RangerWickett
Legend
I don't like the 4e drowning rules. Does anyone know any variants?
Good drowning rules
- Thread starter RangerWickett
- Start date
Zero Cochrane
Explorer
Drowning Rules
If you don't like the 4th edition drowning rules, you could use the 'more realistic' ones from 3rd edition.
I noticed that higher level 4th edition characters drown faster than lower level characters because they take damage equal to their level. I simply houseruled it, so that instead they simply take 10% of their max hp in damage each round.
If you don't like the 4th edition drowning rules, you could use the 'more realistic' ones from 3rd edition.
I noticed that higher level 4th edition characters drown faster than lower level characters because they take damage equal to their level. I simply houseruled it, so that instead they simply take 10% of their max hp in damage each round.
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
Where are the drowning rules? Are they in the PH?
RangerWickett
Legend
When deprived of food, water, or air, the rule of three applies. An adventurer can handle three weeks without food, three days without water, and three minutes without air outside of strenuous situations.
After that, such deprivation is a significant test of a PCs’ stamina. At the end of the time period (three weeks, three days, or three minutes), the character must succeed on a DC 20 Endurance check.
Success buys the character another day (if hungry or thirsty), or round (if unable to breathe). Then the check is repeated at DC 25, then at DC 30, and so on. When a character fails the check, he loses one healing surge and must continue to make checks. A character without healing surges who fails a check takes damage equal to his level.
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.
As with environmental dangers, a character cannot regain healing surges lost to starvation, thirst, or suffocation until he eats a meal, drinks, or gains access to air again, respectively.
A character with 0 or fewer hit points who continues to suffer from one of these effects keeps taking damage as described above until he dies or is rescued.
After that, such deprivation is a significant test of a PCs’ stamina. At the end of the time period (three weeks, three days, or three minutes), the character must succeed on a DC 20 Endurance check.
Success buys the character another day (if hungry or thirsty), or round (if unable to breathe). Then the check is repeated at DC 25, then at DC 30, and so on. When a character fails the check, he loses one healing surge and must continue to make checks. A character without healing surges who fails a check takes damage equal to his level.
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.
As with environmental dangers, a character cannot regain healing surges lost to starvation, thirst, or suffocation until he eats a meal, drinks, or gains access to air again, respectively.
A character with 0 or fewer hit points who continues to suffer from one of these effects keeps taking damage as described above until he dies or is rescued.
I believe in 3.X, a character could hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to their Con score. After that, I'd have them make Endurance checks. I'd personally start at DC 20 and go up in increments of 2. Failure could be healing surge loss or 1d6/1d10 damage per tier.
The damage has to scale, otherwise epic characters could just hang out forever underwater. Then again, they are EPIC. Maybe it shouldn't scale...
Anyway, just my opinion.
The damage has to scale, otherwise epic characters could just hang out forever underwater. Then again, they are EPIC. Maybe it shouldn't scale...
Anyway, just my opinion.
Trit One-Ear
Explorer
I've been wanting to throw a Water-Filling Chamber trap at my players for some time now, but I agree the drowning rules aren't... frightening enough to make it actually threatening. With any amount of competence in the group, players should be able to disable or escape the trap (I'm glancing at the one in the Dragon 366 article Trapped!) within three minutes.
There has to be a way to make drowning start out slow, maybe taking damage equal to the appropriate ongoing level (5, 10 etc) then having it ramp up quickly... that way a few failures won't be too devastating, while still keeping the players threatened, and continued failure becomes more deadly.
Just ideas. Not really sure how I'd implement these mechanically.
Trit
There has to be a way to make drowning start out slow, maybe taking damage equal to the appropriate ongoing level (5, 10 etc) then having it ramp up quickly... that way a few failures won't be too devastating, while still keeping the players threatened, and continued failure becomes more deadly.
Just ideas. Not really sure how I'd implement these mechanically.
Trit
Viking Bastard
Adventurer
I featured a drowning trap in my game a few months back and I handled it like so:
Getting out of the trap consisted of swimming to the top, unlocking/smashing their way out, while being under attack by underwater critters who kept dragging them down.
It was pretty tense.
Rather than place it under any arbitrary in-fiction time constrains, I timed it by actions: 1 action (be it minor, move or standard) costs 1 surge. Not doing anything for a turn counts as 1 action. Those trained in Endurance get free actions equal to their CON modifier. Once out of the pit, they could do an endurance check to regain 1 surge for every 5 rolled over 10 (a roll of 15 gave 1 surge, 20 gave 2 surges, etc.).
Getting out of the trap consisted of swimming to the top, unlocking/smashing their way out, while being under attack by underwater critters who kept dragging them down.
It was pretty tense.
Dr_Ruminahui
First Post
Yeah, for the risk of drowning to be threatening, one really needs some element that (potentially) subjects the PCs to damage, as it is those extra tests which add tension.
So, other creatures or combining the water trap with a trap doing lightning damage seem like getting the tension that Trit is looking for.
So, other creatures or combining the water trap with a trap doing lightning damage seem like getting the tension that Trit is looking for.
RangerWickett
Legend
The trouble is that in reality, nearly drowning doesn't cause injury or really fatigue you much in the long haul. I can dive underwater and hold my breath for a minute-ish, then pop up, get fresh air, and try it again after a minute. If you held me down and I had to flail to get to the surface a few seconds after I started to run out of air, I'd be short of breath and probably wouldn't want to go under again for a few minutes, but I'd be able to.
So breath shouldn't use healing surges or hit points.
So breath shouldn't use healing surges or hit points.
