I've read several/all of the threads on this forum about Shape Water, and none of them really get at the heart of my question.
Shape Water says that "You instantaneously move or otherwise change the flow of the water as you direct, up to 5 feet in any direction." There seems to be a consensus (and correct me if I'm wrong), that:
You cannot make a bubble of water just float around in the air.
You cannot form water into a shape, like a pillar, or a swan, and then freeze it that way, making a nice little sculpture.
RAW, why not? There are plenty of videos on YouTube of people in cold environments throwing water into the air that freezes before hitting the ground. I feel like this should be possible with magic. If I can throw a ball 5 feet in the air and hit it with a racket, why couldn't a wizard throw some water in the air and freeze it?
What does moving the water up do? Is it just basically a 5-foot splash? Does it have any utility?
Incorrect. There is specifically a function of the spell that does exactly this and lasts for 1 hour.
The 5 foot of movement is kind of just useful for moving water short distances without a bucket. Need to fill a pot for soup? Move water 5 feet from river to pot.
Most people probably use it for the ability to make simple water/ice sculptures (nothing detailed with the spell, but you can use tools after).
Yeah I'd absolutely allow 2, although it wouldn't have a lot of detail.
As for 1, you can change the flow to upwards, but it will immediately come back down again. If you just needed to douse something in that square, it would do the trick.
So say you have a hot spring in a below freezing environment. Does that mean you can start creating Minecraft-like structures by moving and freezing the water from the hot spring?
So say you have a hot spring in a below freezing environment. Does that mean you can start creating Minecraft-like structures by moving and freezing the water from the hot spring?
Not quite. There is a limit. Shape water can have no more then 2 non instantaneous effects at a time.
If you get creative with it, you might be able to have 2 5×5×5 cubes of ice (shaped however you want). The temperature of the environment doesn't really matter, because the water will magically return to whatever temperature it was before it was magically frozen.
A DM might let you shape a water block and keep recasting every hour to keep its shape while it slowly freezes in real time (probably take a few hours for a 1×1×1 cube to freeze solid in 20° weather). You'd probably be better off just making a mold at that point though...
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I've read several/all of the threads on this forum about Shape Water, and none of them really get at the heart of my question.
Shape Water says that "You instantaneously move or otherwise change the flow of the water as you direct, up to 5 feet in any direction." There seems to be a consensus (and correct me if I'm wrong), that:
RAW, why not? There are plenty of videos on YouTube of people in cold environments throwing water into the air that freezes before hitting the ground. I feel like this should be possible with magic. If I can throw a ball 5 feet in the air and hit it with a racket, why couldn't a wizard throw some water in the air and freeze it?
What does moving the water up do? Is it just basically a 5-foot splash? Does it have any utility?
The 5 foot of movement is kind of just useful for moving water short distances without a bucket. Need to fill a pot for soup? Move water 5 feet from river to pot.
Most people probably use it for the ability to make simple water/ice sculptures (nothing detailed with the spell, but you can use tools after).
Yeah I'd absolutely allow 2, although it wouldn't have a lot of detail.
As for 1, you can change the flow to upwards, but it will immediately come back down again. If you just needed to douse something in that square, it would do the trick.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
So say you have a hot spring in a below freezing environment. Does that mean you can start creating Minecraft-like structures by moving and freezing the water from the hot spring?
Not quite. There is a limit. Shape water can have no more then 2 non instantaneous effects at a time.
If you get creative with it, you might be able to have 2 5×5×5 cubes of ice (shaped however you want). The temperature of the environment doesn't really matter, because the water will magically return to whatever temperature it was before it was magically frozen.
A DM might let you shape a water block and keep recasting every hour to keep its shape while it slowly freezes in real time (probably take a few hours for a 1×1×1 cube to freeze solid in 20° weather). You'd probably be better off just making a mold at that point though...