171. SWIM In the realm of the Deep, mankind is an alien. Even given the most sophisticated, modern equipment possible (or magic, in the case of a world such as exists in DragonQuest), man does not really belong in the underwater environment and is only a visitor there. These rules are an attempt to bring man to terms with the dangers, hazards, and pleasures that can be derived from being in a watery environment and will hopefully provide the player character with an opportunity to survive the depths of the oceans. It should be noted that these rules provide additional material to cover various aspects of swimming, and introduce a new skill as well as rules for drowning and so forth. [171.1] Swimming skill is a natural ability that all characters possess to start with. All characters begin with swim skill at Rank 0. This guideline is not strictly true, since there are extraneous conditions. Characters who are Fire-aspected, for example, should not begin with swim skill at Rank 0, nor should any character who is native to a desert or other wasteland where bodies of water are not common. In this case, a character who still wishes to begin swim skill must purchase Rank 0 for 200 Experience Points. The Experience Cost for these characters to increase swim skill Ranks is an additional 10% higher. While the majority of characters begin the game with swim skill, certain characters can excel at the skill and are treated as having a new skill called Diver. See Sections 171.3 and 171.4 for more details on this skill. At Rank 0, a character can keep himself afloat in the water if he doesn't panic, but that's about all. The character can hold his breath for 30 seconds (6 Pulses), but the thought of diving is utterly appalling to him. [171.2] As the character with swim skills progresses Ranks in the skill, he gains several new abilities. When the character achieves Rank 1, he gains several abilities: the character can dive under the surface to a distance of 7.5 feet (1.5 cubic hexes), can hold his breath for 6 Pulses while diving and swimming, and can swim without stopping (hereafter called a sprint) a maximum distance of 25 yards at a speed of TMR «. It should be noted that a character must spend 3 Pulses (Ranks 1 to 4) or 6 Pulses (Ranks 5 to 20) hyperventilating before diving; if this isn't done, reduce the diving time by 30%. With each Rank in Swim skill, diving distance increases by 7« feet, underwater time increases by two Pulses, and sprint distance increases by 75 yards. Swimming speed increases to TMR 1 at Rank 3 and to TMR 1« at Rank 8. Chase speeds (see DragonQuest sections 80.02b and 65.0) are found by multiplying TMR by 50 yards/minute. It should also be noted that a character can exceed his TMR limit while descending wihout penalty by making a sounding dive. This is only possible at swim Rank 8 or higher. The technique is to float on the surface at O BCY, often while using a diving mask or snorkel to observe below. When the character wants to make an extra-rapid dive, he jackknifes into the water, throws his feet into the air, and descends at TMR 3 (for males) or TMR 2 (for females). Hyperventilation cannot be used with a sounding dive. [171.3] A Diver is a person who was raised around water and who has a natural affinity for water. A character who is a diver is one who was born and raised around water, and who probably learned how to swim very soon after, if not before, he learned how to walk. The character has a natural affinity for water that is almost magical and that no landsman can ever match. To become a diver, the character must choose this skill (note that it is a separate skill) in place of a magical College or at the discretion of the GamesMaster. The character automatically receives swim skill at Rank 5 (worth 7,500 Experience Points), and also gains the following advantages: 1. The diver can progress to Rank 20 in the swim skill. With each advance from Rank 11 up, diving distance increases by 9 feet, underwater time increases by 3 Pulses, and sprint distance increases by 100 yards. At Rank 12, the swimming speed increases to TMR 2. (Experience Point costs for Ranks 11 to 20 are 5,000 Experience Points per Rank.) 2. If a diver becomes a Beast Master (specializing in Aquatics), a Navigator, a Ranger specializing in the ocean environments, or a Sailor, his Experience Point cost to progress Ranks in that skill is reduced by 25% providing that his swim skill Rank is at least 2 higher than the Rank in that skill. Divers also have their base chances of success in these skills increased by 5% in their favour, whenever these skills are used in, on, or under the water. 