Sleeping on top of a ruined wall

[Pinjata]

My PCs are stuck in a swamp. It's a real quagmire. There is no place to rest, since, when they try to take a nap, they get soaked immediately and also wake up the same time. They've come to some old ruins. They are flooded, about a foot of water everywhere. One of them came upon an idea of "sleeping on top of ruined walls". I like the idea, but I wonder, how to pull it of mechanically. It's 5e.

Any advice?

Good example of this wall. (http://www.travel-images.com/pht/jordan228.jpg)

[DeTess]

If the swamp isn't too deep, I'd pull the wall down and use the rubble to create an artificial island to rest on.

[nickl_2000]

I don't see any reason why you couldn't rig a hammock from something like that, especially if someone had climbing gear.

If someone can make this https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01906/Cliff-camping-camp_1906707i.jpg they can easily make a hammock off that.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Use a rope and a piton, they are in the standard dungeonering kit and make what the one above me talked about

[Darkstar952]

As the above posters have said rigging the walls with some hammocks would be pretty easy to do, assuming there are trees in the swamp this could also have been easily done using some of the trees.

[Toadkiller]

Swamps have trees, marshes do not. :)

[Slipperychicken]

Of course, if they're doing a hammock, they could always just use normal swamp-trees. If they don't secure themselves properly, they make a DC 10 constitution save to avoid rolling into the swamp

If they fail and roll into the swamp, they take some d6s of damage, get an exhaustion level (which is not recovered in that long rest), and are all smelly until they take a bath

[Sigreid]

Depending on how thick the walls are it could be no issue at all. If the walls aren't thick enough they could cut some branches to make a platform at a corner.

[Cicciograna]

In general, if they have access to straight poles and to canvas or leaves, they could try to build a swamp bed (http://landsurvival.com/fm2176/05.htm#fig5-10), as detailed in the US Army Field Manual FM 3-05.70.

[Laserlight]

A swamp generally has a reasonable amount of dry (or at least "above the water level") ground. I live near a couple of swamps; you could drop me anywhere in either of them and it wouldn't take ten minutes to get to solid ground.

[Reevh]

A swamp generally has a reasonable amount of dry (or at least "above the water level") ground. I live near a couple of swamps; you could drop me anywhere in either of them and it wouldn't take ten minutes to get to solid ground.

I worked in Suriname for a while, and there was no dry land whatsoever in that swamp for 10s of miles at a time. We had helicopter supported fly camps out there, and we'd have to fly in floating platforms to build those camps on, or else build wooden platforms from fallen trees.

It was a hell of a place to work, trudging through shoulder deep (and marginally cold, actually) swamp water all day, with spiders and snakes and caymans all up on the surface, and spiky poisonous plants to avoid to boot. Plus the mosquitos.... oof.

There was actually a cool area where there were these like... foot thick mats of floating grass. You could walk across them and they felt a bit like walking on a water bed, but once 2 people passed over the same spot, the structural integrity of the grass mat would collapse and you'd fall through, suddenly shoulder or neck deep in water, and trying to crawl out onto a disintegrating mat of grass.

In response to the OP, it shouldn't be too tough to create your own hammock. The main issue is that if you've been trudging through a swamp all day, you're probably already soaking wet. Yeah, it's good to get your feet dry for a while to avoid swampfoot, but be aware that it might be quite cold drying off from the wetness while in those hammocks, and the prevalence of insects can reduce your sleep quality.

[MaxWilson]

My PCs are stuck in a swamp. It's a real quagmire. There is no place to rest, since, when they try to take a nap, they get soaked immediately and also wake up the same time. They've come to some old ruins. They are flooded, about a foot of water everywhere. One of them came upon an idea of "sleeping on top of ruined walls". I like the idea, but I wonder, how to pull it of mechanically. It's 5e.

Any advice?

Good example of this wall. (http://www.travel-images.com/pht/jordan228.jpg)

Advice: sometimes players like to roll dice in uncertain situations, to prove the DM doesn't have an agenda. You could say, "I dunno, maybe that will work, but there's some danger you'll be too nervous and uncomfortable to rest properly because you're cold and wet and miserable and always at risk of falling off the wall. How about we all roll d6, and every PC whose d6 manages to beat mine got a good rest that night?" That way even if it doesn't work, the players know they had a chance and that it wasn't just the DM blocking their clever plan by fiat.

Showing that you're willing to let the players succeed helps built trust for the times when you decide that no, what they're about to try cannot succeed.

[Demonslayer666]

My PCs are stuck in a swamp. It's a real quagmire. There is no place to rest, since, when they try to take a nap, they get soaked immediately and also wake up the same time. They've come to some old ruins. They are flooded, about a foot of water everywhere. One of them came upon an idea of "sleeping on top of ruined walls". I like the idea, but I wonder, how to pull it of mechanically. It's 5e.

Any advice?

Good example of this wall. (http://www.travel-images.com/pht/jordan228.jpg)

What's your goal for the game? Do you want them not to rest, is it important that they don't?

Don't let the environment dictate the story. Instead of saying no, come up with a DC. Have them search, or roll survival, and just say they find/make a dry place to rest.

[Sigreid]

In general, if they have access to straight poles and to canvas or leaves, they could try to build a swamp bed (http://landsurvival.com/fm2176/05.htm#fig5-10), as detailed in the US Army Field Manual FM 3-05.70.

