Holding One's Breath	-	Moving in Water	-	Effects of Moving Water
MOVEMENT RULES FOR UNDERGROUND PLAY	MOVEMENT RULES FOR  OUTDOOR PLAY	-	DSG	WSG

Swimming (1, 10 a): The character has learned the basics of swimming.
An unarmored, unencumbered character swims 90 feet per round.
Each point of armor class reduces movement by 10 feet per round and gives a 10% (cumulative) chance of sinking.
Heavily encumbered characters move at 1/2 speed and double the chance of sinking.

SWIMMING (DSG)

Waves, underground lakes, and flooded dungeons all present
serious problems to air-breathing creatures. Movement through
these areas is covered by the following swimming rules.

Swimming rules cover two different skills:

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Holding One’s Breath <Simple Rule: 3-5 rounds. T1-4.72> If a character has a chance to take a large breath of air, and does not perform strenuous exercise while holding his breath, he can hold his breath for a number of rounds equal to 1/3 his CON Score, rounded up. Nonstrenuous exercise includes such activities as normal movement, searching for secret doors, trying to pick a lock, or other such activities. A character cannot be fully encumbered while performing any of these functions. If the character is performing strenuous exercise, the number of rounds he can remain underwater is cut in half (rounded up). Strenuous exercise includes fighting, attempting to subdue or move an uncooperative character or creature, trying to lift or move a heavy weight, or moving at high SPEED. Fully encumbered characters underwater are always considered to be performing strenuous exercise. If a character does not have a chance to take a deep breath before submerging, the amount of time he can remain underwater is halved (rounded up). This halving is cumulative with that for strenuous exercise. Note that a character is always able to hold his breath for at least one round. A character does not immediately die when his breath runs out. Each round after his breath runs out, the character makes a CONCheck to stay alive. The first check has no modifiers, but there is a -2 cumulative modifier each round thereafter. This continues until the character leaves the water or the player fails a check and the character dies. Example: A character with a 16 CON can hold his breath underwater for six rounds. On the 7th round the player makes an unmodified Constitution Check; the 8th-round check is at -2, the 9th-round check is at -4, the 10th-round check is at -6, etc. For players using samurai characters as defined in the OA rulebook, this system for holding breath can be used to augment the samurai’s ki power. A samurai can elect to hold his breath according to the rules explained in OA, or he can use this procedure and add one round to the duration determined. Holding Breath in Nonswimming Situations In certain situations, characters might wish to hold their breath to avoid breathing the surrounding air. In order to calculate the duration of such an attempt, use the formula explained for swimming, but ADD <1> round. Characters cannot USE this ability to avoid the effects of a gas unless they suspect that a gas is about to be released. For example, if party members must make a save, and some characters become paralyzed as a result, the other characters may decide to hold their breath to avoid breathing the threatening gas. Q: Can a character hold his breath and avoid the effects of gases? A: Yes, it, is possible for a character who suspects or detects poisonous gas before having to make a SAVE against it to hold his breath and avoid the effects of most gases. Some gases, such as green dragon breath, take effect on contact and cannot be avoided simply by holding one’s breath. Rules for characters holding their breaths are given in the DSG, page 12. (144.7)

