Re: drowning

[Steve Ames <steve@ns1.cioe.com>]

Yeah... while making the health check you should also be focuesed on
surviving and not just letting yourself die. Thats a good thought :)

						-Steve

> Damn, Steve.  I thought you've drowned at least twice. ;)
> I'm assuming those health checks are also allowing you to perform an
> action such as cut off armor, break grapples, swim by either skill or
> default, etc.
>
> Joel
>
>
> On Fri, 18 Sep 1998, Steve Ames wrote:
>
> > 
> > How long does it _really_ take to drown and what rolls/adjudications go
> > with it?
> > 
> > I've seen a large range of rulings on this ranging from "you die" and
> > "5d6-vs-HEA or die" to upping the d6 every round until you miss and
> > die. I think on a mostly water world, drowning should really be defined.
> > 
> > 1) Under what circumstances do drowning rules even come into play:
> > 
> > 	- trapped underwater and you don't breathe water
> > 	- can't swim, fail the default and have no flotation devices
> > 
> > 2) How long does it take to:
> > 
> > 	a) pass out
> > 	b) die
> > 
> > 3) What are the appropriate checks if the above times aren't absolutes
> >    (and from a roleplaying standpoint they shouldn't... people like
> >    rolling dice).
> > 
> > I'd suggest the following:
> > 
> > Drowning. On a water based world most people are proficient swimmers. However
> > there are still times when drowning will occur. Following are rules to handle
> > this occasion.
> > 
> > If a person becomes trapped underwater (or is unable to remain afloat for
> > other reasons such as not being able to swim) that person is in a world of
> > hurt. They have two rounds in which the only actions they can take are to
> > try to survive (a WIL check may be permitted to avoid this panic and perform
> > actions other than saving your own skin... the number of dice is usually 4 but
> > may be modified by circumstances). After these two rounds the player must
> > make a HEA check every round to stay conscious. This HEA check should start at
> > 3d6 and increase by one die every two rounds:
> > 
> > 	rounds	action
> > 	-------|-----------------------------------
> > 	1 - 2  | Attempt to get air
> > 	3 - 4  | 3d6 -vs- HEA to remain conscious
> > 	5 - 6  | 4d6 -vs- HEA to remain conscious
> > 	7 - 8  | 5d6 -vs- HEA to remain conscious
> > 	etc...
> > 
> > Once unconscious the adventurer will die in 2d4 rounds (to be rolled
> > secretly by the GM).
> > 
> > Now I'm just spewing rules so that people can pick them apart and we
> > can get moving on this... But that last die roll (the secret GM roll)
> > I view as a good one. It gives players a good chance to blow luck amulets
> > and they won't know if their efforts to save their friend are going to
> > succeed until they get him to the surface and revive him. Good stuff
> > there, high tension and all that rot.
> > 
> > A really healthy person will fail at the 7d6 (impossible) check at
> > round 11 (44 seconds into their adventure) and pass out. 2d4 rounds
> > later (average 20 seconds) they'll be dead. So I guess I'm saying about
> > a minute. *shrug* Having never drowned, trained as a lifeguard or EMT
> > or any other qualification, I'm calling it as I see it.
> > 
> > 						-Steve
> > 
>