3. A Diver who becomes a Water Mage receives a bonus of +5% to the base chance of performing any talent, spell, or ritual of his College. No diver may ever become an Adept of the following Colleges: Air, Fire, Earth, or Black. [171.4] A character with swim skill who is not a Diver is not barred from the higher Ranks of swim skill. Once a character with swim skill at Rank 10 has acquired any further Experience Points while wearing a merfolk's cap of woven gold, these Experience Points can be applied towards achieving swim skill Rank 11. The character must pay 7,500 Experience Points per Rank for Ranks 11 to 15 and a fee of 10,000 Experience Points per Rank for Ranks 16 through 20. Despite the increase in Ranks on the part of the swimmer, the advantages of Diver skill never apply to this character, no matter how high a swim skill Rank he achieves. Swimmers do get TMR 2 at swim Rank 12, however. [171.5] As might be expected, there are some different rules that govern combat in the underwater environment. The following are several guidelines to underwater combat, and can be modified at the whim of the GamesMaster. All surface dwellers, whether swimmers or divers, suffer the common disability underwater that they are legally blind. They can locate light sources, and they can see fuzzily for about 3 metres. This problem can be corrected with goggles (which block peripheral vision into the rear half of each hex on the character's left and right front) or a diving mask (which gives unobstructed vision into those hexes). There is a 25% distortion with regards to distance, size, and angles that also affects surface dwellers underwater. Only experience teaches one to compensate for this problem, so distortion is reduced to 20% at Rank 1, 15% at Rank 2, 10% at Rank 3, 5% at Rank 4, and 0% at Rank 5 and above. This affects all ranged and melee combat, underwater only. Aquatic combat is essentially governed by DragonQuest Section 67.0, with directions reversed; the base chance of a character on the surface hitting a character underwater is reduced by 20, with the added provision that no character who is 5 cubic hexes or more below the surface can be hit by ranged combat from the surface. The base chance of a character below the surface hitting a character above the surface is reduced by 15. With the exception of three ranged weapons, all of these are virtually useless underwater. Crossbows and heavy crossbows can be used underwater with the range reduced to 3 and 4 hexes respectively, but no change to the base chance for being hit underwater. Nets used underwater have a range of 2 hexes with a -10 to the base chance for the second hex only. Weapons developed for use underwater do not suffer these modifications. Any melee weapon has its base chance reduced by -10 both in and under the water. Both Class B and C weapons suffer a further reduction of -20 to their base chance, as well as a -5 damage modifier. The minimum Physical Strength for the use of a Class B and C weapon is increased by 1 while underwater. Weapons developed for use underwater do not suffer these modifications. Note that these reductions do not apply to magical weapons. Furthermore, the fact that surface dwellers are not able to make effective vocal communications while underwater does not affect the use of magic. However, the process of casting a spell, vocal or not, reduces the underwater breathing time by 1 Pulse in all cases - unless the Water Breathing Spell (Water Magics, 41.0, G-12) or the merfolk's cap of woven gold is being used. [171.6] One of the more critical elements in flotation and sinking in water is Buoyancy. When taken in combination with Agility, TMR, and other aspects of water environments, Buoyancy can be used to determine a variety of things. The ability to float or sink in deep water is a critical factor in swimming, and is governed by buoyancy. Hereafter, Buoyancy is abbreviated BCY. With positive BCY, an object rises in water; with negative BCY, it sinks. At a BCY of 0, an object floats where it has been placed until it is moved. The following assumptions are made for game purposes only: When used to balance weight, 1 BCY point equals 5 pounds. How fast an object rises or sinks depends on how much BCY it has in excess of 0 BCY, with 1 BCY point equal to 1 TMR point. The maximum rates are TMR 4 in ascent and TMR 7 in descent. Examples: If a diver wants to raise a 15-pound object from the bottom of a lake, he can attach three 5-pound flotation bags (each filled with the equivalent of +1 BCY of air) to get 0 BCY, and then he can add one more to get a lift of 1 TMR. The object will rise one hex every Pulse until the bag reaches the surface. Attaching a total of seven flotation bags would give the maximum ascent of TMR 4. Another example would be to gain extra "bottom time," a diver can hold onto a line