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Decanter of Endless Water 5e: the Geyser, the Gallons and 2024 Changes
A Decanter of Endless Water is an uncommon wondrous item, no attunement, that pours fresh or salt water on command: 1 gallon, 5 gallons, or a 30-gallon geyser that can knock one creature prone (DC 13 Strength save, 1d4 bludgeoning damage). It never runs dry and has no charges. The 2014 version takes an action plus a bonus action to aim the geyser; the 2024 version does it all with one Magic action. The verdict: it settles water supply for a whole party, and its geyser is a real combat tool against fliers and, through its water, fire elementals.
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Decanter of Endless Water Rules Text
Decanter of Endless Water
2014 rules
Wondrous item, uncommon
UncommonNo attunement
This stoppered flask sloshes when shaken, as if it contains water. The decanter weighs 2 pounds.
You can use an action to remove the stopper and speak one of three command words, whereupon an amount of fresh water or salt water (your choice) pours out of the flask. The water stops pouring out at the start of your next turn. Choose from the following options:
"Stream" produces 1 gallon of water.
"Fountain" produces 5 gallons of water.
"Geyser" produces 30 gallons of water that gushes forth in a geyser 30 feet long and 1 foot wide. As a bonus action while holding the decanter, you can aim the geyser at a creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or take 1d4 bludgeoning damage and fall prone. Instead of a creature, you can target an object that isn't being worn or carried and that weighs no more than 200 pounds. The object is either knocked over or pushed up to 15 feet away from you.
This stoppered flask sloshes when shaken, as if it contains water. The decanter weighs 2 pounds.
You can take a Magic action to remove the stopper and issue one of three command words, whereupon an amount of fresh water or salt water (your choice) pours out of the flask. The water stops pouring out at the start of your next turn. Choose from the following command words:
Splash. The decanter produces 1 gallon of water.
Fountain. The decanter produces 5 gallons of water.
Geyser. The decanter produces 30 gallons of water that gushes forth in a Line 30 feet long and 1 foot wide. If you're holding the decanter, you can aim the geyser in one direction (no action required). One creature of your choice in the Line must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or take 1d4 Bludgeoning damage and have the Prone condition. Instead of a creature, you can target one object in the Line that isn't being worn or carried and that weighs no more than 200 pounds. The object is knocked over by the geyser.
Unstopper the decanter, say a word, and water pours until the start of your next turn. You choose fresh or salt each time.
Word (2014 / 2024)
Water
Effect
Stream / Splash
1 gallon
Pours out
Fountain
5 gallons
Pours out
Geyser
30 gallons
A 30-foot by 1-foot jet that can knock a target prone
It works once per action with no daily limit. A 2014 decanter needs an action; a 2024 decanter needs a Magic action. The 2014 rules require command words to be spoken, so the decanter is useless inside a Silence spell. The 2024 rules let a command word be spoken or signed, and only spoken words fail where sound is suppressed, so a 2024 user can sign it.
The geyser in combat
2014: speaking "Geyser" takes your action, and aiming it at a creature you can see within 30 feet takes your bonus action while you hold the decanter. The target makes a DC 13 Strength save or takes 1d4 bludgeoning damage and falls prone. Aim it at an object of 200 pounds or less that no one is wearing or carrying and it's knocked over or pushed up to 15 feet away.
2024: the geyser is a 30-foot Line. If you're holding the decanter, you aim it as part of the same Magic action, no extra action needed. You pick one creature in the Line for the save, same DC, same damage, and it has the Prone condition on a failure. An object in the Line is only knocked over, not pushed.
1d4 damage is nothing. The prone is the point. Against a creature with Strength +0, DC 13 fails 60 percent of the time; against Strength +4, 40 percent.
Knocking fliers out of the sky
In both editions a flying creature that is knocked prone falls unless it can hover (or, in 2014, is held aloft by magic). Falling deals 1d6 bludgeoning per 10 feet, up to 20d6, and the creature lands prone. A griffon or wyvern 30 feet up has Strength 18 or 19, so it fails the save about 40 percent of the time and takes 3d6 (10.5) on landing. The 30-foot range is the limit: the target has to be within the geyser's reach.