Holding One’s Breath <Simple Rule: 3-5 rounds. T1-4.72> <Characters submerged in the sewage take an extra 8 points of drowning damage at the end of the 2ndround. Characters with CON scores of 16 or better take only 4 points. A1-4.37> <A character pulled under the surface has 2 rounds to surface. If the character has not reached the surface by the 3rd round, he or she suffers 10 points of damage each following round. A1-4.39> The base amount of time that a character can hold his breath underwater is a number of rounds equal to 1/3 of his CON score (rounded up). This assumes that the character has a chance to take a deep breath before submerging and does not perform any strenuous physical activity while he is underwater. Normal movement (underwater swimming, diving, or surfacing) is allowed; so are activities such as opening a locked chest, SEARCHING for a secret passage, or CASTING a spell (if being underwater does not prohibit the casting to begin with). If the character did not have a chance to fill his lungs with air before going under, the time he can hold his breath is cut in half (rounded up). If he engages in strenuous activity (such as combat), the time is also cut in half. These penalties are cumulative with each other, so that a character who is abruptly dumped into the water and then forced to fight can only hold his breath for onefourth as long as he could under more favorable circumstances. Any character is able to hold his breath for at least one round, regardless of the effect of these penalties. When the time limit for holding one’s breath expires, the character does not automatically expire as well. He can stay alive as long as he makes a successful CONCheck once per round; each check after the first is made with a cumulative +2 modifier to the die roll. For example, a character with a constitution of 12 can hold his breath underwater for 4 rounds under the most favorable circumstances. After 4 rounds, he has run out of air but can still survive. If he makes a CON Check at the end of the 5th round, he is alive and can still be pulled to the surface. At the end of the 6th round, the check is made with a +2 modifier to the die roll; at the end of the 7th round, the modifier is +4, and so on. A character who has not run out of air can get to the surface either by swimming (if he has proficiency) or by remaining still and allowing his body’s natural buoyancy to carry him upward (the only way that a non-swimmer can surface). Such a character is in control of his faculties and is able (for instance) to divest himself of extra weight to bring himself to the surface more quickly. When a character runs out of air, he is unconscious and cannot move under his own power. To survive, he must be pulled or otherwise moved up to the surface before he fails a CON Check. Holding One’s Breath When Not Underwater If a character wants to hold his breath when he is not underwater, the formula given above is used, but <1>one round is added to the time limit. The penalties for being unprepared and for engaging in strenuous activity are applied after the one round of time is added, not before. Note that a character cannot escape the effects of a poisonous gas or some other noxious substance (such as the odor of a troglodyte) unless he holds his breath before he is affected. A small amount of poisonous gas is just as harmful as an extended dose, so a character who holds his breath after ingesting some of the vapors isn’t doing himself any favors.

 

Moving in Water

Characters with swimming proficiency can perform many
actions in the water. Characters without this proficiency are
unable to remain afloat in water and drown in deep water unless
they are aided. A character does not need swimming proficiency
to be able to hold his breath, as xplained above.

For humanoid monsters, assume a 1/3 chance that the creatures
are able to swim.

Almost all animals can swim, if forced to. Wolves and other
canines willingly follow prey into water, while most felines swim
only in desperation. Certain creatures (fire- and stone-based
monsters in particular) never enter the water.

The swimming ability is divided into three functions:

Endurance reflects how long a character can continue to swim
without resting. This assumes that the character can breathe
while swimming--i.e., is not swimming through a completely
water-filled passage. <(Endurance skill)>

SPEED reflects how many feet per round a character can travel in the water.
If the character is swimming completely underwater, his SPEED is reduced to 2/3 of the max..

Diving determines how deep a character can go in a single round when he is already in the water.
Obviously, the character must hold his breath or utilize magical aid in order to fully use this ability.

Encumbrance

Encumbrance Encumbrance is perhaps the most important factor in determining a character’s success at swimming. The following table shows the effects of encumbrance on the categories of endurance, speed, and diving. The encumbrance categories match those described in the PH, page 101. Table1: SWIMMING EFFECTS OF ENCUMBRANCE                                                             Effects Character's Encumbrance Endurance Speed Diving Surfacing Unencumbered Doubled Doubled Normal Doubled Normal Gear Normal Normal Normal Normal Heavy Gear Quartered Quartered Tripled Quartered Encumbered None None Tripled None * An encumbered character cannot move through the water under his own power. If he enters the water, he will sink.

