D&D 5E Ring of Water Walking

[not-so-newguy]

Alternative title: What the hell did I just do to myself?

So I introduced a Ring of Water Walking into my campaign yesterday. I like these kind of items because of the types of imaginative shenanigans the players will try to pull. Just so I might be able to anticipate some things, please share what you might do with such an item or any experiences with it. On the flip side, tell me what limitations you might put on such an item.

5E Ring of Water Walking (copy/paste from DnD beyond)
While wearing this ring, you can stand on and move across any liquid surface as if it were solid ground.

 

[Morrus]

Unless your campaign is very rivers-as-obstacles themed, I can't imagine it will be particularly disruptive.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

I would BET that the typical aboleth has magic spells or items that allows them to IMMEDIATELY sense when someone is using the power of a ring of water walking or water breathing anywhere within 5 miles of a body of water that connects to theirs. Why? Its a bonafide surface dweller hunting device and they always want more slaves (and they prefer air breathing humanoids). Also who most will be using rings of water walking or water breathing but an air breathing humanoid 99% of the time? Youd be one evil dm.

Have fun with the evil seed that i have sown into your brain and watered with my honeyed words in your ear.

 

[jaelis]

Best exploit that immediately comes to mind is flooding an area of dangerous terrain so you can walk safely across it. With create water and shape water you could manage that pretty well I guess. But it doesn't seem particularly game breaking.

 

[J-H]

It only gets 1-2 players added mobility. Give it to the strong guy and he can carry the team one at a time across a river. Give it to the scout, and he can move super fast (relatively) when scouting a swamp, etc.

The main combat use comes when you're dealing with fortifications (acid pits, filled moats, and the like). No major shenanigans immediately come to mind. Any monk can do the same thing by mid-levels anyway.

 

[MarkB]

Questions worth considering beforehand, just so that you don't have to rule on them ad hoc in the moment:

How does a fast-flowing current affect the wearer? Do they move along the surface like it's a conveyor belt, or remain stationary aside from their own movement?

What happens if someone is knocked prone while walking on water? Do they fall in if their feet are out from under them, or do they lie on the surface? If they're already underwater, is there an easy way to go from swimming to walking once they break the surface?

How do things like strong waves or choppy, stormy seas affect movement and remaining standing? Is it effectively like walking during an earthquake?

If a person falls into water involuntarily, such as falling into a trap or off a bridge, how voluntary or involuntary is the water walking? Do they automatically land on it like a solid surface, or do they need to deliberately activate the effect?

 

[Lanefan]

Questions worth considering beforehand, just so that you don't have to rule on them ad hoc in the moment:

Over the years I've hit all of these. My own rulings:

How does a fast-flowing current affect the wearer? Do they move along the surface like it's a conveyor belt, or remain stationary aside from their own movement?

The current carries the wearer, just as if it was a moving floor. And see below...

What happens if someone is knocked prone while walking on water? Do they fall in if their feet are out from under them, or do they lie on the surface?

Lie on the surface. But, that said...

If they're already underwater, is there an easy way to go from swimming to walking once they break the surface?

They can't break the surface. In effect it's like ice that way; they're trapped beneath until the ring is removed.

The hard one comes when they remove the ring and are then swimming at the surface. If they don the ring at that point there's several things that might happen:

• the water surface acts like broken ice that the wearer can, if lucky and-or dextrous, crawl up on to
• the water surface "hardens" right up to the wearer on all sides, effectively trapping the wearer in place
• the water surface hardens and eventually, as the wearer struggles, chops the wearer in two

I've never had to make this decision; as whenever I've informed a player that donning the ring in this situation might be a bad idea the player has invariably gone to a plan B of some sort.

How do things like strong waves or choppy, stormy seas affect movement and remaining standing? Is it effectively like walking during an earthquake?

It makes movement difficult, or impossible, or outright dangerous, depending on the wave action.

If a person falls into water involuntarily, such as falling into a trap or off a bridge, how voluntary or involuntary is the water walking? Do they automatically land on it like a solid surface, or do they need to deliberately activate the effect?

It's always-on, so it'd be like falling onto solid ice.

One question that follows on from the first one above: What happens if a current carries someone into a whirlpool or over a significant waterfall? Well, let's just say the end result would be both messy and very, very permanent...

 

[Zardnaar]

Get suspicious of they start turning water into wine.

 

[Lanefan]

Get suspicious of they start turning water into wine.

There's a good April Fool's magic item:

Ring of Wine Walking.

It doesn't let you walk on wine; rather, it keeps you upright and moving in a straight line when the amount of wine you've consumed would very much dictate otherwise...

 

[Zardnaar]

There's a good April Fool's magic item:

Ring of Wine Walking.

It doesn't let you walk on wine; rather, it keeps you upright and moving in a straight line when the amount of wine you've consumed would very much dictate otherwise...

Send that to my sister in law please.