Whats your best rules for how long a pc can hold his breath, and what happends after that (unconsiousness, HP-loss, recovery etc)?
I´m currently refereeing Worlds of Wonder Magic World, but any system goes, even houserules.

Rule #1: don't do it too long or you will pass out.

Quote from: zx81;1012676Whats your best rules for how long a pc can hold his breath, and what happends after that (unconsiousness, HP-loss, recovery etc)?
I´m currently refereeing Worlds of Wonder Magic World, but any system goes, even houserules.

5e's system is fairly straightforward. 1 minute per point of CON Mod. then suffocating within a number of minutes equal to CON mod. Then drops to 0 HP and is dying. Probably dead in a couple of rounds. So someone with a CON of 12 could hold their breath 2 minutes and after that will have suffocated in 1 more minute after that.

Make them hold their breath in real life.  When the player breaths the character drowns.  

Its realistic but it does make it hard to describe their actions.

Quote from: Headless;1012688Make them hold their breath in real life.  When the player breaths the character drowns.  

Its realistic but it does make it hard to describe their actions.

Don't do this!

because:

1. it endangers the players in real
2. character endurance/lung volume is not the same as that of the player
3. holding your breath in air and under water isn't the same to begin with


further info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drowning#Pathophysiology
https://www.emedicinehealth.com/drowning/article_em.htm

directly RPG related:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt7B37riSL0
https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/38d5st/drowning_checks_in_5e/

I hope this is helpful.

PS: Seriously, do NOT ask your players to RL hold their breath.
Voluntarily holding your breath will eventually lower the oxygen content of arterial blood. Although breathing is normally regulated by CO2 levels, after prolonged, deliberate breath-holding that feeling of extreme urgency to breathe is due to hypoxia. One of our natural reflexes originating in the brainstem common to all vertebrates, is for breathing. So if someone passes out from hypoxia they SHOULD immediately begin breathing again, keeping the person from dying. However, while hypoxic they're at risk from cardiac arrhythmias or seizures, either of which can potentially cause sudden death, and a willful/strong-willed person might hold breath long enough to cause permanent brain damage. When people lose consciousness due to such action they can also fatally strike their head or break their neck when falling down.

Quote from: Omega;10126835e's system is fairly straightforward. 1 minute per point of CON Mod. then suffocating within a number of minutes equal to CON mod. Then drops to 0 HP and is dying. Probably dead in a couple of rounds. So someone with a CON of 12 could hold their breath 2 minutes and after that will have suffocated in 1 more minute after that.

I don't really like it for underwater combat because it makes the threat of drowning essentially nonexistent. Two minutes is 20 turns of combat. No combat will last that long. Same with getting hit by an attack and being fine; wouldn't it cause you to gasp or lose breath? I have people roll CON saves when they get hit underwater to see if they can hold on.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;1012713I don't really like it for underwater combat because it makes the threat of drowning essentially nonexistent. Two minutes is 20 turns of combat. No combat will last that long. Same with getting hit by an attack and being fine; wouldn't it cause you to gasp or lose breath? I have people roll CON saves when they get hit underwater to see if they can hold on.

zx81: I think you should ask in a different more relevant place about underwater combat, like on the system's reddit page. Why? Because this isn't normal swimming/diving, this is about undersea BATTLE where a character's adrenaline/pulse changes, oxygen use increases, damage to you (especially to torso/neck, or a kick to stomach) throws your initial calculation off. As you see there is inconsistency in the suggestions to you.

It might be best if you ask this directly from the creators of the system if that is possible, listing all your concerns and maybe what others told you about the issue.

Quote from: joriandrake;1012718zx81: I think you should ask in a different more relevant place about underwater combat, like on the system's reddit page. Why? Because this isn't normal swimming/diving, this is about undersea BATTLE where a character's adrenaline/pulse changes, oxygen use increases, damage to you (especially to torso/neck, or a kick to stomach) throws your initial calculation off. As you see there is inconsistency in the suggestions to you.