Encumbrance The physical attributes of a swimmer may have an effect on how well he can perform these functions, but the most important factor - and one that applies to any swimmer - is his degree of encumbrance. Table 24: EFFECTS OF ENCUMBRANCE ON SWIMMING   Enc. Endurance Speed Diving Surfacing None x 2 x 2 x 1 x 2 Light x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 Moderate x 0.5 x 0.5 x 2 x 0.5 Heavy x 0.25 x 0.25 x 3 x 0.25 Severe - - x 3 - <DSG: mathematically, the same as the DSG table, although expressed differently, and a footnote is added at the DSG table> The entries on this table represent the increase or decrease in a character's ability to perform the listed functions under certain degrees of encumbrance. An entry of 'I-" means that it is impossible for the character to perform the function; in other words, a severely encumbered character cannot swim - he will sink in any body of water deeper than his height, and will not be able to surface under his own power unless he gets rid of at least some of his encumbrance before he drowns.

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Endurance

Endurance A character’s swimming endurance is calculated by adding the character’s total experience levels to his CON score. This is the number of turns the character can swim without rest.  Thus, a fighter/magic user of levels 6/5 with a CON score of 12 could swim 23 turns when carrying normal gear. If the character were completely unencumbered, he could swim for 46 turns! A character who is only attempting to stay afloat by treading water doubles the number of turns of his swimming endurance. When a character runs out of endurance, he will drown unless he can get out of deep water or find some means of staying afloat. A character can elect to swim at high SPEED, with the effect of doubling his swimming rate at a severe penalty to endurance. The endurance of a character swimming at high speed is reduced to 1/10 of its original value. In addition, immediately upon exiting the water, the character must spend as much time resting as he spent swimming at high speed.

Endurance (EP = L+CON) A character's base swimming endurance, in number of turns, is equal to his total of experience levels (counting all classes for a multiclassed character or a character with two classes) plus his CON score. This is the length of time he can continue to swim before being forced to stop. When a swimmer reaches his endurance limit, he must stop and rest by getting out of the water or, if he is in calm water, by finding a place where he can stand in water that is not over his head. He regains three turns of endurance for every turn spent resting. The same rate applies if a swimmer stops before using up all of his endurance. A character can swim at high SPEED, doubling his normal movement rate, but by doing so he reduces his endurance to V1o of its normal amount (rounded up). After using up some or all of his endurance on a high-speed swim, the character must get out of the water to rest, and any normal endurance points that were lost because of swimming at high speed are only regained on a one-for-one basis - one turn of endurance for one turn of rest. Example: A Filcher (T6) with a CON of 12 has a swimming endurance of 18 turns when lightly encumbered. He plunges into the water and takes off at normal speed for 8 turns, leaving him with 10 turns of endurance left. At this point he decides to swim at high speed, and can maintain this speed for l more turn (1110 of 10). Now he must rest; he climbs out of the water and sprawls out on shore. After 3 turns of rest he has regained the 8 turns' worth of endurance he lost while swimming at normal speed. In order to regain the other 10 and get back to full endurance, he must rest for another 10 turns (1 turn for every endurance point used up swimming at high speed). If he re-enters the water any sooner, his endurance will be less than its maximum and his ability to swim farther will be hampered accordingly.

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SPEED

SPEED The speed with which a character can swim begins at a base 4” / round for humans, and 3” / round for demihumans && humanoids. This SPEED is then modified as shown on Table 1. A character can elect to swim at high speed, doubling his rate of movement with the endurance penalty described above. In +addition+, a character’s STR bonus for damage can be added to his swimming speed.  For example, a human character with a STR of 16 has a damage bonus of + 1, and thus could swim at 5” per round. This bonus can never exceed +3”, even if the character’s damage bonus is greater.

