loosing water? Have the fire elemental gods created any?

I don't know about creation by gods but many magics and items produce fire. A custom minor item from a previous campaign was a large metal dish that could conjour create bonfire.

 

[Ancalagon]

It takes the wind out of my sails a bit when someone guesses one of the secret storylines of that area ... Putting the obvious warlock angle aside:

First, under RAW, anyone, in theory, could learn a level of wizardry. If a PC rolled a 3 intelligence they could be a wizard. However, I put that aside and send everyone to school. It takes a non God-touched (a label I apply to people that learn class levels easily - like PCs) 7 degrees to learn to be a first level wizard. Each one can be attempted after a half year of schooling starting at age 12, and requires an intelligence check with a DC of 8 plus the level of the degree (ranging between 9 and 15). You might see a very bright kid get there before turning 16 with luck. Your typical Int 10 person gets there much slower - at ages 19 to 23, typically - but it is entirely possible to still be studying at age 30.

Some families that lack intellect tend to make deals (Warlocks) or use tricks (Sorcerers). Some turn to Religion or giving themselves to the Natural Order (Druids). There are also bards, artificers, and hedges (a homebrew non-combat class that supports tropes for medicine men, hedge wizards, and other spellcasters that wouldn't be trained to fight, but would be trained to support a community).

You are required to be actively pursuing the ability to create magic once you turn 12, and if found to not be doing so before you pass your test, you get exiled. When exiled, you get branded by an Arcane Mark that can be seen by anyone with an official badge of the empire. However, culturally, it is rare to find anyone that would not keep trying until they mastered basic magic.

A few comments/criticisms/questions about this...

1: My personal "view" of wizardry is that it's not an "innate spark" you must have to be able to do so (a lot of settings have this view). I agree with you that in theory, anyone could become a wizard. However in my settings not everyone has the aptitudes for it, and of those who are capable, not everyone gets the opportunity. It's a bit like being a quantum mechanics physicists - you don't need "special blood" to do it, but well, most of us couldn't hack it, and many more didn't get the chance.

2: So let's say with enough education and effort, people do manage to cast magic. And they are going to study and work because they get exiled if they can't cast magic! But with this massive effort from the general population to master magic, doesn't it mean that several other crafts, fields of studies etc are going to get neglected? Would our society be better with a few more scientists? Probably - but not if everyone became a scientist. I feel this is a rather serious problem for your setting, but maybe I'm missing something?

2.5: about that exile if you can't use magic, what is the deadline? How long do people have?

3: You say sorcery is "tricks" - that's a rather different take on the "inborn/bloodline" aspect of it as usually presented in 5e. Can you elaborate on your visions for sorcerers?

 

[Clint_L]

At that kind of pressure, how viable is it as an energy source? Could it power a water wheel, or even sustain a large enough reservoir to be usefully dammed?

Also, I love this thread so much.