A Swimmingly Easy Question

[Greenfield]

Read the Cold Water and Flowing Water sections of the rules compendium - that will make things more difficult.

Also, although I cannot find specific rules, fatigue should become a factor. Swimming, particularly in a hard current is very fatiguing. Once fatigued, continuing to swim (and you'd really have no choice) would cause exhaustion.

Now you'd be in deep crap.

Swimming a wide, cold, fast flowing mountain river isn't easy, although I would think you'd be unlikely to drown unless you got swept under when you were fatigued. More likely, you'd get busted against some rocks with injuries.

I think the "non-lethal damage" may represent that fatigue.

Alternately, one could rule that struggling against fast/cold water is like sprinting: One round per CON point, then you have a problem, whether you're holding your breath or not.

 

[Water Bob]

Hey Bob, how did the swim encounter go with the party?

LOL. As fate would have it, the players didn't even go into the deep end. Long story short: One of the PCs fell off the tree and was taken by these not-yet-cave-man-men-missing-link types. When he was dragged off, this took the focus on the game in a new direction.

When the players finally did get to the Blood River, they were many leagues east, up river, where the river is fordable.

As a GM, you try to be prepared for what you can predict. I try never to railroad my players--instead allowing them to go wherever play takes us. In between games, I try to prepare for what lies ahead, as I did in this case. But not always does "what lies ahead" end up happening in the game.

I still may recycle the idea for later, though.

Nothing gets wasted. Just moved.

Fast moving water will beat the crap out of you.

Sure, but by the official rule, even the strongest of us will be unconscious in a couple of minutes. That's some pretty incredible water that could beat down an athlete like that in just a few minutes.