SPEED The base swimming movement rate for humans is 4" (40 feet per round); for other PC races and land-based humanoids, it is 3". (Of course, a specific swimming rate listed in the statistics for any monster or humanoid supersedes the rate given here.) This rate represents the character's swimming speed on the surface of the water; for a swimmer moving beneath the surface of the water, the rate is reduced to 2/3 of the given amount (rounded up). The base rate may be modified by one or more of the following factors:     - Modifier  Strength 16 or 17 + 1" Strength 18  + 2" Strength 18/01 or higher + 3" Swimming with light current +1" to +3" Swimming against light current -1" to -3" Swimming with strong current +4" to +6" Swimming against strong current -4" to -6" A modified movement rate of 0" means that the character cannot move forward in or through the body of water in question, and must exert himself (using up endurance) simply to maintain his present location. A modified rate of less than 0" means that the character is at the mercy of the current, and even if he tries to swim against it he will be propelled in the opposite direction at a rate of 1" to 3", depending on the strength of the current. The strength of the current is determinable only by the DM, depending on the characteristics of the body of water in question. The speed of the current in a gently flowing river is probably no more than 1" or 2", while the current in a rushing mountain stream is certainly in the 5" to 6" range. As described above in the text on endurance, a character may elect to swim at high speed, which doubles his movement rate at the expense of a severe penalty in endurance. (It is not possible to swim at high speed beneath the surface; this option applies only to characters swimming on the surface.) However, this increase in speed is halved in any water conditions where the character would have a movement rate of 0" or less at normal speed. For instance, a character with a base movement rate of 4" trying to swim against a current of 4" has an effective movement rate of 0"; the best he can do under normal exertion is to stay in one place. If he decides to swim at high speed, he can move forward at a rate of 2" (half of the normal bonus) under these conditions.

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DIVING AND SURFACING

Diving and Surfacing <> A character trying to retrieve an object underwater, or investigate something deep in the water, must use the diving function to get to the object and then must return to the surface. A character can normally swim downward 20 feet in a game round. This depth can be modified by encumbrance, as explained above. The initial round of diving can be increased if the character uses momentum to carry him downward. A character jumping or diving into the water from a place within a few feet of the water’s surface can add 10 feet to the depth achieved on the first round. For each 10 feet of height above the water surface, an additional 5 feet of depth can be added, to a maximum of a 40-foot-high jump. The additions for diving into water are not modified by encumbrance, so a character jumping into the water can dive an xtra 10' regardless of whether he is completely unencumbered or carrying heavy gear. Diving Example: A group of characters wish to examine a glowing spot of light underneath the surface of a vast subterranean pool. Two characters jump into the water and immediately start downward. One of them is carrying heavy gear, while the other carries normal gear. Each character gets a bonus of 10 feet in depth because he jumped into the water. The character with normal gear can swim the normal distance of 20 feet/round, thus achieving a depth of 30 feet after the first round. The heavily laden character can sink 60 additional feet after the jump, since his encumbrance triples his diving rate; thus, this character’s depth is 70 feet after the first round. The rate at which a character can surface from a dive is 20 feet per round with normal encumbrance. This is modified by unusual encumbrance as shown on Table 1 and assumes that the character <(varies from the WSG)> is actively working to return to the surface. A character who is simply floating upward (an unconscious character, for example) moves <5'> per round slower. A character who is encumbered with heavy gear or greater must actively swim for the surface or he does not rise at all. A character can intentionally load himself down (with rocks, etc.) to aid a dive, and then release the added weight when he wants to surface. The DM must decide how heavily a character must load himself to reach a certain encumbrance category. Armor and backpacks can also be used to weigh a character down, but these are much harder to release than a bag of rocks. It takes one round to remove a backpack under water, while removing armor usually takes several rounds. Subtract the AC of the armor (not including magical bonuses or shield) from 10 to determine the rounds required to remove it while under water. For example, a sinking character in chain mail (AC 5) can remove the armor in five (10 - 5) rounds. ADQ: How long does it take climb in and  out of armor, leaving it in a wearable condition  afterwards? How long does it take to shed  armor in an emergency?  ADA: It takes 2 rounds to get out of leather armor,  3-4 rounds to get out of scale,  5 rounds for chain,  and 10 rounds for plate  when the proper care is taken.  In an emergency (i.e. when you  don't care if the armor is usable afterwards),  a character can shed the armor in 1/2 the normal time.  (Polyhedron #19) 14.

