SCENE:
During the Brotherhood Blockade event, the Sea Wyvern has engaged and defeated the Scarlet Brotherhood ship Purity's Prow. All pirates have been captured or killed. Damaged during the preceding ship to ship combat, Purity's Prow lists to one side and is rapidly taking on water. It is clearly going to sink in short order.
PC Human Rogue:
"Hey I'm gong to jump onto the pirate ship and start searching it for loot before it sinks!"
DM: "Ok, no problem. You leap aboard but you can hear the rushing of water surging in belowdecks."
PC Human Rogue:
"Ok, I run downstairs and start searching for cabins."
DM: "You run downstairs to find the deck is already awash in knee deep water and rising rapidly. You see some doors along the passage way."
PC Human Rogue:
"I start opening doors and searching the rooms beyond."
DM: (makes a couple search rolls) "You don't find anything of use or value in the first couple of rooms, but the water has now risen to your chest."
PC Human Rogue:
"Screw it, I hold my breath and continue searching the rest of the ship."
At this point the DM determines that the ship has been sinking for more minutes than the d% roll that the Stormwrack rules (p. 12) say to roll for.
DM: (to the rest of the PC's aboard the Sea Wyvern) "You see Purity's Prow slip finally slip below the waves. However, you realize your companion is still aboard."
PC Druid: "I shape change into a porpoise and leap in after him!"
DM: "Ok, the ship will sink at a rate of ...( checks page 12 of Stormwrack again and reads "After a ship goes under the surface, it "falls" at a rate of 200 feet per round until it reaches the bottom") ... ah ... err.. holy crap!"
All Players: "Uh oh..."
DM: (to Human Rogue PC) "Uh, make a Fortitude save as you suddenly feel a tremendous crushing pressure on your eardrums. Oh, by the way, you're pretty sure you see a large chest in the back of one of the better appointed cabins."
PC Human Rogue: "Really?" (successfully rolls fortitude save) "Ok I head for the chest."
DM: (to Druid/porpoise) "Ok you shape change into a porpoise as soon as you hit the water. Below you can see Purity's Prow plunging rapidly into the depths. Very rapidly indeed."
PC Druid: "Ok I swim down to the ship and try to get the rogue out"
DM: "Unfortunately the ship is sinking at a fantastic rate of 200 feet per round and a porpoise can only go 80."
Players: (much cursing and disbelief)
DM: (to Rogue PC on Purity's Prow) "Make two more fortitude saves"
PC Rogue: (makes one save, fails the other)
DM: "Take 4 points of crushing pressure damage"
PC Human Rogue: "Screw the chest, I'm getting the hell out of here"
PC Halfling Rogue still on Sea Wyvern: "I grab an empty crate and leap over. Once I'm in the water I'll fill the crate turn it upside down and climb into it."
DM: "According to the hydrodynamic physics presented in Stormwrack, the crate with the halfling in it hurtles downward at 200 feet per round. It tears past the porpoise who is straining with all her might to swim downward."
PC Halfling Rogue: "Sweet!"
DM: "Start making depth pressure saves guys".
Druid and Rogues begin rolling. DM rolls 4d6.
DM: (to PC Human Rogue) "Ok take 12 points of damage as the ship slams into the bottom at 800 feet of depth"
PC Human Rogue: "Yark! With pressure damage I'm unconscious!"
The human rogue eventually dies from ongoing pressure damage and the halfling and druid recover his body The halfling survives the depth only through sheer luck and a bit of help from the porpoise.
My point with all of this, is does the ship sinking rate specified in Stormwrack seem completely unreasonable to anybody else? We're talking about wooden vessels here. Maybe somebody with more practical physics knowledge can tell me if a wooden sailing ship sinking at around 33 feet per second (200 feet / 6 seconds)is absurd or not.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Not shockingly, it's mostly nonsense. Water has high drag, which means that terminal velocity is low for most things. About 50 mph would be closer to correct for a ship - roughly 75 feet/round. Much lower for a human, because we are nearly the same density as water. You would need considerable extra mass to overcome the drag. Exanding on that a bit, what Stormwrack is saying is that a person would fall through water at 135 mph - which is obviously not true. You don't die when you hit the bottom when you sink, even with a weight belt on. Maybe if you're cliff diving, but that's a radically different thing.
Russ
In addition to the updated sinking rate of 75 feet/round, the DM could even lessen it more to compensate for, say, heavy current, or even stray air pockets in the ship itself. I don't think lowering it to 50 or 60 feet/round would be unreasonable.
As a DM, I tend to reward bravado. I would definitely want to give that brazen rogue at least a chance to survive.
I'm pretty sure they probably meant 20 feet, not 200.
Seriously, I have books that reference sections that aren't even IN the books. I have zero faith for typoes.
Not shockingly, it's mostly nonsense. Water has high drag, which means that terminal velocity is low for most things. About 50 mph would be closer to correct for a ship - roughly 75 feet/round. Much lower for a human, because we are nearly the same density as water. You would need considerable extra mass to overcome the drag. Exanding on that a bit, what Stormwrack is saying is that a person would fall through water at 135 mph - which is obviously not true. You don't die when you hit the bottom when you sink, even with a weight belt on. Maybe if you're cliff diving, but that's a radically different thing.
Russ
The thing is, something falling 200' per round is only going about 22 mph.
((200' per round / 6 seconds per round) * 3600 seconds per hour) / 5280' per mile = 22.72 miles per hour
I think the falling speed is completely reasonable. Note, though, the previous poster is correct that a dolphin could run at 320' per round, and should be able to catch up to the sinking ship.
The thing I find incredible is the fall rate of the overturned crate with an air pocket in it. That thing should float, not sink!
All typo/rules questions aside, that was a hilarious story.
Poor Rogue. But 200 feet? Talk about that sinking feeling!