underwater

[Veknironth]

Well, I am going to apologize in advance if this has previously been covered. I did a quick search on the forums and didn't see it, and all my books are stuffed back in the basement as my ceiling is being replaced. Also, I don't have a lot of Rifts books, so if it's covered there I probably missed it. Caveat done.

Are there any rules regarding actions taking place underwater? I'm assuming you can still cast spells, but does being underwater have any effect on their range, damage, and/or duration? For example, what happens to a fireball underwater? What about cloud spells? Would Globe of Silence stop sonar? How far does Globe of Daylight illuminate underwater? Does Shadow meld work underwater? If you cast a Wall of Stone/Clay/Ice on top of someone, does it do any damage or just push them further underwater? And if it pushed them all the way down, would it do less damage? I'm sure there are other spells and powers I'm missing.

The next concern is fighting underwater. Stabbing seems like it would do the same amount of damage, as would squeezing. But what about striking with a blunt weapon? I assume if you had something like the spell Swim as a Fish, you could swim toward someone and use the weapon to strike and still do normal damage. But would you get a strength bonus for that since you aren't generating power with musculature? I imagine almost all distance weapons would be useless. Crossbows might work at short range, but the ranges for bows would be drastically reduced. Slings, no. Thrown weapons, no. Mace and Chain, no.

Finally, are there rules about swimming speed for non aquatic beings? What about something like a golem walking on the floor of a lake?

-Vek
"Flaming me won't work underwater."

[Soldier of Od]

I'd have to have a think about most of those questions, but first off, you can't speak underwater, so you can't cast spells underwater.
Unless you are just talking about being above the water and casting a ranged spell to a location below the water, in which case, fine!

I suppose the answers you seek are probably in Rifts: Underseas, Coalition Navy or Lemuria.

[kiralon]

First ed high seas might have a little bit of the info you seek, as in what magic works in and around water.