Diving and Surfacing The basic movement rate for a character attempting to swim downward through the water is 2", or 20 feet per round.  This figure is doubled <(x2)> for moderately encumbered characters and tripled <(x3)> for heavily or severely encumbered characters.  In +addition+, the depth attainable on the first round of a dive can be increased if the character leaps into the water from a point above the surface of the water, as follows:   Height of Leap  Extra Depth At least 5 feet 1" At least 15 feet 2" At least 25 feet 3" At least 35 feet 4" At least 40 feet* 5" * - If a character leaps into the water from more than 40 feet above the surface, the extra depth attainable on the first round of the dive does not increase beyond 5" regardless of the height involved. In addition, a character making a dive from 40 feet or any greater height may suffer falling damage as described above in the text about being carried over a waterfall. Note that the diving bonuses for leaping into the water are not cumulative with the depth increases for moderately, heavily, and severely encumbered characters. The extra depth is added to the dive after encumbrance is taken into account; thus, a moderately encumbered character diving from 15' will travel 6” down into the water - 4” for the normal rate doubled, plus 2” for the height of the leap. The base surfacing rate, like the diving rate, is 2” (doubled for a character who is not encumbered, reduced for a character who is moderately or heavily encumbered). To be able to travel upward at this rate, the swimmer must be actively working to get himself to the surface. Otherwise, the natural buoyancy of a character’s body will bring him to the surface at 1/2‘‘, or 5 feet per round (modified for encumbrance), if he is inert. It is possible for a character to purposely encumber himself with items that can be easily gotten rid of, so that he can make a deep dive and then return quickly to the surface after divesting himself of the xtra weight.

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Effects of Moving Water

Effects of Moving Water It is important to remember that a character’s swimming speed is relative to the water he occupies. A stream flowing 40 feet per round, for example, will carry swimming characters along at that speed, plus or minus characters’ swimming speeds. By swimming upstream at normal human swimming speed of 4”/round, a character could manage to stay in the same position, relative to the banks of the stream. Dwarves && hobbits with normal swimming speeds of 3”/round will be washed downstream 10 feet in the sample stream above, even if they spend the entire round swimming upstream. Extremely rapid streams can move characters with enough momentum to do them considerable harm. Of course, until the character hits something, the water might prove to be a fast and direct form of transportation. Obviously, submerged rocks and subterranean waterfalls can change this impression quickly. A character carried over a waterfall receives half the normal amount of damage for the distance of the fall, except that a saving throw vs. breath weapon is allowed. If the save is successful, the character manages to avoid the most damaging obstacles as follows: If the fall is 100 feet or less, the character receives no damage from the plunge. If the drop is greater than 100 feet, the character only receives 1/10 the normal damage for such a fall. Rapid streams full of submerged rocks pose a special threat to characters in the water. The DM should rate the danger of such a stream with a number from one to 10, one being the most dangerous. The stream’s danger rating tells how often a character must make a swimming Proficiency Check. The time between saving throws (in rounds) equals the stream’s danger rating. Thus, a stream with a rating of one requires a saving throw every round, whereas one rated four only requires the check every four rounds. Whenever a character fails such a check, the pounding against the rocks causes Id6 points of damage. The danger rating of a stream should be based on factors such as the speed of the water, its depth (shallower being more dangerous), the number of obstacles in the stream bed, and the amount of light available to see the obstacles. In a stream rated five or less, characters must swim at high speed.