Fire elementals
The fire elemental has Water Susceptibility: it takes cold damage for every gallon of water splashed on it, 1 per gallon in 2014 and 3 (1d6) per gallon in 2024. It is immune to the Prone condition in both editions, so the geyser's knockdown does nothing; the water is the weapon. If all 30 gallons count, that is 30 cold damage in 2014 (against 102 hit points) and 30d6, about 105, in 2024, more than its 93 hit points.
Neither the decanter nor the elemental says how much of a geyser counts as splashed on the target, or whether the Strength save matters for it. DM ruling: a target that fails the save takes all 30 gallons and one that succeeds takes none; a Fountain aimed at an adjacent elemental counts as 5 gallons with no save (5 cold in 2014, 5d6 in 2024).
Water for the road
In 2014 a character needs 1 gallon of water a day, 2 in hot weather; in 2024 a Small or Medium creature needs 1 gallon, a Large one 4. One 30-gallon geyser covers a 2024 party of five and their four horses with 9 gallons spare.
For scale, 30 gallons is about 4 cubic feet. Flooding a 10-by-10-foot room a foot deep takes roughly 25 geysers, two and a half minutes of one character doing nothing else.
Decanter of Endless Water: 2014 vs 2024
2014 (SRD 5.1)
2024 (SRD 5.2.1)
Rarity / attunement
Uncommon, none
Same
Weight
2 lb
2 lb
Activation
An action
Magic action
Smallest option
"Stream," 1 gallon
"Splash," 1 gallon
Aiming the geyser
Bonus action, a creature you can see within 30 ft
Part of the action; one creature of your choice in a 30-ft Line
Save and damage
DC 13 Str, 1d4 bludgeoning, prone
Same
Object
Knocked over or pushed 15 ft
Knocked over
Value
No price in the SRD
400 GP (uncommon)
What this means at the table:
•The 2024 geyser is cheaper to use. Aiming no longer takes your bonus action.
•The 2024 geyser is a Line. The target has to be somewhere along a straight 30-foot jet from you. You choose the one creature that saves, so allies standing in the Line aren't affected.
•No more pushing objects. In 2024 you can tip a 200-pound statue, not shove it 15 feet.
Is the Decanter of Endless Water Worth It?
Yes, for any party that travels. It doesn't take an attunement slot and it never runs out. In combat it competes with a cantrip: knocking one creature prone each turn is useful for a party with melee attackers (attacks against a prone creature within 5 feet have advantage), and better still against a flier.
It doesn't replace Create or Destroy Water, which can also destroy water and make rain, but it does the creating part without a spell slot.
When it's a trap: as a main attack. 1d4 damage on a failed save won't carry a fight.
Decanter of Endless Water for DMs
What it changes. Thirst stops being a resource. If your adventure is about a desert crossing or a poisoned well, hand the decanter out after that arc or make it the reward for surviving it.
Pricing. 400 GP under the SRD 5.2.1 values for an uncommon item. The 2014 SRD lists no prices. For a quick shop, see the magic item rarity calculator.
Hooks.
•A drought-stricken village owns a decanter and guards it in the temple. Someone keeps unstoppering it at night and pouring salt water into the fields.
•A ship's captain will give the party free passage for the decanter: her crew has three days of water and two weeks of sea.
•In a burned-out wizard's workshop, the decanter is the only thing not scorched. The fire elemental that did it is still bound in the cellar.
A decanter tends to solve one problem and then sit forgotten in a pack. Loreify records each session, so the recap remembers who carries it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much water does a Decanter of Endless Water make?
1 gallon, 5 gallons or 30 gallons each time you use it, fresh or salt, with no limit per day. The command words are Stream (Splash in 2024), Fountain and Geyser.
What does the geyser do?
It shoots water 30 feet. One creature in it makes a DC 13 Strength save or takes 1d4 bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. In 2014 aiming it is a bonus action; in 2024 it's part of the same Magic action.
Can a Decanter of Endless Water knock down a flying creature?
Yes, if the creature fails its DC 13 Strength save. A flying creature knocked prone falls unless it can hover, and takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet it falls.
Does a Decanter of Endless Water require attunement?
No. It needs no attunement in either edition, so anyone holding it can use it.
How much is a Decanter of Endless Water worth?
400 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of every uncommon magic item. The 2014 SRD gives no magic item prices.
Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.