Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1605206" data-attributes="member: 99">I'm with CarlZog in that I think you should forget about the scuba diving angle for the most part.  The "Bends" is not something that is of concern if you are breathing air of a constant pressure, even at a pressure higher than you are used to.One thing that might be a problem however is the higher saturation in the blood of certain gasses.  Like Nitrogen.  The absorbtion and release of Nitrogen is what causes the Bends when a diver undergoes a rapid decrease in pressure.  But the absorbtion also can contribute to a condition known as Nitrogen Narcosis.  Essentially it is a feeling not unlike being drunk and it can be dangerous if you're in a hazardous environment.One story in particular chills me when this topic comes up:My father (who is a dive instructor) was on a trip to Cozumel Mexico.  Much of the diving in Cozumel is what is called "wall diving".  Basically you are diving along the edge of an island and the bottom drops off steeply into an undersea trench.  As a result you need to pay careful attention to your depth guage to make sure you aren't going too deep because you are without your usual indicator of that condition (i.e. the bottom).  My father and a group he was travelling with was on such a dive along with a few other people who were vacationing there.One woman who was diving with this group started to stray a little too deep and so one of the dive guides came over to her, got her attention and signaled that she should ascend to a shallower depth.  She signalled "ok" and swam up a bit.  Unfortunately she was probably already starting to fall into the grips of Nitrogen Narcosis.  Her mind was not funtioning properly.  She didn't adjust her buoyancy any and obviously wasn't paying much attention to her depth guages.A short time later, somebody noticed that she was missing.  The dive guide swam back against the current and looked for her.  He spotted her dive light shining around and it was DEEP.  He rapidly descended and stopped when he reached around 150 feet.  He could still see her dive light and it was shining far below where he was.  She was never found and was probably mercifully drunk at the time of her death.Certain people are more susceptable to this condition than others and that could be the basis for some interesting adventures.  Watch the Abyss for an appropriately dramatized story of pressure induced insanity.Also, always dive with a buddy and abort the dive if either of you starts to feel any disorientation.</blockquote>

Verification