On 10/17/05, Joshua Wilson < josh at woosworld.net > wrote: > > Brendan Lally wrote: > > The following are IMHO only. > > IMHO is good enough for around here :-) > > > > > On 10/17/05, Joshua Wilson < josh at woosworld.net > wrote: > > > >>Do the undead (Devourer) breathe? > > > >>And if not, can they simple sink to the bottom anyway and walk as far as > >>they want? > > > > > > in theory, but, since water will contain trace amounts of holy water > > (being one large interconnected system into which such water will at > > some point have been introduced), and since holy water is fatal to > > undead, when they tire and sink, they start to swallow water and the > > component of that that is holy water kills them. > > > > Interesting. A few thoughts here. > > Are you using this logic as a way to prevent the undead from getting an > advantage that "overpowers" them, or is this how you really see it? according to wikipedia: 'Once consecrated, more ordinary water can be added to the supply of holy water, and the entire quantity of water remains consecrated provided that the amount added is less than the amount of water that was there.' I had never heard this before (but then I've never really thought about that before, so have never tried to look it up), but it sounds plausible. Gameplay is to me the key point, If there is drowning, then there is no need to have massive alterations to world maps that have open bodies of water (and illogical limits on where a player can and can't swim). If some characters are not guarenteed to be able to drown, then they could go anywhere in a body of water, which would mean a need to modify them to define where someone can't swim to. The 'all water is partially holy water' argument does have one other problem, in that wraiths can drink potions of water with no ill effects. > Isn't holy water blessed by a priest to become holy, and after it's been > used no longer "holy" and just "water"? In this case wouldn't water > returned to the sea no longer be holy? That's an interesting question, I infer from the wikipedia quote above, that the water would then no longer be exorcised, but that is an unsourced line from a wikipedia article. I have been unable to find a better reference myself. I do know that the quantity of water recognised as holy by any person is a tiny fraction of the world's total (even if the hindu intrepretation is used where (as I understand it) the entire river gagnes is considered holy - I'm unsure on this point, and would welcome it being corrected, I don't think hinduism has exorcism of water in the same way as Christianity.) Anyway, regardless of the reality of holy water, the world of crossfire is polytheistic, one god can define its persistance in rivers, seas and streams (but not in glass bottles, or fountains - sounds kinda like a gaea sort of claim to me.), while the others don't. If their banishments can work against wraith, why not their holy water?