primemover003 wrote:
However in the DMG under the condition Drowning, you get 2 rounds per Con point.
Acutally, that is listed under the "Suffocation" condition, quoteing from the SRD:
"Suffocation
A character who has no air to breathe can hold her breath for 2 rounds per point of Constitution.
When the character fails one of these Constitution checks, she begins to suffocate. In the first round, she falls unconscious (0 hit points). In the following round, she drops to –1 hit points and is dying. In the third round, she suffocates."
So the rules in the PHB apply only to drowning, and the rules in the DMG apply to any situation in which the charicter can not breathe, but is not underwater.
Rob to answer your question, the reason why you get 1-2 minutes before you start rolling is that if you fail a check, you automatically die in three rounds, which is pretty nasty. I don't have a problem with the rule myself, that would mean an average human can hold his breath for 1 min before he would have to start making checks (when underwater). That is fair enough, IMHO
As for the original question, I agree with James