Speeder over water mishap..

[garhkal]

Ok, say the players have one of those luxury speeders in galadiniums (where the top closes up) modified so it can go over water. While using it to flee an imperial raid, they get shot down over said water (say a deep large lake), which makes them flip over.
What would their damage be?
How much harder would it be to get out?
For those wearing large armors, what penalties would be assigned to their swimming?
What effects could come about from having grenades/missiles/mortar shells impact the water above their water ridden heads?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Akari]

Ok, that looks really *really* bleak for the characters...

Damage from the crash depends heavily upon the speed they were going... Water at high velocities is not much less dangerous then concrete and usually at sufficiently high speeds (100 miles plus) there is pretty little hope for survival. 6-10D Speeder scale damage (page 125 R&E) for the speeder itself and everybody inside might be apropriate.

Getting out of a sealed and armored speeder that is partially or wholly under water? Ouch! If the crash didnt rip the speeder into pieces, it will certainly have deformed it significantly. Add to that the water pressure of several 100 kilos pressing against the door (if there is no water inside). It might be easier if they have sliding doors, though those would suffer harder in a crash. Very difficult strength roll(s) probably...

Swimming in armor is literally impossible (ever tried swimming in your clothes?) for metal armor (heroic perhaps?) and even if they manage, they would tire in mere seconds. However, some hightech lightweight armor materials might actually float if they are lucky. Also sealed off armor that can withhold the pressures of space might be able to afford them protection like a scuba suit if they dont sink too deep... Rocket packs might work underwater if they can work in space. Jedi Telekinesis might keep people afloat as well.

Being shot at while swimming isnt really all that good either. Give them a cover bonus of maybe 2d or so but its nearly impossible to dodge unless you can dive under.

All in all: If you don't want to lose the entire party, you might want to use a deux ex machina... Like a GIANT water creature that swallows them and spits them out somewhere near a remote island where they try to jury-rig a vehicle from the parts they have or have them be swooped up by an imperial tractor beam and put into prison, or something similar.

[Phalanks Balas]

Hey Garhkal, don't let the dice roll rules your scene. If the pilot character loose control of his speeder, you decide what occurs (hehe you are the GM). If you want a battle into the lake, you can just decide that the speeder goes into a nosedive and crash, then begins to sink. Characters can be groggy by the crash.
In water, characters use swimming skill for dodging or moving. If they have a breath mask you can decide they can use it to breath under water.

Under water, blasters do less damage (-1D) and difficulty is increased by one level. Grenades do wound damage at short range then stun damage for other ranges but you can't dodge the damage wave.
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Phalanks

A day you will be facing the guns of the Black Pearl. You will know what means damned pirates !

[Jedi Skyler]

Plus, if they're in a sealed armor system, they ought to be able to build up the air pressure inside to act as a buoyancy device.

Swimming in clothing certainly can be done. In fact, clothing can be used to add buoyancy. Ditch the footgear, take off the pants, tie the ends of the pantlegs shut, then hold the pants open at the waistline behind your head. Swoop the pants through the air and down into the water; the wet material will actually trap air inside the legs, and as long as you keep the waist end under water (and cinched with a belt, if possible) then you have an instant flotation device.

[Pel]

Excellent points by all!

Underwater explosions are particularly nasty. Think depth charges. The blast itself does relatively little damage, but the shockwave it produces will crush metal (and flesh) instantly. I would probably double the blast radius and for larger charges maybe increase the damage by one scale factor.

"What should we do?"

"Swim fast."

"And hope they don't have proton charges."
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Aha!

[garhkal]