Swimming through a Maze

[Omegaxicor]

I tried searching for this and I can't find an answer, I want the party to swim through a maze of corridors with doors and switches, how does the Swim skill work in this situation? (noone has a swim speed or any bonuses based on swimming so everyone is similar/the same)

 

[Ashtagon]

They take 10, and hope they don't have any combat encounters or dangerous undercurrents. If they do, then Swim checks are called for. But if the water is merely still, they can take 10 on the DC 10 check.

I assume they also have an air supply?

 

[Omegaxicor]

It's an underwater maze, what do you think?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, then, here's some Air Supply for 'em!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBMYow46LxQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player]Air Supply I'm all out of love - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Omegaxicor]

despite having nothing to do with the question or answer aspect of this post, strangely I feel better after watching that video thanks

They can Take 10 while moving through the corridors (which have to be done in combat mode because they have to complete the challenge in 12-15 moves) but what constitutes "distraction" while underwater exploring a dark labyrinth with switches and a sequence of moving doors?

 

[Ashtagon]

It's an underwater maze, what do you think?

You didn't say that.

My initial assumption was that it involved a maze where the floor was ten feet deep underwater but the ceiling clear of the water, making walking or wading impossible, but surface swimming practical.

 

[Omegaxicor]

I have reread my OP and I can see why you thought that...

The idea is that there is a cave with a pool, diving into the pool leads to a series of corridors that leads to another pool and the rest of the quest.

The tunnels are all underwater, although I might say there are pockets of breathable air if it seems too difficult to accomplish without them

 

[Grogg of the North]

The PCs can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to 2 x con score if they only take move or free actions actions. If they are doing things like fighting or something else that is stressful (Standard or Full-Round) they can only hold their breath for half as long. After that, you're making con checks each round or you start drowning.

You can swim at half your land speed as a full round action or one quarter as a move action. Though if you have enough metal on you it may just be easier to let yourself sink to the bottom and walk.

Opening a door is a move action typically. Pulling a lever may be a move or free depending on how easy they are to pull.

So without worrying about doors or levers, your PCs are probably going to swim somewhere around 50 feet or so before they need to start worrying.

 

[Omegaxicor]

Meaning that as a move action a normal character can swim one square?

that might be a problem...looking at the maze it is about 51 tiles (at least, not factoring in the turns that it takes to move switches and doors)...

EDIT: I have redesigned the maze by adding pockets of breathable air (why they are there I don't know yet) which are 18, 15 and 19 tiles from air-to-air, again not including the turns for activating switches

 

[Grogg of the North]

Don't forget that you'll take double your armor check penalty while swimming. So taking 10 may not be good enough.

If the PCs accept a -10 on their swim check, they can move at their speed as a full round action (CAdv).

You could add in rooms that have air pockets for them to breath in. Place them far enough apart that the PCs need to be smart about their turns or make it so that after the PCs breath there isn't any more air. Because of .. um .. CO2?

You also could put a bottle of air or a breath mask (check the Desmodu entry in MM2) somewhere in the maze, perhaps guarded by a monster. Force the PCs to buddy breath and defend their air source from monsters.

Drowning is pretty rough. Once a PC starts to flounder there's little that you can do for them.

One other thing to consider, can the PCs see underwater? I am picturing this as something similar to exploring an underwater cave so there won't be any natural light too.