attached to a heavy weight and move with it as far down as he likes. If the diver is at 0 BCY, a 35-pound weight will take him down at the maximum rate of TMR 7. Furthermore, human males have a +1 natural BCY and require a 5-pound weight belt to achieve 0 BCY; human females have a +2 natural BCY and require a 10-pound weight belt. But natural BCY can be overcome by expending Agility points with 1 Agility point equal to 1 BCY point. Examples: A woman with an Agility of 15 can use 2 AG points to overcome her +2 natural BCY, rather than a 10-pound weight belt. The diver mentioned earlier could have used 4 AG points to lift the 15-pound object to the surface, rather than four flotation bags. Note that while Physical Strength states how much one can carry and indicates how much energy is needed to overcome the inertia of objects in the water , Agility dictates whether one can or cannot move that weight. Remember, 1 AG = 1 BCY = 1 TMR. Agility points are also required so that a swimmer or diver can move himself through the water. At Ranks 1-2, 6 AG points are required per « TMR of speed; at Ranks 3-7, 3 AG points per « TMR; at Ranks 8-11, 2 AG points per « TMR; and at Ranks 12-20, 1 AG point per « TMR. Note that these AG points are not lost and can be used for combat, stealth, and initiative simultaneously, but they cannot be used for BCY at the same time. Examples: At swim Rank 9 and AG 15, with a 5-pound weight belt for 0 BCY, a diver needs 4 AG points to swim at 1 TMR and 4 more to lift the 15-pound weight at 1 TMR. This would still leave him 7 AG points unused and a total of 11 AG points available for combat (his normal 15 minus only the 4 AG points used to lift and move the 15-pound object). A woman of AG 15 would have 13 AG points available for combat if she used 2 AG points to overcome her natural BCY, no matter what her Rank is or how fast she chooses to swim. With a 10-pound weight belt to counter her natural BCY, all 15 AG points would be available for other uses. Armour and clothing can be troublesome to a man in the water as well. Clothes become waterlogged rapidly, and their weight affects both AG and BCY, with a minimum AG loss of 2 points. Shoes absorb an additional 1 AG point, boots 2 AG points. All types of armour have 30% added to their weight, except chainmail; all types of armour except plate mail add 1 to the wearer's AG loss, but plate mail doubles the AG loss. Examples: Wearing chainmail armour and 7 lbs. of clothes and boots in water, a man of AG 25 has a total AG loss of 7 points (2 for clothes, 2 for boots, and 3 for armour). He also suffers -10 BCY (7+42 equals 49 lbs., divided by 5 = 9.8, rounds to 10). His natural BCY is +1, but the additional 9 AG points applied to BCY give him a net result of 0 BCY. With 7 AG points already lost, that leaves him with 9 AG points to spare. He can easily apply 1 AG point to moving the weight he's carrying and 6 AG points to swimming, no matter what his swim Rank is. He even has a total of 8 AG points for combat (the 9-point reserve, minus the 1 he needs to keep the burden in motion). If he had an AG of 16, he would have enough points to keep afloat, but not enough to even swim one stroke. How long he can float would depend on the GM and whether he could unburden himself. With an AG of 15, he couldn't even float and would sink at a rate of TMR 1, starting the moment he entered the water. If two men grapple in the water (two combatants or a drowning victim clutching in panic at his rescuer), all of their AG points are absorbed in combat and cannot be used for BCY. (The same is true of the man entangled.) Men in this condition rise or sink according to their combined BCY, with a -2 BCY applied to their total to account for the effects of mutual awkwardness in the water. [171.7] A character who spends time in the water must always pay a certain amount of Fatigue for exertion and the like. When a character spends a significant part of any given hour in water (see DragonQuest 82.1, paragraph 3), consult the Fatigue and Encumbrance Chart (82.9) and treat the character as carrying 60 pounds of weight for the full hour, and charge him the appropriate number of Fatigue points. The exercise rate should be read as one level higher than the same exercise on land. (In lieu of assigning it a higher rate, the cost of strenuous exercise is doubled.) Note that this does not include the Fatigue cost of anything being carried, pushed or towed in the water for a significant time. Use the same derivation for calculating the Fatigue rates as noted above. As long as a character stays within his limits, the life of a swimmer or diver is simple and uncomplicated. The following actions and the like can make things more complicated: 1. If a characters dives past his Rank limit, he immediately expends 1 FT penalty point for every 5 feet that he exceeds it by. 2. If a character exceeds his sprint limit, he immediately expends 1 FT point for every 5 yards (+5 per Rank), or portion thereof, that he exceeds his limit. 