D&D 5E Swimming in Armor

[Uller]

DM's Guide: Swimming is DC10 once per hour to avoid a level of Exhaustion.

You're making regular swimming harder. It's your call to make, but I wouldn't do that bit.

This covers long distance travel and long periods of time in "unusual environments" and is a constitution save. It's got nothing to do with this particular subject.

The OP is talking about swim checks which are mentioned on page 175 of the PHB.

 

[LordEntrails]

This covers long distance travel and long periods of time in "unusual environments" and is a constitution save. It's got nothing to do with this particular subject.

The OP is talking about swim checks which are mentioned on page 175 of the PHB.

Yes, thank you

 

[Hriston]

The characters are on a boat, in combat, on a mid-sized river with a current of about 2mph.

Given that you want to make falling in the river a hazard, I think you need to describe what it is about the water that's hazardous. A gently moving river going at 2 mph doesn't sound hazardous to me. All you'd need to do is add some windy conditions to make the water choppy, a fast-moving current of maybe 7 mph or more due to the river flooding or breaching, or some other hazard such as whirlpools or clinging seaweed, something that makes swimming a challenge. THEN, if a character fails the ability check, the consequence may vary due to what the character is wearing or holding. A character that's stripped down to its undergarments stops making any forward progress. A character wearing or holding anything that decreases its buoyancy sinks. At least that's how I'd be inclined to handle it.

 

[schnee]

This covers long distance travel and long periods of time in "unusual environments" and is a constitution save. It's got nothing to do with this particular subject.

The OP is talking about swim checks which are mentioned on page 175 of the PHB.

Ah, fair enough. Then, it sounds good.