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Disclaimer : This question pertains to realizing a non-mechanical, very specific thing (within the scope of Adventurers League) for goofy purposes. You may take it with a grain of salt.

A Tundra Storm Herald Barbarian (subclass from Xanathar's Guide to Everything) gets the following Storm Soul secondary feature at 6th level :

Moreover, as an action, you can touch water and turn a 5-foot cube of it into ice, which melts after 1 minute. This action fails if a creature is in the cube.

Let's assume that the secondary feature lets you make a smaller cube than 5 foot (if you have access to less water than that).

A Decanter of Endless Water is an uncommon Wondrous item that lets you shoot water from it :

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. (goes on to list the three options).

The goal here is for the Tundra Barbarian to "shoot ice" instead of water (no added mechanical effect), without external help (someone else to activate the Decanter for them). This is not so easy since the Decanter's water finishes pouring at the start of their next turn, right before they can freeze it "mid-air" with their Tundra feature. Action Surge would possibly enable it to work, but I don't have that as a pure Level 20 Tundra Barbarian.

To that effect, can a Tundra Barbarian pre-emptively freeze the water contained inside a Decanter of Endless Water (in order to shoot ice upon activating the Decanter) ? (for example, by removing the stopper without saying a command word, and reaching his hand inside the device to freeze water, which may or may not be possible)

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    \$\begingroup\$ Is the idea here to make daiquiris or margaritas for giants? :) to "shoot ice" instead of water \$\endgroup\$
    – KorvinStarmast
    Oct 7, 2019 at 17:37

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No, there is no water in the flask

The Decanter (DMG, 161) description heavily suggests that there isn't any actual water in it when not in use(emphasis mine):

This stoppered flask sloshes when shaken, as if it contains water.

The use of "as if it" suggests that the item itself is just a decanter. There is no water in it when not in actual use, and the water it decants is magically created when you:

...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 fact that it also may be fresh or salt water also supports the idea that there is no water prior to the command word, and the command words create the water as it comes out, but nothing is actually inside it.

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    \$\begingroup\$ For your curiosity, my current way to achieve my "ice Gun" (without any added mechanical benefit of course) is to have an Awakened Shrub under my command activate the Decanter, and then me freezing the water in mid-air, which I assume (maybe incorrectly) works properly. But this relies on the Shrub actually surviving in Tier 4, which is not guaranteed, ha ha ha ! \$\endgroup\$
    – Gael L
    Oct 7, 2019 at 17:11
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    \$\begingroup\$ This is very stretched logic. Using the construction "as if it" does not mean it 100% doesn't contain the thing, it just conveys the sensation as effective description. You can say "The dam burst like millions of litres of water surging through a sudden small opening", without being wrong, and it is 100% accurate because that is exactly what is happening. \$\endgroup\$
    – GreySage
    Oct 7, 2019 at 18:40
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    \$\begingroup\$ @GreySage That's why I followed it up with the fact that in can contain either fresh or salt water. It can't have both. But the language does seem to suggest that the liquid, whatever it is, comes out only open the issuance of the command words. So maybe it contains a non-water liquid? Or maybe it's just magic. I'm going with magic. Feel free to disagree :) \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Oct 7, 2019 at 18:42
  • \$\begingroup\$ @NautArch something to consider in your answer, the decanter only weighs 2 lbs, equal to a waterskin with 1 pint of water. \$\endgroup\$
    – Journer
    Oct 7, 2019 at 21:27
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    \$\begingroup\$ @journer lots of things weigh 2 lbs. And a solid decanter could easily weigh that on its own. \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Oct 7, 2019 at 21:37

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