It might be best if you ask this directly from the creators of the system if that is possible, listing all your concerns and maybe what others told you about the issue.

I´m not sure I follow you - you quoted someone else and then adressed me in your post, but I´ll try to be more specific. Maybe its my poor english.
Basicly I just wanted to see if anyone know of any good rules that I might steal or tweak.
My current houserule for swimming is: Anyone can hold their breath for 30 seconds (I use 6 second rounds, so thats 5 rounds) and after that its a CON-roll every round or you´re out of air in 3 rounds.
Out of air means 1d4 HP loss every round. This have never come up in play yet so I have no idea how it will work out.
It´s simplicity over realism in this game - for instance we use encumbrance rules, but there is no in game difference (modifiers to climbing, running etc) between being stark naked or wearing armor + full backpack and weapons (if youre not extremely weak, most human pc:s can carry this much).
My ideal swimmingrules would have minimal bookkeeping. Players should have some idea of how long their pc can last, but some random element (like a CON-roll) adds tension.
Maybe some sort of Breathpoints-system (based on CON and Swimmingskill) would actually be simpler for me (the GM) as the players would handle the bookkeeping.

"I´m not sure I follow you - you quoted someone else and then adressed me"

Yes, that's fully my fault. I intended to reply to Chaotic first, but then rewrote my reply for you as you're the OP and the answers are meant to help you

EDIT: my first post here is actually directed at everyone, the links are there for your use, but the warning and explanation is for everyone

Quote from: Headless;1012688Make them hold their breath in real life.  When the player breaths the character drowns.  

Its realistic but it does make it hard to describe their actions.

Lol, love this although I guess there should be some adjustment based on CON, if that stat is in the game.

Quote from: joriandrake;1012704Don't do this!

because:

1. it endangers the players in real
2. character endurance/lung volume is not the same as that of the player
3. holding your breath in air and under water isn't the same to begin with


further info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drowning#Pathophysiology
https://www.emedicinehealth.com/drowning/article_em.htm

directly RPG related:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt7B37riSL0
https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/38d5st/drowning_checks_in_5e/

I hope this is helpful.

PS: Seriously, do NOT ask your players to RL hold their breath.
Voluntarily holding your breath will eventually lower the oxygen content of arterial blood. Although breathing is normally regulated by CO2 levels, after prolonged, deliberate breath-holding that feeling of extreme urgency to breathe is due to hypoxia. One of our natural reflexes originating in the brainstem common to all vertebrates, is for breathing. So if someone passes out from hypoxia they SHOULD immediately begin breathing again, keeping the person from dying. However, while hypoxic they're at risk from cardiac arrhythmias or seizures, either of which can potentially cause sudden death, and a willful/strong-willed person might hold breath long enough to cause permanent brain damage. When people lose consciousness due to such action they can also fatally strike their head or break their neck when falling down.

On a serious note, I simply waterboard my players so that they can better emulate their character holding their breath.

With D&D...

You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to your constitution, after that, you make a Con save every round to avoid drowning.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;1012713I don't really like it for underwater combat because it makes the threat of drowning essentially nonexistent. Two minutes is 20 turns of combat. No combat will last that long. Same with getting hit by an attack and being fine; wouldn't it cause you to gasp or lose breath? I have people roll CON saves when they get hit underwater to see if they can hold on.

And how long did it take the character to get down there? You arent factoring in possible time spent either getting down to the fight or getting back up.

Id only make a CON save if its a critical hit. One failed save lose 1d6 rounds of air.

It also doesn't consider more oxygen being used under duress or the chance of losing air from a kick or such.

One house rule I used once was to use the normal number of CON rounds, but subtract one round from your total for every action you take and every attack you get hit by.

So if you have 20 rounds worth of breath, when every turn you drop that by 1, and you also drop it again by 1 if you use an action. It still will take a while but at least makes it feel more like a threat.