Immunity: Drowning

Would the virtue Immunity: Drowning allow you to breath underwater. Or merely to not die from lack of oxygen caused by immersion?

On the one hand, allowing it to give the ability to breath water makes it more than an immunity. On the other, if the magus still blacks out from oxygen deprivation but simply doesn't die, it seems very underpowered for a virtue.

What do you think?

I can't remember where I saw it but I believe that immunity doesn't let you breath underwater - however if you drown instead of dying you fall unconscious and wash up on shore.

It gets overpowered and slightly skewed if it allows breathing underwater, but i agree it gets a bit weak otherwise, so play it as you prefer. Either way is fine i think, just try figure out which is preferable for the game.

That's in ROP:Magic, I think.

I think that should be interpretted as just a particular take on what Immunity:Drowning might do. If for your character, for your saga, it makes sense for it to do something else, then that is fine.

How powerful either option is, really depends on how often characters are going to be falling into the water in your saga, and whether they have anything much to do (other than 'not drown') when they do so.

By the RAW, I'm not sure that "drowning" is something a character can be immune to - not any more than "dying" or "bleeding" or "pain". A character is immune to a hazard, not to the medical effect that the hazard causes. A character can be immune to "iron weapons", but not "being cut".

So "water" is something that a character can be immune to, and that would cover both drowning and being injured by normal and magical fast-moving water (inc CrAq 20 Mighty Blast of Water). It would be the same as being immune to fire, and spending the night, safe and warm, in a raging house fire. "Breathing" is just not an issue - you have Greater Immunity. (In either case I'd rule that you certainly could not talk, as there is no air to speak with...)

It is then up to the SG and Troupe whether that's too powerful even for a Major Virtue - I don't think so, but it's not my saga.

Now, that said, in the core rules "old age" is ruled out, and the only examples are "iron weapons" and "fire" - it seems the "hazards" have to be more concrete, that's what I'm basing this commentary upon. However, I'm not sure there's any good reason that "abstract hazards" like "drowning" should not be valid as well. Whether in a lake, in a vat of wine or a barrel of oil. Then a magical blast of water or a river are "hazards" that are not covered by the immunity, but it would then cover all magical drowning effects, which "water" may not (depending on the exact description of the effect).

I can see both sides of this - it's something to talk about with your Troupe.

Yes, you can be immune to drowning; it's a Supernatural Virtue.

Expressly? Where?

In ROP Magic.

I don't have ROP Magic but I've seen it before. but it's mentioned as an appropriate virtue for a Muspelli follower Aegir and someone with Undine Faerie Blood in Rival Magic and ROP Faerie. I don't see the more detailed explanation of how this works in either of those so I probably read it here on the forums.

There's another example in RoP: Divine of a Greater Immunity: Disease.

I'd say Greater Immunity Water would include Drowning and coldness from rain, as well.

While Immunity:Water wont protect you from drowning in wine, while Immunity:Drowning will. And so on...

Thx! Interesting - that changes my understanding of the RAW to be broader, more in line with what I allowed anyway - good to hear. But the diff between things like "drowning" and "water" is still interesting. (to me, anyway - meh.)

Yes, you are absolutely right that a character with Immunity : Drowning is different to a character with Immunity : Water. Both are entirely possible options under RAW.