Hello fellow Athasians!
I have jsut converted my Pathfinder DS campaign til 5th edition. Even though I like this edition better I meet the same problem here when it somes to the water cleric. In short, the water cleric destroys the Dark Sun feeling! Whit the use of one 1lvl slot he or she completely removes the problem with shortage of water when in the desert.
So I am looking for any good House Rules that tackles this problem.
how much water can he generate?
10 gallons per spell
how much spells does he get per day in 5th E?
Well he is 4th lvl now so he has 4 1st lvl spells/day
so with one spell he probably gets enough water for the whole group?
hmmm… how about reducing the amount of gallons per spell and deciding that the cleric can only generate the water into 1 vessel? so either he has a huge one or he is going to waste water.
The 3.5 DS Rules set from Athas.org has the spell Create Element instead of Create Water. It lets a Water cleric summon 2 gallons per level, while a Rain cleric gets 1 gallon per level. Substantially less than the 10 gallons you’re looking at. In 2nd Ed Create Water only created 1/2 gallon per level IIRC (along with Create Food & Drink).
I’d suggest a house rule adaptation of your Water cleric’s spells in line with one of the above options. Perfectly in keeping with the setting of Dark Sun.
Kalindren is right; spells that create any amount of water should be significantly reduced in power. You could even ban or substitute certain spells, if you feel like so.
Other mechanics to consider for adventures to make the party feel the pain of no water.
Cursing the waterskin. If it poisons the pure water, then that’s a problem.
Damaging the waterskin. If it leaks, then that’s a problem.
Kidnapping the water cleric. Nice water cleric, it would be a shame if something happened to him.
Killing the water cleric. A water cleric is one hell of a target. A raiding party has to kill one individual and then let the desert do the rest.
Interrupt their drinking with raids until they forget to drink and pass out.
Also I forgot my favorite. Give them a half-giant or two.
Templars hunting down clerics is also a thing.
I do not think many people would want to kill a water cleric. Most everyone is going to want to capture the water cleric, so that they can use all the water the cleric can product. Slave tribes, villages, nobles, even templars are going to see the water cleric as a valuable resource. The water cleric is going to be hunted, not to be killed, but constantly under the threat of kidnapping.
Bear in mind that templars can create water as well; they just keep it for themselves, so they can better control the populace. Having a few wild hermits who claim they can call upon the element of water and help the thirsty for free, when you are the sole distributor of water in the city-state, you know you’re in for some serious issues. What’s worse, these clerics speak of ideals, concepts and philosophies that will certainly instill doubt over the sorcerer-kings’ rule, and might even spark rebellions.
Generally, any form of magic use not controlled or sanctioned by the sorcerer-kings and their lackeys are considered a threat to the temp… erm, the city-state’s welfare.
This is exactly how I would handle it. The old boxed sets did this as well. Basically, any spell that created water that you could drink had it’s water output reduced a lot. In AD&D terms, the create water spell normally produced 4 gallons per caster level. In Dark Sun this was reduced to 1/2 gallon per caster level (so a 87.5% reduction).
If you carry that forward to 5e terms, I would say Create or Destroy Water’s output of 10 gallons per spell slot level should be reduced to 1.25 gallons per spell slot level.
Likewise, Create Food and Water’s 30 gallons would be reduced to 3.75 gallons.
You could of course round these up or down as you saw fit.