A staple of dungeons are magical pools, fountains, and springs, as well as waterfalls concealing sublevels and portals to elsewhere (or elsewhen) and raging rivers acting as barriers and rapid, albeit dangerous, transport to deeper in.
Magical pools have a long history in DnD, from the fabled pool room of B1: In Search of the Unknown to the Pool of Radiance of Goldbox Fame, and again in Ruins of Adventure. Drinking deep from the well of knowledge even reveals Appendix A from the AD&D DMG.
From B1: In Search of the Unknown, page 17, room 31, art by Sutherland
Magical water features are fun, because they require players to interact with them, be it through drinking the water or bathing in it. Perhaps my favorite unofficial pool comes from the campaign journal for Idalium, hosted at Dragonsfoot. It heals, raises, AND later clones anyone it raises, for all sorts of mischief at the table.
To add to risk/reward of exploration, perhaps pools only react well to specific races, alignments, or followers of specific deities. Suddenly, those ill-considered choices made during PC creation matter.
1. Transmute Metal - either making base metals valuable or changing valuables to lead (and therefore sinking the carrier).
2. Adjust stats up or down - specific stats or roll randomly; a set amount or roll randomly.
3. Teleport - to one or more locations, depending on keys, a sequence, or random chance. Are they two-way or one-way.
5. Possession - the plot of Pool of Radiance. Does the PC suddenly become an NPC, or can they be trusted to play as the new being.
6. Become Undead - pool glows a sickly red or purple, like that episode of Stranger Things; no doubt a rift to the Negative Energy Plane is at the bottom.
7. Polymorph - perhaps with a twist, like in
Ranma 1/2.
8.
Mutate - bubbling greenish goo, probably with an odor.
9. Change size up or down - shrinking down may result in drowning.
10. Heal or Harm - be it straight hit points or conditions that are healed or inflicted, there is variety.
11. Raise Dead or Reincarnate - both result in the PC sticking around.
12. Clone - nothing happens at first, but with time, a clone will arise, a clone whose purpose is to destroy its progenitor.
13. Youth or Age - maybe you actually get younger or just forever remain your current age; then again, you may wrinkle and crumble to dust! Roll randomly for years or go by set amount.
14. Free XP - bonus power! Ideal if your game uses magic powered by XP; if not,
15. De-magic something (or someone) - a nasty surprise or a welcome rescue from a curse.
16. Enchant something (or someone) - a welcome surprise or a nasty curse. A werefish? Learn a spell?
17. Wild Magic - perhaps from this
d10000 table or a more reasonable list.
18. Wish - either the pool itself or a fish swimming in the pool, like in a koi pond. Does it
monkeypaw?
19. Immortality - What does immortality look like? Perhaps it simply doesn't let you die, but still take damage and survive, regardless of condition.
20. Secrets - be sure they are actionable secrets - locations of lost hoards, true names of potent beings, eldritch rituals, etc - stuff the players will be interested in and try to use pursue at the table.
Of course, it is preferred that some clues be provided for a clever party to narrow down likely results. One such clue is what liquid is in the pool. Water, blood, wine, acid, or something else all change the color, consistency, and contents to anything you'd like. The physical clues of statues and carvings and corpses around the pool can provide clues, as well.
In the end, though, someone needs to drink from or touch or bathe in the pool to see what happens. Given the power of some of the affects, it is recommended that PCs only benefit from one bath or drink, not multiples. Carrying water away as a later potion should probably fail, as well.
The beauty of such pools is that at least one player is guaranteed to give them a shot. So if you use magical pools, be ready to handle the consequences.
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Of course, pools and fountains can also contain monsters, harkening back to Caric's adventures in the Dungeon of Dread, where he learns early on to "watch the water that is not water, and beware the basilisk!" As the book cover shows, water weirds love to hang out in pools.
Other critters, do as well, though. Water Elementals, Kelpies, Nixies and Naiads, Merrow, Aboleth, Ixitachital, Grey Ooze, and a variety of tenctacled monstrosities (like the Watcher in the Water from LotR). All of which share one desire: to drown and likely eat unwary surface dwellers.
A simple trick is to have something glowing and valuable looking in the pool. That alone can be enough to bait the trap. Players (and wise PCs) should suspect it to be a trap, but still go willingly because it could be a MAGIC ITEM.
The things I learn from Angler Fish...
Anyhow, let me know in the comments about any fun magical pools your party has run afoul of.
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