Sailing into boiling water

[Felix]

This is sounding worse than the journeys of the ... Sloop John B...

How can it be worse than "the cook threw away all your grits"?

 

[Ry]

The sea, if it's any size at all, would surely touch off monsoons and hurricanes that went to other areas. If it's a sea-sized sea civilization as we know it might be in trouble.

 

[DrStalker]

In a scientifically accurate world the ship would go through just about everything described so far, immediately plummeting to the bottom of the ocean while falling apart while the crew suffer severe burns and find them selves unable to breath properly. (I'm not sure exactly what the primary mechanism of death is for a person immersed in boiling water, but it can't be fun.)

In a D&D game, what sort of impact does the GM want it to have? If instant-death is desired, you have it... but it would likely be more dramatic to have the ship start to fall apart beneath the characters as they rush around franticly trying to hold it together long enough to get to safety, the lower levels progressively flooding with boiling water and the conditions causing an escalating amount of non-lethal damage from the extreme heat and humidity. While trying to fight off flying monsters intent on stopping their quest, and leaving them stranded on the Mysterious Isle of Doom™ with a broken pile of ex-ship.

 

[Gez]

What would happen to a ship and crew that sailed into a sea heated to boiling? Can a crew protected itself from the rising steam? What happens to wood (ship) in boiling water? (I don't necessarily need scientific precision, here.)

Is it D&D? Then they better hope they got a druid, a wizard, a sorcerer, and a cleric. High level the four of them.

This kind of thing isn't survivable at all without magic, and lots of it.

Three fronts:
1. Preventing the ship from just sinking because of water density. This is tough, but potentially workable with a lot of floating discs lifting the ship. The ship's structure would have to have been redesigned for this, though, as the wizard's not going to be able to place the discs below the hull, so you'd need support beams able to lift the hull inside the ship.

2. Preserving the ship's infrastructure from warping and leaking. Even if the ship is lifted by magic and can't sink, the crew wouldn't be happy if everything below deck is full of boiling water. Unless you can argue to have walls of force anchored to the ship, and thus moving along, rather than anchored to the world and thus tearing the ship down, I don't see how to do it. Maybe by recasting fabricate and make whole continually?

3. Letting the crew survive the heat. This is quite simple, actually. You just need to have enough resist energy spells to let them soak the damage. The heat would be too much for endure elements, though you can cast that one as well to help them with the Fort save they'd probably get to make anyway.

Alternatively, a single Miracle spell could probably protect the ship and make it seaworthy even in these conditions, until the end of the trip. A wish wouldn't, though. Wishes are bastards who tend to mangle your words in the worst way the DM can imagine, while miracles, as long as prayed to a Good deity, force the DM to not be awful about it. Then it's just a question of cranking out protection spells on the crew until they're arrived. Given the limited duration of these spells, you'd better start by spending a few months making a lot of scrolls and potions.

 

[Maldor]

Is it D&D? Then they better hope they got a druid, a wizard, a sorcerer, and a cleric. High level the four of them.

This kind of thing isn't survivable at all without magic, and lots of it.

Three fronts:
1. Preventing the ship from just sinking because of water density. This is tough, but potentially workable with a lot of floating discs lifting the ship. The ship's structure would have to have been redesigned for this, though, as the wizard's not going to be able to place the discs below the hull, so you'd need support beams able to lift the hull inside the ship.

2. Preserving the ship's infrastructure from warping and leaking. Even if the ship is lifted by magic and can't sink, the crew wouldn't be happy if everything below deck is full of boiling water. Unless you can argue to have walls of force anchored to the ship, and thus moving along, rather than anchored to the world and thus tearing the ship down, I don't see how to do it. Maybe by recasting fabricate and make whole continually?

3. Letting the crew survive the heat. This is quite simple, actually. You just need to have enough resist energy spells to let them soak the damage. The heat would be too much for endure elements, though you can cast that one as well to help them with the Fort save they'd probably get to make anyway.

Alternatively, a single Miracle spell could probably protect the ship and make it seaworthy even in these conditions, until the end of the trip. A wish wouldn't, though. Wishes are bastards who tend to mangle your words in the worst way the DM can imagine, while miracles, as long as prayed to a Good deity, force the DM to not be awful about it. Then it's just a question of cranking out protection spells on the crew until they're arrived. Given the limited duration of these spells, you'd better start by spending a few months making a lot of scrolls and potions.

To comlcated just cast rise from the deep 4th level sor/wiz ship can't sink for 1/hour a caster level i use it befor entering ship battle in our sea camp.
as for the heat control tempure sor/wiz 3 also last hours i think but i would still need a powerful need to cross befor i bothered with it.

 

[Dragon Vindaloo]

It would like floating around in a really hot sauna that there was no escape from (cold pool), everyone on the ship would find it hard to breathe and become fatigued/sickened after a few minutes and perhaps start taking subdual damage after half an hour or so. The ship would definately begin to warp and the lower chambers of the ship would take on water and be extremly dangerous to be in because of all the steam. I don't think the ship or crew would last long maybe an hour or two at best and they would be exhausted, blistered and dizzy for a while after.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

What would happen to a ship and crew that sailed into a sea heated to boiling? Can a crew protected itself from the rising steam? What happens to wood (ship) in boiling water? (I don't necessarily need scientific precision, here.)

Quasqueton

You get Sailing Ship Soup.

 

[Tonguez]

The sea, if it's any size at all, would surely touch off monsoons and hurricanes that went to other areas. If it's a sea-sized sea civilization as we know it might be in trouble.

Best answer!

I want to know how the ship got in to the boiling sea without first going through the wall of steam and the huge waves pouring out from the main column. You're going to get these miles out from where the water is actually boiling...

 

[Quasqueton]

The sea, if it's any size at all, would surely touch off monsoons and hurricanes that went to other areas. If it's a sea-sized sea civilization as we know it might be in trouble.

How is it a frozen sea doesn't cause vast weather problems and threaten the end of civilization?

Quasqueton

 

[Eltharon]

Because cold just doesn't do that. Canada and Russia don't get hurricanes and tropical storms, but India, Southeast USA, etc (where the water is much hotter), do.