Underwater Combat Questions

[Telonius]

Posted this in the RAW thread, but no response; so I'm posing it to the Playground generally. With underwater combat (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/wilderness.htm#underwaterCombat), there are several special considerations. One thing that I'm curious about is how Trip attacks and the Prone condition might function underwater.

The Prone (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#prone) condition reads:


The character is on the ground. An attacker who is prone has a -4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A defender who is prone gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a -4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.

Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity.

Is a Trip attack even possible underwater? Would being Prone matter? (I'm assuming that strict foolishness like suddenly ending up on the ocean floor after being tripped just below the surface wouldn't apply).

[supervillan]

You can certainly be prone on the ocean floor. Tripping in "mid sea" most likely isn't possible though. Most of the foes you could face are either aquatic, or they are not sea dwellers but they are equipped for undersea travel. In either case, their combat functions will have much more to do with the fact that they are underwater (see DMG section on underwater combat). If you're wanting to trip a mid sea target that isn't aquatic and isn't equipped for undersea travel, you're trying to trip something that is drowning or sinking, which is pointless of course.

I'd allow tripping on the ocean floor to work normally unless the target for the trip is in some way buoyant, in which case you can "tip" the target but it won't have any measurable impact on his combat functionality, he won't hit bottom and won't become prone. You can have your free extra attack from Improved Trip if you "succeed" in the trip manoeuver, even if that manoeuver has no other useful impact.