Immobilzed on the bottom of a pool

[Uller]

Last night the party made its way into a room with a pit filled with 15' of water. The mage droped vision of avarice on the bottom of the pool. It hit 3 of the 4 enemies immobilizing them. Only one failed its save to be pulled into the pool. He sustained it so on the secondary attck he hit all those that were still outside the pool, pulling them in. This time they all failed their saves and fell in. None of the immobilized ones made their saves. So now the entire enemy force is at the bottom of the pool and 3 of the 4 are immobilized.

The rules for drowning seem lame. 3 minutes before you even have to make an endurance check? It seems in combat if you are trapped under water the check should be immediate and failure should do some HP damage. What do other DMs think? I don't think a couple rounds should kill a PC or a monster but there should be some price.

 

[Nichwee]

In strenuous situations, such as combat, going without air is much harder. A character holding his breath during underwater combat, for example, must make a DC 20 Endurance check at the end of his turn in a round where he takes damage.

From the DMG. So you take a Check at the end of any turn you took damage. This then starts the Checks and the DMG says a check every round once you start taking them (at DC+5 each time).

 

[Uller]

Well that's convenient. The round he sustained vision of avarice he hit all 4 baddies with shock sphere. So they all took damage. Monsters are assumed to have one healing surge correct? So first failed save they lose that. Second they take 1 hp/level...that seems better. We cut the game off at the end of round 2 so they're still at the bottom of the pool.

 

[Trit One-Ear]

From the DMG. So you take a Check at the end of any turn you took damage. This then starts the Checks and the DMG says a check every round once you start taking them (at DC+5 each time).

Ah that's how you read that? I assumed with that wording it was just an additional check at the end of any turn in which the character took damage. But I like it better is way with taking damage triggering the normal saving throws. Adds some immediacy and a real threat to nderwater combat.

Trit

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Just a quick note: monsters get 1 healing surge per tier. An epic monster would get three.

 

[S'mon]

Last night the party made its way into a room with a pit filled with 15' of water. The mage droped vision of avarice on the bottom of the pool. It hit 3 of the 4 enemies immobilizing them. .

As DM, no way would I allow that. For a start, unless they're right on the edge of the pool the vision won't have line of effect to them.

 

[Ferghis]

I think using terrain to your advantage is one of the best ways to play the tactical portion of the game. If they came up with an-encounter resolving use of terrain, it should be rewarded with success, at the very least.

 

[Uller]

They were all on the edge of the pool. Even if they weren't I'd have allowed it. Creative use of abilities and environment to overcome problems is what makes D&D more fun than CRPGs. The way we narrated it: the wizard pulled a gold coin from his pocket, spoke some words to empower it so his enemies would covet it and then he flipped it in a high arc into the pool. So all the enemy creatures saw it fly into the pool so they all dove in (some hesitated).

Last night we finished up. A few of the creatures ended up taking damage from drowning. The wizard followed up with blissful ignorance slowing them which kept them under water for an extra round.

 

[S'mon]

They were all on the edge of the pool. Even if they weren't I'd have allowed it. Creative use of abilities and environment to overcome problems is what makes D&D more fun than CRPGs. The way we narrated it: the wizard pulled a gold coin from his pocket, spoke some words to empower it so his enemies would covet it and then he flipped it in a high arc into the pool. So all the enemy creatures saw it fly into the pool so they all dove in (some hesitated).

Last night we finished up. A few of the creatures ended up taking damage from drowning. The wizard followed up with blissful ignorance slowing them which kept them under water for an extra round.

You did at least give them a save to fall prone at the edge of the pool rather than enter hazardous terrain?

You've got an extremely powerful spell per RAW, then you seem to be ignoring RAW to make it an I-win button. Never mind the 'realism' of the monsters sitting drowning at the bottom of the pool - would you have monsters do that to PCs? Not good IMO.

Edit: You mention CRPGs - the situation reminds me of exploiting a flaw in programming code or monster AI to get an easy win.

 

[Ferghis]

You did at least give them a save to fall prone at the edge of the pool rather than enter hazardous terrain?

He did:

The mage droped vision of avarice on the bottom of the pool. It hit 3 of the 4 enemies immobilizing them. Only one failed its save to be pulled into the pool. He sustained it so on the secondary attck he hit all those that were still outside the pool, pulling them in. This time they all failed their saves and fell in.

Emphasis mine.