Other Effects of Moving Water A shallow river or stream in which the water is moving rapidly can harm characters by buffeting them against rocks and other protrusions in the water. As outlined in the DSG, the DM should attach a rating of from 1 to 10 to a shallow, rapidly coursing stream or river, with 1 being the most hazardous. This number represents the amount of time, in rounds, that a swimmer can traverse the water before needing to make a Proficiency Check; in a stream with a rating of 1, a check must be made every round, and in a stream with a rating of 5, a check must be made on the first round, the sixth round, and every fifth round thereafter. Failure on this check indicates that the swimmer has been thrown against the rocks, suffering ld6 points of damage. A character without swimming proficiency is virtually helpless in similar circumstances, and will suffer ld3 points of damage every round that he remains in the water. Any character can halt his movement through rough water by grabbing onto a handy protrusion (a big rock, an overhanging tree limb, etc.), assuming that such protrusions are available and within reach. This tactic succeeds if the character makes a successful DEX Check; a new attempt can be made every round if desired. After catching onto something, the character must make a successful Strength Check once every two rounds to remain attached; failure indicates that he has lost his grip and is again being swept downstream. Very often, a stretch of rough water culminates in a waterfall. If a character is carried over a waterfall that is 40 feet or more in height, he will suffer falling damage equal to one-half of the amount that would be taken in a normal free fall. However, a saving throw versus breath weapon is allowed. If this saving throw succeeds and the fall covers a distance of at least 40 feet but not more than 100 feet, the character takes no damage; if the save succeeds and the fall is greaterthan 100 feet, the charactertakes one-tenth of normal falling damage (rounded up). No falling damage is suffered by a character who is carried over a waterfall that is less than 40 feet high; in such a case, the fall is treated asa normal dive (see the following text). Of course, these guidelines assume that the base of the waterfall does not contain rocks or other obstructions. If a plunge over a waterfall sends a character crashing into rocks, falling damage is assessed as for a fall through the air.

WSG: This is something of a special case among the so-called
so-called
“normal” proficiencies (as opposed to something such as
a survival skill, which might be called a “special” proficiency). A
character without hunting proficiency still has a chance of being
able to bring down some wild game for dinner; one without foraging
proficiency is still able to gather plants that he believes to be
edible. But a character without swimming proficiency cannot
swim at all. He can hold his breath under water, and under the
right circumstances he can float at the top of a body of water, but
he cannot move through the water under his own power. Rules
governing the swimming proficiency are given in the section on
Encumbrance && Movement.

SWIMMING (WSG)

Only characters with proficiency in swimming (see the section
on Wilderness Proficiencies) have the ability to propel themselves
through the water without the aid of magic or some sort of
flotation device. However, nonproficient characters do not simply
sink like a stone if they find themselves immersed in a deep body
of water. This section of rules covers swimming (for those who
can swim) and treading water (for swimmers and non-swimmers).
The skill of swimming is composed of three sub-skills: endurance
(how long a character can keep swimming), speed (how fast
he can move through the water), and diving (how rapidly he can
move downward through the water). The physical attributes of a
swimmer may have an effect on how well he can perform these
functions, but the most important factor - and one that applies to
any swimmer - is his degree of encumbrance.
 

Treading Water

A character with swimming proficiency who is afloat in calm
water can remain in one place, by treading water, for a number of
turns equal to twice his endurance score. In other words, he uses
up one endurance point for every <2> turns spent treading water.
A character without proficiency in swimming can safely tread
water for a # of rounds equal to his STR score. This
time limit is modified for encumbrance in the same way that a
swimmer’s endurance is modified. When the time limit expires,
and at the expiration of every round thereafter, the character
must make a STR  Check to remain afloat. Every check after
the first one is made with a cumulative + 1 modifier to the die roll.
For instance, a character with a strength of 6 who is not encumbered
can tread water for at least 12 rounds. At the end of the
12th round, he must make a STR  Check (unmodified) to stay
above the water for another turn. At the end of the 13th round, the
check is made with a + 1 modifier to the die roll; at the end of the
14th round, the modifier is +2, and so on.

A character who is treading water in a current has no control
over his movement through the water; he will be carried in the direction
of the current at a rate equal to the speed of the current
(modified for the character’s encumbrance, just as for swimming
movement). A character with swimming proficiency can prevent
himself from moving with the current and maintain the same position
in the water, but then he is effectively swimming, not treading
water, and endurance is assessed accordingly. A character without
swimming proficiency cannot prevent himself from being carried
along by the current; if he attempts to do so, he will begin to
sink immediately.