On earth and on most RPG planets water is ubiquitous. It may be beautiful or picturesque, but it’s also dangerous. Here are some ways in which oceans, rivers, and other waterways can provide challenges for characters.
Beasts of the Water
Predators and dangerous creatures lurk in fresh and salt water alike. These denizens may not even be visible from the surface and strike only once their domain has been invaded. Water combat and escape is more difficult than on land; one is fighting against the water itself. When adding waterborne threats to an adventure the go-to’s are often larger creatures like sharks, alligators, and squid. It’s worth considering the more passive threats like jellyfish, eels, or even more obscure animals like the diving bell spider.
Potability
Salt water provides an obvious hurdle when there’s nothing else to drink, but many people think of fresh water as a safe supply. A cool mountain stream looks inviting, but is actually unsafe. Water can contain a host of nasty organisms not visible to the naked eye. These organisms can come from animal feces, human waste, or a carcass upstream. Even a spring at its source can be temporarily contaminated just moments before the characters arrive.
Food Dangers
If the characters are in need of a food source or are fishing for pleasure, the items they catch may not always be safe to eat. Like drinking water, the food in an area may be contaminated or diseased. Some fish and other creatures are poisonous, from discomfort to deadly, if not prepared properly. And (my personal favorite), some fish, if eaten, can result in hallucinations that last for several days.
Lost and Adrift
When out to sea or in a large lake land may no longer be visible. Characters may ride the waves and hope it brings them to shore, but this could take days and a passive role in a large body of water can prove fatal. Most navigation skills employed on land are lost on water and the sky is the only remaining map, for those that can read it.
Currents, Eddies, and Undertow
The churning and rolling of water can be a challenge in and of itself. Characters can be caught in a fast moving river that threatens to dash them into rocks and debris or send them over a cliff. Ocean waves may overwhelm all but the largest of ships, sending the vessels and their passengers headlong into the water to fight against the undertows. The struggle against the water is also the struggle to breathe or hold one’s breath; fighting the flow only makes catching one’s breath that much harder.
Pressure
Even when equipped or in a vehicle, the deeper one travels underwater the stronger the density of water, which can lead put pressure against the characters or their sub-nautical devices. Characters may be fighting to repair or stop leaks in their submarine as it sinks deeper. Escape from the pressure can have negative results as well, rise too quickly from a great depth can result in decompression sickness (also known as “the bends”). Oceans are not the only deep bodies of water, lakes and lochs may also prove to be unexpectedly deep. When characters are exploring or are forced to the bottom of a body of water, pressure should be a challenge they face.
Recent Comments