Paralysis

[Tilla the Hun (work)]

This is, in my opinion, likely to stir up quite a debate But then, I usually enjoy those kind of discussions.

The situation is thus:

A PC, for whatever reason, is paralyzed. As per the rules, they are helpless. Str and Dex effectively fall to 0, they are rigid and limbs cannot be moved. They hear their breath and heartbeat in their ears, but cannot take any physical actions. They can take purely mental actions, such as casting a spell with no somatic, verbal or material components (good luck). Paralyzed characters cannot swim and _may_ drown. Flyers cannot flap wings, and so fall to the ground (ow) - Wizards fly spell not looking so silly, eh pixie?

That's all per the rules - various places in the rules, but all per the rules in the SRD, 3.5 DMG, and the 3.5 FAQ. None contradict each other, and are actually relatively clear (for a wonder.)


Now comes the doozy of a question.

Paralysis, as a condition, states verbatim: Paralyzed characters cannot swim and may drown.

Can they hold their breath?

I think so, so does another player I know. I just recently witnessed a character death due to this, when the GM ruled no. With that 'no' he sentenced a character to death at 3 rounds from drowning. That's 3 rounds from entering the water to death. Not very heroic to me, at least.


Does anyone know of any kind of official ruling regarding this? I've discussed the non-rules associated questions in depth and have come to several conclusions.

1) Breathing is a series of muscular contractions regulated by a mental process. Technically as written, if you cannot use _any_ muscle, you shouldn't be able to breath. For that matter, your heart'll stop too.

2) Paralysis, as a condition, reduces Str and Dex to 0. These have clearly documented rulesets, and cannot interfere with mental commands, merely physical actions. Therefore, if paralysis does not stop you from breathing, it cannot stop you from not breathing.

The GM didn't buy it at the time, he wanted the PC death for nothing but dramatic plot even unfolding - his words, verbatim. I'm looking for some kind of rules for the next time this comes up, so we don't needlessly lose a medium level heroic character in 3 simple rounds of paralysis + water in the face. To give him credit, he is very responsive to actual rules as written - at least, most of the time.


Any help?

 

[AGGEMAM]

IMO if you can breathe, you can also voluntarily hold your breath.

 

[evilbob]

IMO if you can breathe, you can also voluntarily hold your breath.

Absolutely. Your diaphram is essentially excluded from paralysis. Therefore, you can stop it moving if you choose.

I'd say the GM ruled poorly in that case.

 

[James McMurray]

I'd rule no. Hold your breath for a half a minute. Now try to explain how you did it without manipulating your muscles. Unconscious (i.e. autonomous) actions are excluded from paralysis. Conscious activities are not. Note that this is all IMO.

 

[AGGEMAM]

I'd rule no. Hold your breath for a half a minute. Now try to explain how you did it without manipulating your muscles. Unconscious (i.e. autonomous) actions are excluded from paralysis. Conscious activities are not. Note that this is all IMO.

Except you try breathing under water. It's basically almost impossible to consciously draw breath under water.

Holding your breath when submerged in water is an automatic reflex for almost all mammals except for dolphins and whales for some odd reason.

 

[Tatsukun]

I agree with AGGEMAM on this one. It seems to me that we are talking about conscious / unconscious actions. If we allow the respiratory, circulatory, ?digestive? systems to continue because they are involuntary, we should allow the holding of breath in water.

Humans hold their breath when they are in water (even see a baby swim? They breathe normally, but if they turn face down they hold their breath instinctively). It's a natural reaction, a reflex.

Also, if water actually enters the esophagus, it clamps shut (reflex again). A lot of people fall into the water, get water in their lungs, this clamping happens, and even after they are pulled out of the water they can't breath because of it. It’s sort of an emergency bulkhead built in (but with a bad reset function, oops).

Wow, that's a lot of words to say "You can hold your breath".

-Tatsu

 

[shilsen]

Wow, that's a lot of words to say "You can hold you breath".

Yeah - especially since you wanted to say "You can hold your breath"!

Just being an ass here Does it help if I say that I agree with you?

 

[Numion]

Holding your breath when submerged in water is an automatic reflex for almost all mammals except for dolphins and whales for some odd reason.

Whales don't breathe underwater, do they?

 

[Tatsukun]

Yeah - especially since you wanted to say "You can hold your breath"!

DOH, fixed. I hate when that happens !

-T

 

[AGGEMAM]

Whales don't breathe underwater, do they?

I hope you're trying to be funny, right?

No, whales and dolphins, like all other mammals, breathe air. But the strange thing is that both of these marine creatures have to consciuosly hold their breath underwater whereas for most land living mammals this is an automatic reflex.