3. During the tactical stage (DragonQuest 80.0, section 3), a character may double his TMR for a number of Pulses equal to his Swim Rank. To do this, he must have enough free AG points to account for the extra speed (at the usual cost for his Rank). He must also pay 1 FT point per « TMR of extra speed, payable every 10 Pulses or portion thereof, spent at extra speed. Underwater, the FT penalty is payable every 5 Pulses or portion thereof. This burst of extra speed is only possible once every sprint or dive. 4. A character may exceed his underwater time by a number of Pulses equal to one-half his Willpower (rounded down), at a cost of 1 FT point every third Pulse. The first FT penalty point is lost on the first Willpower Pulse. If the character is not able to take a breath by the time these Pulses are used up, he immediately begins to drown. 5. In addition, when a surface dweller dives past 33 feet, he immediately loses 1 FT penalty point. Another point is lost going past 66 feet, and another going past 99 feet. FT penalty losses are cumulative during a dive or sprint; a sprint is ended when at least 3 Pulses are spent at rest, and a dive concludes when the character resurfaces. If the character accumulates Fatigue penalties greater than one-third of his original Endurance level (round down), the effect is the same as if the character had taken them due to a wound; the character is immediately stunned and begins to drown if still in the water. Fortunately, these Fatigue point losses are easy to recover. Once the character is able to spend time resting totally out of the water, his rate of recovery is determined by dividing the normal Fatigue level by the swim Rank (round up). Furthermore, if the character hyperventilates for a full dive and only dives for 70% or less of his allotted underwater time, he recovers 1 Fatigue point automatically at the end of the dive. The result is the number of Pulses it takes the character to recover each FT penalty point. (Fatigue points lost in other manners while in the water are not recovered at this rate.) Female characters recover FT penalty points as if they were one swim Rank higher than their current Rank. A character has one hour to recover all FT penalties; after that time, unrecovered FT points are treated as normal Fatigue point losses that must be recovered in the normal manner. The number of Fatigue points that a character has can be exceeded, but for a character in water this is extremely dangerous. The character may expend "phantom" FT points up to one-half of his initial Fatigue points (round down) in aquatic activity. In the Pulse in which the last phantom point is expended, he immediately collapses. These phantom FT points must be "restored" by sleeping 1 hour per 2 points, and only when this is completed can the character begin restoring real FT points. (By now, FT penalty points have become real Fatigue point loss, of course.) [171.8] Drowning is the greatest danger a character can face in the water. Drowning is treated as a process of Fatigue and Endurance point loss. In the Pulse that a character is declared to be drowning, he loses 1 FT point, and then continues to lose 1 FT point every Pulse thereafter. When he has lost all Fatigue points, he is stunned. In the following Pulse, Endurance point loss begins at a rate of 1 point per Pulse. When all Endurance points are gone, the character is dead. Drowning may result from several things. When a character underwater uses up all his breath time, including his extra Willpower Pulses, he is declared to be drowning. Swim rate is reduced to 1/3 TMR, and the character must immediately make a roll of (WP x 4) or less to see if he panics. If he rolls less, he retains his self-control and can continue to attempt to help himself (by releasing his weight belt if he hasn't done so already). If he rolls higher, he panics and can no longer help himself. A character who is stunned in or under the water is also said to be drowning. He cannot recover from being stunned or panicked until after the drowning process is stopped (presuming he's rescued). Panic can result from anything that would cause panic on land (see DragonQuest 64.1). When consulting the Fright Table (44.8) for characters in the water, any roll of 26-95 should be considered as panic only - use the 26-76 explanation, thus recognising that in water, a panicked drowning victim is virtually immobilized. All panicked victims begin to drown. In addition, a