3.5 - Help me with maths (swimming)

[Jon_Dahl]

A group of adventurers need to swim 6750 ft. in rough waters.
Some characters can't automatically succeed DC 15 swim checks by taking 10.

How to resolve this situation with as few rolls as possible? I need to know if it take one hour or less to swim it, since one hour of swimming might cause 1d6 points of nonlethal damage.

[Greenish]

The way of least rolling would be to use a raft, or at least something that floats and can thus provide a circumstance bonuses so you could take 10.

Now, for characters who can succeed on take 10, swimming 6750 ft. requires 450 full-round actions (assuming 30' landspeed, no swim speed), or 45 minutes.

The ones who can't take 10 will need 450 rolls, and will probably drown long before the non-lethal damage from swimming becomes threatening. :smalltongue:


[Edit]: With land speeds and swim modifiers of the characters in question, one could probably calculate how long the swim takes, if allowed to assume that the character won't just drown.

[sonofzeal]

If someone has a +0 Swim modifier, it'd take them an average of three hours even if they don't drown. However....

Swim rules don't actually seem to account for the movement of the water. If they're swimming against the current, people with +0 swim might easily be making negative progress on average.

Also note:



By contrast, fast-moving water is much more dangerous. On a successful DC 15 Swim check or a DC 15 Strength check, it deals 1d3 points of nonlethal damage per round (1d6 points of lethal damage if flowing over rocks and cascades). On a failed check, the character must make another check that round to avoid going under.

TPK anyone? :smalltongue:

[INoKnowNames]

Jesus, Commoners can't even go to the Beach without risking death..

[TuggyNE]

Jesus, Commoners can't even go to the Beach without risking death..

To be fair: trying to swim more than a mile in rough water without decent skill (represented by max [1st-level] ranks) and a bit of strength *does* seem like a pretty bad idea. Or is that just me? :smallwink:

[Greenish]

If someone has a +0 Swim modifier, it'd take them an average of three hours even if they don't drown.I get two and half hours on average, with the base speed 30'.

With -1 modifier, it'd be three hours.

[Jon_Dahl]

Hmmm, it seems that I'm really poor with maths...

Let me have another try:
What sort of distance are talking about if someone with +0 swim modifier could luckily swim it within one hour in rough waters? We are talking about an ocean here, with decent surfing waves.

[Greenish]

Hmmm, it seems that I'm really poor with maths...

Let me have another try:
What sort of distance are talking about if someone with +0 swim modifier could luckily swim it within one hour in rough waters? We are talking about an ocean here, with decent surfing waves.2700 ft. or so.

d=T*(n*(v/2))

Where d is distance, T is time (in rounds, an hour is 600 rounds), n is the chance of succeeding in the swim check (15+ rolls, or 0.3) and v is the movement speed on land (30' assumed).

[INoKnowNames]

To be fair: trying to swim more than a mile in rough water without decent skill (represented by max [1st-level] ranks) and a bit of strength *does* seem like a pretty bad idea. Or is that just me? :smallwink:

Honestly, unless I count as a bit of strength human, it's not as hard as you might think. I like swiming, so I guess I have a few ranks, too.

Wow, I feel bad for people who make -me- seem athletic.

[Keneth]

Yeah but you're not swimming in armor. :smallbiggrin:

Building a raft strong enough to hold the equipment sounds like a better idea and should be simpler than one that would hold the party. Plus if they're unequipped they can use their natural buoyancy (unless they're dwarves), combined with the help of the raft (holding on to it should be just a minimum strain on its capacity, or attaching some loose buoyant material can reduce this almost completely) this should also allow them to effectively rest while in the water (to deal with the potential damage). Of course any currents can mess with the whole plan.