If only...

[Benjamin Austin <jedi@ecn.purdue.edu>]

On Thu, 12 Nov 1998, Jevan Furmanski wrote:

> I just exhaled completely and went an entire minute without taking a
> breath.  That is 15 AQ rounds.  That is the worst case scenario for
> drowning, and small movements like those to remove a backpack or one's
> shoes don't change how hard it is to go the minute.  Really, people drown
> from panic more than from asphyxiation, and I think that people saying
> that a calm person can only hold a full breath for 30 seconds is crap.
> Especially the hard nosed adventuring folk, who are used to hard living
> and exertion.
> 
> Jevan

If only the gods would transmog' everyone for gills we could stop this 
discussion.

Insofar as holding one's breath, it all comes down to calm one is.  We 
can go back and forth about how long a person can hold their breath 
sitting there typing at the computer (or even dunking one's head under 
water) but how does that compare to someone falling into the water or 
even boaching swimming check.  If you have never been close too 
asphixiation (I _know_ I didn't spell that right), then count yourself 
lucky.  I have known for years how to swim but I can vividly recall an 
experience when, while swimming under water, I got stuck and was unable 
to reach the surface.  It was to the point where the edges of my vision 
where turning black and it was all I could do to keep from opening my 
mouth and sucking in water.  It is perhaps the scariest thing that I have 
ever undergone ( and that's including a date with Tashia Sapkar).  At that 
time, my thoughts were not to sit calmly and wait for the obstruction to 
clear or to think that there are plenty of people around me I'm in no danger.
I had one focus and that was to get air fast.  To the point, I wasn't 
knocked in.  I had a full breath before going under and I can hold my 
breath for quite a while but all of that became moot when someone jumped 
in the pool overtop of me.  I was drowning.  Panicing?  Perhaps.  Just well 
motivated.  I think that John's drowning rules are adequate and simple 
enough for AQ.

One other thing, Lyle.  You are quite correct in that hyperventalating 
one's self will saturate your lungs with air and, therefore, will allow 
you to hold your breath for longer, but how recent is this knowledge?  
Would this be something that people at the level our characters are would 
be able to know or deduce?  Isn't it kinda like CPR - yeah, they have the 
means by which to do it but do they have the knowledge?

BJ