Can Shape Water drown people in D&D 5E?
No.
Shape water has this as one of the possible shapes it can take and it’s clearly stated that creatures in the shape of water cannot drown victims.
No, it can not. However, Shape Water can cause major damage to a person with its icy cold shape. The more water that shapes into ice, the colder the temperature becomes and it will eventually lead to hypothermia if any of the character’s hit points fall below zero at which point they will start dying from emotional or physical trauma depending on their constitution score.
Shape water could be used in D&D 5E for a number of ways either as an actual spell from practitioner wizard stating “I cast shape water onto this buckets and pan” or in which case it is very likely that during combat someone would make use of this skill where they describe how they are using their action effectively shaping water to do whaatt they want it to do.
No.
Shape water is a low level spell where the caster can shape liquid into any shape they want over a certain space of time. The product is usually a short-lived sculpture, which will return to its original form after an hour or so, depending on the severity of the effect that created it and whether it was intended to last longer than that. It does not possess enough power to drown anyone; therefore, Shape Water cannot be used in D&D 5E in this way. To clarify, you could use this spell if you wanted your character’s breathing apparatus under water and needed something to give them oxygen with–but only for about an hour at most!
Shape water can take the form of almost any liquid, like water or acid. The material it takes on is dictated by the caster’s will and thought.
In the case of drowning due to Shape Water, turn Shape Water into chlorine mist, harmful to living things such as humans but not fish and aquatic creatures. Your targets feel choked and suffocated as they wheeze for breath, ensnared in a frighteningly toxic environment while trying desperately to escape. Chlorine gas victims have a mortality rate of around 2%. Not very high considering that inhaled at high levels it causes blurred vision; coughing; choking; chest pain; fluid filling up the lungs (pulmonary edema); heart failure due to lack of oxygen; and, ultimately, death.
Shape water cannot drown anyone in D&D 5e. In fact, no running of water is powerful enough to drown someone in D&D 5e.
No.
Shape Water is a cantrip; it has no damaging power at all. A mage could conceivably use this spell to fill up a bathtub, for instance, but drowning people in water requires both direct bodily contact and weight (so an obese person would be good!), neither of which are relevant concerns with Shape Water.
This is also one of the few spells that can be cast while wearing metal armor without incurring disadvantage on the saving throw or attack roll respectively for shoving arms through the small holes in metal armor – however, maneuvering around within a suit of full plate mail (or any other type) would likely impose insurmountable difficulties on casting it in total comfort anyway because there’s not enough room inside of a suit of armor for the mage to do so.
The Shape Water spell in D&D can’t cause something to drown, but a non-magical effect such as flooding could.
Shape water’s basic use is for shaping things like clay pots and protective barriers. However, like the other cantrips that wizards learn at level 1, it can also be used offensively as an option when you insert more than one target into the shape of a 5 foot cube (targeting multiple opponents) or a 15 foot cube (targeting your entire party). When using this spell as an offensive tool, however, make sure that the best possible shape is used! It would not be wise to use water for example if it means your allies will also get caught up in it. If you’re concerned about your allies, then take a look at the list of spells for other options that might be more suitable depending on the situation.
Shape water can be used to conceal something beneath you so that a person passing through the water doesn’t notice it. However, there’s no indication that Shape Water could cause anything like suffocation or drowning in an RPG setting since suffocation and drowning both involve ischemia – the total stoppage of blood flow to an organ. That said, D&D 5E doesn’t have rules for suffocation or drowning.
Shape water does not have the ability to drown people.
Water has no weight in D&D 5E, so shape water cannot change the density of water enough to make it cause anything other than general wetness. Additionally, even were this not the case under different game rulesets (e.g., Pathfinder), there is still a small fundamental problem with drowning from shape-able liquids: inhaling and swallowing matter. Humans are constantly surrounded by airborne particles and microscopic organisms that enter their body through respiration or ingestion, yet we do not need to swim all day just because we can’t cough up every particle that enters our lungs!
Shape Water is not a cantrip that can produce a showy effect. Rather, this spell allows you to form water in any shape you desire as long as the end result is contiguous and doesn’t exceed 1 cubic foot per level.
Shape Water does not have attack or damage statistics and will not drown someone. This spell might be used to turn an improvised step over some kind of hole into a bridge.
