In the DMG, on page 159, it has the rules for the Endurance checks needed to resist starvation, suffocation and thirst.
One sentence in particular has me puzzled as it can be read 2 ways.
"When a character fails the check, he loses one healing surge and must continue to make checks. A character without healing surges who fails a check takes damage equal to his level."
Does this mean that a character who fails a check keeps making checks until he succeeds at one, possibly taking damage more than once in a single day? Or does he fail the one check, take the damage/loss of surge, and then is safe until the next day?
I am assuming it is the former, deadlier interpretation. If it is the latter, this potentially means that a 1st level character could fail Endurance checks for 3 weeks in the middle of the desert with no food or water before even coming close to death, which is ridiculous.
|
"When a character fails the check, he loses one healing surge and must continue to make checks. A character without healing surges who fails a check takes damage equal to his level."
When the PC makes a check, they don't lose a healing surge on their turn. However, they still have to make the check on their next turn, losing a healing surge if they fail. The checks don't stop until the condition (starvation, suffocation and thirst) is removed via food, air, and water.
Well, I know what happens when a character succeeds on a check.
My question is specific to failures.
So I'm in the desert and I have no water. I'm fine for 3 days with no checks needed. Then on day 4 I make an Endurance DC 20 check. If I succeed, I need to make another check on day 5 at DC 25. If I fail, I lose a healing surge.....but then what? Do I wait until day 5 to make another check at DC 20? Or do I keep making Endurance checks for day 4 until I succeed at one, or die, whichever comes first?
I'm guessing it's the latter, and that I need to keep rolling for day 4 until I'm dead or succeed on the roll. If not, then I'm totally going to houserule this (see example below).
For example, if you have a 1st level Rogue character, with 8 healing surges and 26 hit points. You put him in the desert with no water. He can survive (and stay conscious) for 37 days even if he fails every single Endurance check.
With my view of this rule, if he failed all the Endurance checks, he would die on day 4, which seems much more believable, considering most people cannot live more than 2 days in the desert, even with a little water.
The impression I got, and I know it isn't clear, but the DC is supposed to increase each day (or round) after the initial period whether or not you succeed.
In the case of starvation, after the initial 3 weeks has passed you start making your Endurance checks at DC 20 the first day, DC 25 the second, DC 30 the third, etc. All this is above and beyond whether or not you succeed. The only thing that influences is whether or not you lose a healing surge.
In the DMG, on page 159, it has the rules for the Endurance checks needed to resist starvation, suffocation and thirst.
One sentence in particular has me puzzled as it can be read 2 ways.
"When a character fails the check, he loses one healing surge and must continue to make checks. A character without healing surges who fails a check takes damage equal to his level."
Does this mean that a character who fails a check keeps making checks until he succeeds at one, possibly taking damage more than once in a single day? Or does he fail the one check, take the damage/loss of surge, and then is safe until the next day?
I am assuming it is the former, deadlier interpretation. If it is the latter, this potentially means that a 1st level character could fail Endurance checks for 3 weeks in the middle of the desert with no food or water before even coming close to death, which is ridiculous.
IMO, that sentence must be read in the context of the sentence in the preceding paragraph that reads "Success buys the character another day (if hungry or thirsty) or round (if unable to breathe)". So I believe that means the character must continue making checks (at the same DC) until they either succeed or they run out of healing surges and hit points due to failures.