I think the rules for asphyxiation and holding your breath in the
Agent’s Handbook are kind of weird. So I wrote this set of house rules
to replace them.
If an Agent has time to take a deep breath, they can survive unharmed for turns equal to their CON plus their current HP. If they engage in strenuous activity, they must make a CON or Swim test or lose an extra turn of air.
If an Agent doesn’t have time to inhale, or runs out of air, they must roll CONx5 or Swim
each turn as they asphyxiate. On a success, they lose 1 hit point, or
1D6 on a failure. This continues until they can breathe again or someone
clears their airway with a First Aid test.
Any HP lost to suffocation is restored with a successful First Aid test1. The +20% bonus from first aid kits still applies. If an Agent’s airway is blocked, the test to clear it also restores their HP. If the airway-clearing test fails, their medic can always try again on the next turn. They can either keep using First Aid, or change tactics and attempt a tracheotomy with Surgery.
Reattempting a failed test with the same skill inflicts 1 damage on the
patient. This damage persists after their airway is cleared and the HP lost to asphyxiation is healed.
If an Agent wants to get a Special Training in holding their breath like professional divers, they get a +20% bonus to all CON or Swim tests to hold their breath.
With these rules, the average person with 10 CON and 10 HP will last ~18 turns underwater. If we assume that a combat round is 6 seconds long on average (individual ones may be longer or shorter as the narrative demands), this is about 2 minutes, the standard figure for how long humans can go without air before falling unconscious and risking death.
In the ideal circumstance (18 CON, 18 HP, and the special training) someone can last for 5 or 6 minutes without air. This might sound nuts, but compare it to the Bajau sea nomads in Southeast Asia who famously can remain underwater for 13 minutes at depths of up to 70 meters. Admittedly, they do this by puncturing their eardrums to equalize water pressure and by benefiting from a few genetic mutations that help them manage blood-oxygen levels.
1 Since the damage is technically temporary, being revived from 2 HP or lower may not require a CONx5 test for permanent injury. Though it definitely should if the Agent is left unattended for more than CON minutes or if the First Aid test fails. ↩
Was thinkin that in terms of using these rules for when an Agent falls into sub-zero waters, I think I could steal a leaf from the Black Cod Island writeup in Targets of Opportunity.
ReplyDeleteMake is so when an Agent falls into freezing waters, they have to attempt a CONx5 roll, or immediately begin suffocating as they make the fatal mistake of involuntarily gasping and breathing in freezing water. So even if they do breathe in, it might not help them.
Could also model the same rules for falling into water from a height, as the impact knocks the wind out of you.
Yeah! I wouldn't say that failing the CONx5 roll means they inhale water, but losing any breath you were holding makes sense. Though, I'd let them roll their poor neglected Swim skill if it's higher than their CONx5.
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