This skill includes the Swimming skill. The character is adept at both cliff diving into water, and in deep sea diving.
Encumbrance – A diver’s effective rank is reduced by 1 if clothing is worn and by 1 (plus 2 times DEX penalty) if armour is worn. This applies to TMR and combat, but not to holding your breath.
Non-Swimmers - Characters with no levels in swimming or diving do not know how to swim and will lose 1 hit point cumulative every round (1 point the first round, 2 points the second round, 3 the third, etc.).
Surface TMR - A Diver has a base TMR of 4 in the water (2 for gnomes and 1 for dwarves). TMR increases by 1 per 3 ranks (round up).
Subsurface TMR – Unlike those with just Swimming skill, the TMR of Divers is the same both on the surface and below the surface.
Holding your Breath – A diver can hold their breath for 30 + (WP x 4) + (3 x rank) seconds without preparation, or 60 + (WP x 5) + (5 x rank) with preparation.
Diving – A Diver can safely dive into the water from a height of 25 + CON + (Rank x 5) feet with a successful diving roll ((Rank x 5) + DEX bonus) The roll is modified by minus 1 per foot beyond safe diving distance. The distance is multiplied by 1.5 if the person jumps feet first and is wearing some type of foot protection. The depth of the water must be at least 25 feet (minus 1 foot per 2 ranks, minimum of 15 feet). Those with no skill in Diving gain no Agility bonus and have a safe diving distance of (20 + CON) feet. A result of less than Success indicates that the diver took damage from the dive, as indicated below:
| Result | Description |
| Absolute Success | Smooth dive. No damage. Further dives for the next hour gain a +10 to skill rolls. |
| Success | Smooth dive. No damage. |
| Near Success | Slight miscalculation. 1d6 damage. |
| Partial Success | Not so smooth. 2d6 damage. |
| Failure | Ouch. 3d6 damage. Stunned 1d3 rounds. Hopefully someone is around to help. |
| Absolute Failure | Bad news. 3d6 damage. Roll one Grievous injury. Stunned 2d4 rounds. |
| Blunder | Really bad news. 4d6 damage. Roll two Grievous injuries. Stunned 2d6 rounds. |
Staying Afloat – A diver can keep himself afloat for (CON + Rank) hours before they begin to lose hit points. Thereafter, they lose 1 hit point, cumulative every (CON + Rank) minutes (1 point after X minutes, 2 more points after another X minutes, 3 more points after another X minutes, etc.). Staying afloat does not allow for any movement. The character stays afloat in one location.
Endurance Swimming – A diver can swim at base TMR for a number of rounds equal to (END + Rank) before beginning to lose 1 hit point per round. Hit points lost is this fashion recovers at 1 point per minute once the diver can rest (by resting on a solid surface).
The Effect of Turbulent Seas – Turbulent seas should reduce the effective rank of a diver swimming on or near the surface. For example, swimming in the ocean on a relatively calm day, but where there is still a gentle swell, might reduce the effective rank of a diver by one so that someone with only one rank in diving will drown.
The Effects of Water Pressure (how deep can you go) - A character can safely withstand the pressure of depths down to (CON x 3) + (4 x Rank) feet. Beyond this, the character suffers 1 damage per round per (CON + Rank) feet beyond their “safe” depth. For example, a rank 5 diver with a 20 CON could safely withstand depths down to 80 feet. Between 81 and 105 feet, they suffer 1 damage per round.. Between 106 and 130 feet, they suffer 2 damage per round, etc.
Acrobatics and Diving – Divers who are rank 6 or higher in Diving, and also have Acrobatics, can leap completely clear of the water. Maximum height is equal to 1 foot per rank of Acrobatics skill or Diving skill, whichever is lower. For example, a rank 8 Acrobat with Diving at rank 5 cannot perform this action. If he raises his Diving skill to rank 6, then he can leap out of the water 6 feet.
Other abilities
Rank 3 – The diver can fight in melee while swimming on the surface. Effective Strike Chance is equal to half normal Strike Chance. Damage is half normal damage for all weapons (roll damage normally but then cut the total in half). This applies to many other action skills as well. For example, a Diver with Rope Mastery skill can throw a lasso and perform other Rope Mastery abilities, but their effective bonus is halved.
Rank 5 – The diver can hold their breath for 30 + (WP x 4) + (4 x rank) seconds without preparation, or 60 + (WP x 5) + (6 x rank) with preparation. Maximum “safe” depth increases to (END x 3) + (5 x Rank) feet.
Rank 6 – The diver can fight in melee while swimming below the surface. Effective Strike Chance is equal to half normal Strike Chance. Damage is half normal damage for all weapons (roll damage normally but then cut the total in half).
Rank 7 – The diver’s ability to fight while swimming on the surface improves. Strike Chance is equal to three quarters normal Strike Chance. Damage is reduced by 3 points, or half damage, whichever is more (roll damage normally and then deduct 3 points or cut in half).
Rank 8 – An endurance swimmer can “rest” in the water to recover Fatigue lost due to Endurance Swimming. Fatigue is recovered at a rate of one point per two minutes of rest. The endurance swimmer can recover all Fatigue except 1 per 30 minutes spent in the water. Thus, a rank 8 swimmer who has been swimming for four hours, can recover all but 8 Fatigue. If Endurance was burned, it cannot be recovered in this fashion.
Rank 9 - The diver can hold their breath for 30 + (WP x 4) + (5 x rank) seconds without preparation, or 60 + (WP x 5) + (7 x rank) with preparation. Maximum “safe” depth increases to (END x 3) + (7 x Rank) feet.
Rank 10 – A diver’s subsurface melee ability improves. Strike Chance is equal to three quarters normal Strike Chance. Damage is reduced by 3 points, or half damage, whichever is more (roll damage normally and then deduct 3 points or cut in half).
Rank 12 – Similar to the Rank 8 ability except that the endurance swimmer can recover all Fatigue except 1 per hour spent in the water. Also, the swimmer can fight equally effectively on shore as they can while swimming on the surface.
Rank 15 – The swimmer can fight equally effectively on shore as they can while swimming below the surface. The diver can hold their breath for 30 + (WP x 4) + (6 x rank) seconds without preparation, or 60 + (WP x 5) + (8 x rank) with preparation. Maximum “safe” depth increases to (END x 4) + (8 x Rank) feet. |