Hi all

I'm building an encounter for my PCs where they have to break into a flooded Jedi sarcophagus. (Well, they don't have to, but I'm pretty sure they're going to want to...). Anyhoo, one of the PCs is a droid, and I'm trying to work out what the rules for a droid operating underwater should be.

Obviously, he doesn't have to breathe - that's one of the benefits of being a droid. And I'm fine with him being able to function, but I feel that being a mechanical, electronic, metal creature operating underwater should have some consequences.

The most obvious thing, to me, is that he will be denser than a living organism, and hence probably sink - he can walk along the bottom, but swimming will probably be much harder for him than for an organic creature. In addition, I don't know if there should be some sort of strain penalty, or a risk of corrosion, or something? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

I'd have it sink to the bottom right away, and of course if the water is deep enough the pressure will do some damage - but I'm guessing that won't be relevant for you. I think calling everything difficult terrain for him would be appropriate, and possibly adding some setback dice to any physical checks to represent how sluggishly one moves in water. You could also inflict 2 strain for every Threat he rolls while underwater, if that suits the scenario (and unless you have something better to spend Threat on).

Unless there's a story point to be had I'd ignore the whole corrosion bit; just assume the droid dries out afterwards.

The droid may not necessarily be denser than a living creature. Star Wars has fantasy tech, so all of those lightweight metals and plastics might even make it less dense than a human. But really, if you single the droid out here, what about all of the other species out there? Surely a Chevin or a Hutt swims poorly. Wookiees and most high-brawn species might be "high-density" in the way you suggest for droids.

R2D2 seemed to do okay in the rain and swamps of Degobah.

10 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

The droid may not necessarily be denser than a living creature. Star Wars has fantasy tech, so all of those lightweight metals and plastics might even make it less dense than a human. But really, if you single the droid out here, what about all of the other species out there? Surely a Chevin or a Hutt swims poorly. Wookiees and most high-brawn species might be "high-density" in the way you suggest for droids.

Hmm, you make a valid point. I guess really I was trying to avoid the fact that the droid can just bypass any underwater obstacle with comparative ease...but maybe that doesn't really matter.

1 minute ago, kaosoe said:

R2D2 seemed to do okay in the rain and swamps of Degobah.

This is true. Although I can't help feeling R2 is sort of an exception to pretty much every rule...

Droids (and lungless Gand) can ignore needing to breathe, but they still treat all terrain as difficult while submerged. There are several species that ignore the difficult terrain bit too, which makes them better than droids in this situation.

It depends on what kind of droid they are. R2-D2 was a standard astromech droid who never had his memory wiped. That's why he has so much personality.

A protocol droid like C3P0 on the other hand has exposed wiring in his abdominal chassis. That might cause an issue if he were to be submerged.

3 hours ago, edwardavern said:

Hi all

I'm building an encounter for my PCs where they have to break into a flooded Jedi sarcophagus. (Well, they don't have to, but I'm pretty sure they're going to want to...). Anyhoo, one of the PCs is a droid, and I'm trying to work out what the rules for a droid operating underwater should be.

Obviously, he doesn't have to breathe - that's one of the benefits of being a droid. And I'm fine with him being able to function, but I feel that being a mechanical, electronic, metal creature operating underwater should have some consequences.

The most obvious thing, to me, is that he will be denser than a living organism, and hence probably sink - he can walk along the bottom, but swimming will probably be much harder for him than for an organic creature. In addition, I don't know if there should be some sort of strain penalty, or a risk of corrosion, or something? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

IMO, droids should be able function underwater. Most wouldn't be able to swim—you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find a metal alloy less dense than water I mean sure they exist, and can exist in Star Wars, but they certainly aren't as common as others.

At any rate, I would rule that most droids are not made with buoyant materials, nor are they usually able to fill themselves with gases that increases their buoyancy like humans are. So sink, they do, barring any propulsion systems. But I wouldn't remove any functionality from them that isn't just inherent to any character operating underwater. A lack of buoyancy is mitigated by the fact that droids don't need to breathe, and also that they would likely be able to sustain much greater atmospheric pressure than humanoids (should a game ever veer in that direction).

Keep in mind that Luke did have to spend some time cleaning R2 after his "Swim".

Generally speaking treat the droid like a living thing in most respects, as long as they don't spend an extended time underwater and get themselves cleaned up fairly soon after emergence they should be fine.

Otherwise setback and/or increased difficulty for Mud, Moving through Water and Poor vision (Muddy Water etc) would be.

For amusement upgrade a die during their checks, a Despair could represent getting stuck in mud or on an underwater obstacle...or stepping on something they shouldn't step on...8)

The droid army crosses a body of water just fine when attacking Kashyyk during RotS, so besides the normal difficult terrain they should be fine for at least a short period. There's a couple of scenes where C3P0 gets soaked in TCW so exposed wiring appears to not be a problem.

Yeah, I don't think I have much to add. Droids (IMHO) should sink normally, but otherwise should function normally.

I do think that if the players are ingenious enough, they should be able to attach a compressed air, inflatable flotation vest (or other device) so that the droid can be made to float on the surface. (Limit the compressed air bottle to 1 charge to avoid abuse).

I wouldn't do anything because of droid status since other species don't really have issues imposed on them. Plus imo droids are weatherized. They're made of metal but not solid metal. An aircraft carrier is 100,000 tons and they float fine. Pretty sure droid manufacturers build their models for environments and issues.

5 minutes ago, 2P51 said:

I wouldn't do anything because of droid status since other species don't really have issues imposed on them. Plus imo droids are weatherized. They're made of metal but not solid metal. An aircraft carrier is 100,000 tons and they float fine. Pretty sure droid manufacturers build their models for environments and issues.

Yep, I checked the 'internets' and while the US Nimitz class carrier displaces 100,000+ tones of water it is still designed to be less dense than water . . . Which is why it floats. In essence the ship has a LOT of space for air, making it a metal clad balloon.

I don't expect droids to be designed like that, but if you want a neutral buoyancy or a floating droid, I'm certain they can be designed and built.

And like it has been pointed out already, you should consider the individual droid in question just as surely as each species will be affected differently. Heck, people are technically buoyant, but history is rife with examples of unlucky souls who have drowned.

I just had a thought. A handy mechanic could install an underwater propulsion system on an Astromech, allowing the droid to glide through the water much the way a heavier than air vehicle (or helicopter) moves through air. Technically any droid could get such a detachable(?) upgrade. I figure whatever this device is, it's going to have some bulk.

I think this may be an opportunity for player ingenuity.

I think you are over thinking it. A droid PC should consider this encounter just as any other PC would, droid or humanoid. The only advantage being droids don't breath.

If the water is swift or dangerous, then give them an Athletics roll, or other challenges as is fitting.

Don't single them out just because they're a droid, IMHO