Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 transcendantviewer May 13, 2015 18:49:12	So, I've got a friend that said she wanted to play a Lizardfolk character. I've got no problem with this, since they get some interesting racial abilities that don't really bend the rules any, but I've got a question for the community. Anybody find it strange that they can only hold their breath for 15 minutes? They're a swamp-dwelling species of hunters and savages. I'd expect their average time for holding their breath would be upwards of an hour. Now, 15 minutes is impressive, but that's really not all that long at all. What do you all think?
#2 CCS May 13, 2015 19:06:26	Just use that as the base. After 15 minutes have them make an easy Con save to be able to hold their breath for additional minutes equel to their con score. After that average Con save, and then a hard one and so on. Eventually a Con save will be failed & the Lizard folk will have to breath again.
#3 MechaPilot May 13, 2015 19:27:31	It's worth asking how the ability to hold one's breath is going to relate to the challenges in your game.  The most common occasions that I have seen of adventurers needing to hold their breath result from traps (both poison gas traps and room filling with water traps) and being dragged under water by aquatic monsters.   If you think holding one's breath is not going to play a big role, then there's no harm in extending the duration to whatever you like.
#4 transcendantviewer May 13, 2015 20:18:24	Well, the biggest thing is that she opted to take a huge drawback due to her race anyway. She said she wanted to play an Albino Lizardfolk Sorcerer. So, I gave her Sunlight Sensitivity, which she was perfectly okay with. She's a resourceful player and actually worked out a reasonable means of getting around it. A thin black bandanna to cover her eyes, to reduce the penalty (I ruled it would go from Disadvantage to a -3 penalty) I was assigning her racial statistics when I noticed that the flavor didn't mesh with her racial bonuses. The Lizardfolk are almost akin to sentient Crocodile-people, they live in swamps and ambush their prey.
#5 Grimcleaver May 14, 2015 4:03:44	First off as been mentioned the amount of time a lizardfolk can hold their breath isn't going to make a big difference in gameplay, and it being your game you can of course make the lizardfolk in your setting whatever you like, so that isn't a problem. I get the feeling instead that you're more curious from a fantasy ecology perspective. I guess lizardfolk seem much more like monitor lizards to me than crocodiles--in fact there actually is a race of humanoid crocodiles called Khumats, but I think the idea of swamp dwelling ambush hunters being able to lurk underwater and pop out to attack PCs struck someone as a cool dynamic to throw into a fight. I don't think they were ever consciously thinking "gatorman" when they did it. That said fifteen minutes seems about right, really. On the other hand, there's a number of different lizardfolk subraces already--having a more crocodilian version that is more aquatic could be a cool way to get the kind of race you're looking for.
#6 transcendantviewer May 14, 2015 5:21:56	Fair point, Grimcleaver.
#7 dave2008 May 14, 2015 9:38:12	Most lizards, even swamp dwelling ones can't hold their breath for terrible long periods of time.   Also, alligators typicaly only sumerge for a max of 15-30min.  They can go longer (at least 2 hrs) in a trance like state, but is is not normal.  Definitely not used for activities like hunting.  So for lizardfolk 15min seems about right.
#8 Captain_Kobold May 14, 2015 10:39:26	Bear in mind that crocs don't generally submerge completely when lurking in ambush: they just have nostril placement that lets them breath fine while only exposing a small part of their bodies visually.
#9 cowleymen May 15, 2015 22:04:33	Captain_Kobold wrote:
#10 transcendantviewer May 16, 2015 0:14:33	Believe me, cowleymen, I played a lot of monstrous characters back in 3.5, I know what can befall characters that don't make great impressions due to their race.
#11 cowleymen May 16, 2015 0:30:07	transcendantviewer wrote: