Heavy Armor underwater

[Oryan77]

Which races are you talking about? I checked a few of them in the MM and I don't see any such comment for sahuagin, kuo-toa or locathah.

In the Stormwrack book, under pg 105 "Armor", the first paragraph says "Heavy armors are particularly impractical, since the wearer must fight the tendency to sink." It also mentions that most metal armor do not fare well in water, especially seawater, so aquatic people use alternative materials.

I can't even find any rules for sinking other than the encumbered rules with swim checks. But you don't make those checks if you have a swim speed do you?

It doesn't really go into more detail than that. So it gives the impression that using metal armor, especially heavy armor is impractical...which I agree with. But then it doesn't give any rules to make it impractical for aquatic races. Everything I dig up seems to only penalize you for swim checks. The only penalty with swim speed is the reduced speed, which is normal for being out of water. So then what's the increased disadvantage of wearing it underwater?

 

[Len]

We've don't use Stormwrack in my group, so that rule doesn't cause any confusion for us. Actually it sounds like half-a-rule because it's vague and it doesn't seem to be backed up by any specific mechanics. If they're not going to bother explaining how that rule works in play, to heck with it. You shouldn't have to make it up yourself.

I'd say that the normal encumbrance rules should apply - an aquatic creature in water has no more trouble moving around than a terrestrial creature on land.