I bookmarked that site. Seems like things a ranger or Outlander should know.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

My PCs are stuck in a swamp. It's a real quagmire. There is no place to rest, since, when they try to take a nap, they get soaked immediately and also wake up the same time. They've come to some old ruins. They are flooded, about a foot of water everywhere. One of them came upon an idea of "sleeping on top of ruined walls". I like the idea, but I wonder, how to pull it of mechanically. It's 5e.

Any advice?

Good example of this wall. (http://www.travel-images.com/pht/jordan228.jpg)

I have a lot of ruins like this in my country, they are really nice to sleep on(this is a hot country, no need for a blanket most of the time).

But I can only see a good place for 3-4 big/normal+ size humans on this one.
Maybe 1-2 extra on the part I can't see(a wall is blocking the view).

[darknite]

Leomund's Tiny Hut is always a good fall back for any bad environment.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Leomund's Tiny Hut is always a good fall back for any bad environment.

But it is not a real hut, is has no floor. It is just half sphere that can only block those who were not inside when it was casted.
The problem here is the flooring.

[darknite]

But it is not a real hut, is has no floor. It is just half sphere that can only block those who were not inside when it was casted.
The problem here is the flooring.

Point out where it says there's no floor to LTH. I know it's unconventional but it does state it provides an area that is 'comfortable and dry'.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Point out where it says there's no floor to LTH. I know it's unconventional but it does state it provides an area that is 'comfortable and dry'.

You are right.
It says a dome and that is comfortable and dry.

I guess it work because magic.

[Cicciograna]

Point out where it says there's no floor to LTH. I know it's unconventional but it does state it provides an area that is 'comfortable and dry'.

Well, it seems that Jeremy Crawford calls it being a dome (https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/805828810889248768), not a hemisphere, and thus without a floor.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Well, it seems that Jeremy Crawford calls it being a dome (https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/805828810889248768), not a hemisphere, and thus without a floor.

But when I look at the definition of a dome I can't see where is says there is no floor.

An example of one of the results of my search.
"anything shaped like a hemisphere or inverted bowl."

[Cicciograna]

But when I look at the definition of a dome I can't see where is says there is no floor.

An example of one of the results of my search.
"anything shaped like a hemisphere or inverted bowl."

Regardless of any definition of dome, JC explicitly says it has no floor, so in theory the floor would remain open.

To me this contrasts with the mention of the atmosphere being "dry and comfortable", as the atmosphere in the dome itself would seem to depend a lot on what's on the floor, but there's that.

[Segev]

Could be that it makes the region inside the Tiny Hut comfortably dry, even if it wasn't. So the swampy ground becomes dry and comfortable to rest on.

[Xihirli]

Regardless of any definition of dome, JC explicitly says it has no floor, so in theory the floor would remain open.

To me this contrasts with the mention of the atmosphere being "dry and comfortable", as the atmosphere in the dome itself would seem to depend a lot on what's on the floor, but there's that.

He later corrected himself (https://www.sageadvice.eu/2017/01/24/does-leomunds-tiny-hut-have-a-floor/).

[NNescio]

Could be that it makes the region inside the Tiny Hut comfortably dry, even if it wasn't. So the swampy ground becomes dry and comfortable to rest on.

The "atmosphere inside the space is comfortable and dry", not the floor (if any).

[JackPhoenix]

Indeed. Atmosphere in LTH is comfortable and dry, but that won't help you if you cast it with 3' of water inside.

[Zalabim]

He later corrected himself (https://www.sageadvice.eu/2017/01/24/does-leomunds-tiny-hut-have-a-floor/).

I like how well he copies some of the ruder twitters I've seen, but he's not actually quoting someone else. I'm still really unclear as to why it matters if it says hemisphere or dome in the first place. I've got a pop up dome tent. That has a floor. I live in the northern hemisphere. I don't think of that as having a floor. It seems like a distinction without meaning.

[Gurifu]

A hemisphere is a volume.
A dome is a surface.
Back to grade school with all of you!

Anyway, camping in adverse conditions is an obvious application of the Survival skill. You can just pick a DC and have them roll, take the highest result, and use success/failure to determine how long it takes them.

Make sure you leave yourself plenty of room to increase the camping DC for later when they want to camp in a lava swamp full of demonsquitos in the middle of a chainsaw tornado.

Of course if they have a good idea that you think would work, just say that it works and move on.

[NNescio]

A hemisphere is a volume.
A dome is a surface.
Back to grade school with all of you!

Technically a hemisphere is a surface. While a dome is a structural element (that usually resembles a hemisphere).

A ball is a volume.

Of course D&D (across all editions) is somewhat vague with respect to "sphere" and "hemisphere" (they can either describe a volume or a surface), but for force effects it's almost always a surface instead of volume.

[Gurifu]

Back to grade school with me!

D&D spheres and cubes and such are volumes, though, at least, according to the rulebook.

[CapnWildefyr]

Depending on their equipment, they could also suspend themselves from the wall like climbers on a cliff. Not sure how they would rig it, but they might come up with something. Like the others have said, set a DC.

Can they just make a raft? Is there any wood? Bundles of reeds? Also liked the idea of knocking down the wall to make dry land.

BTW a dome can be hemispherical, but does not have to be. A hemisphere requires a constant radius, dome does not.