Rank 0 swimmer who voluntarily or involuntarily enters a free body of water up to neck level makes an immediate Willpower check. If no fright occurs, a further Willpower check is made every 30 seconds the swimmer remains in the water at that depth, or whenever an event occurs that would frighten him (such as a splash sending water over his head). If fright occurs, consult the Fright Table, with 01-20 as given and 21+ as a panic reaction. To rescue a drowning victim, the rescuer must come into close contact and execute a successful Restrain action (see 16.5) on the victim. A victim who is either stunned or not panicking represents no problems ((PS + AG of rescuer) x 3 only), and the victim can be pulled to safety at « TMR (if the swim Rank of rescuer is 1-7) or 1 TMR (if the swim Rank of rescuer is 8-20). A panicked victim, however, attempts to grapple (see 16.3) any rescuer who comes within range and sight. If the Grapple action succeeds, the rescuer may attempt to break the victim's hold, or both may sink. To lessen this risk, two rescuers may make a combined Restrain action on the panicked victim. An unstunned victim may also attempt a self-rescue by using a Grapple action to seize a rope, branch, floating log, bush, or some other object that is within reach and sight, and pull himself to safety. The base chance of the Grapple is determined as if the object were a person with PS 0 and FT 0. A panicked victim suffers a -10% to his base chance of the Grapple. Only when a drowning victim reaches or is brought to a place of safety (usually out of the water, but the GM can rule otherwise), can an attempt be made to end the drowning process. Every swimmer and diver learns life-saving techniques when he learns to swim, and improves them as his swim Rank increases. The Base Chance to save a drowning person is equal to [Victim's remaining FT + EN) + (rescuer Swim Rank x 3)]%. If the D100 roll is less than this value, drowning stops at once. If not, drowning continues, but further attempts can be made every Pulse until the victim is saved or dies. If more than one rescuer is present, a second rescuer may assist by adding (Swim Rank x 2)% to the base chance. An unstunned victim who is not panicking may add his swim Rank to the base chance of a single rescuer. An unstunned victim who has performed a self-rescue may attempt a self-save by adding his unmodified Swim Rank to his remaining Fatigue and Endurance points; a panicked victim uses only his Fatigue and Endurance points. The self-save may be repeated only until the character becomes stunned. If the victim is under a Spell of Flotation (Water Magics, G-4), the extra Willpower Pulses added to his breathing time are increased by 50% and his chance of resisting panic is increased by the strength of the spell (base increase of 5, +1 per Mage's Rank). All rescue and life-saving attempts benefit by the strength of the spell as well. (Attempts by a panicked victim to grapple rescuers are reduced by the strength of the spell - the magic helps the target in spite of himself). In the Pulse that a lifesaving attempt succeeds, all Fatigue and Endurance loss stops. Panicked victims will not resist lifesaving, although they may have resisted rescue, and panic ends in the Pulse that lifesaving succeeds. Beginning with this Pulse, stunned victims may attempt to recover from stun. Once the drowning victim has been saved, recovery of Fatigue and Endurance points lost to near drowning depend on the victim's fitness as measured by his swim Rank. First, lost EN points are recovered at a rate of 2 per Rank for every six hours the victim sleeps. Once that process is complete and all Endurance points lost are recovered, then Fatigue points lost due to near-drowning are recovered at a rate of 2 per Rank every hour the victim rests. If no Endurance points were lost, Fatigue point recovery begins immediately. [171.9] A character is not required to spend any monies per year in an attempt to maintain his swim skill. While this rule is firm and applies here, it should be noted that this does not mean that a character's swim skill cannot atrophy. A lack of use of the swim skill for long periods of time by a character can lead to reductions in the base chances of using swim skill, a reduction in some of the values achieved at the Rank the character has, or even a temporary reduction of swim Rank by up to three Ranks, depending on the length of time the character has not been in the water. ---------- Copyright (c) 1983, 1987, 1989, 1994 Craig Barrett and John M. Kahane. EXPERIENCE COSTS FOR ADDITIONAL PRIMARY SKILLS IN THE DRAGONQUEST RPG SYSTEM SKILL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Swim 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000