An Unusual Holding Cell (my players stay out)

[InnaBinder]

The human leader of a nation in my version of the Forgotten Realms is being held captive in an underwater holding cell in a dead magic zone.  I'm looking for viable methods to allow for the holding cell itself to have a breathable atmosphere without compromising on the dead magic zone angle.  It's probably much easier than what I'm initially thinking it is, naturally.  Any help is appreciated.

[Solo]

Pipes?

[Wrex]

Just have his holding cell be a Garden, which would recycle the air, so long as the plants had sufficent sunlight/did not need it.

[Kasz]

Garden is a good idea...

We had a similar problem with making a portable hole with breathable air... we solved it by having an artificer bind an elemental ( http://dndtools.eu/feats/eberron-campaign-setting--12/bind-elemental--206/ )

We had the artificer bind an air elemental into a statue that breathed air into the room. Comes down to your DM and requires a 9th level artificer basically.

When it comes to the antimagic zone, Creatures summoned outside the zone persist I believe...so maybe a similar logic of 'the elemental has been summoned and bound outside the zone so the antimagic doesn't cause it to wink out of existance nor does it effect it's ability to produce non-magical air as it's an air elemental'

[poignant123]

If you go with garden, use Air Plants from Stormwrack. Just keep growing them and use the plants to create more air.

[Ithamar]

Have the human leader secretly be a warforged?  Or a necropolitan? 

Maybe he is a cleric of Mystra and can cast in dead magic zones, but cannot manage to escape?

[InnaBinder]

If you go with garden, use Air Plants from Stormwrack. Just keep growing them and use the plants to create more air.

Page number, please?  I failed a Spot check.

[The_Laughing_Man]

afb, it is in the section about mundane equipment. Around page 100 iirc.

Edit: page 108 to be exact.

[InnaBinder]

afb, it is in the section about mundane equipment. Around page 100 iirc.

Edit: page 108 to be exact.

Hmmm, 5 minutes use and then done, seems much less viable as a long-term solution than I'd hoped.  Thanks much for the suggestion and page number, though.

[The_Laughing_Man]

I think what poignant123 meant was that if you have a garden full of those (thousands) then they would produce all the air you need for the whole complex. No need to put them in your mouth unless you plan to take a morning swim.

[InnaBinder]

I think what poignant123 meant was that if you have a garden full of those (thousands) then they would produce all the air you need for the whole complex. No need to put them in your mouth unless you plan to take a morning swim.

Right, but nothing in their description says that's how they work.  You have to put them in your mouth to get the air, which doesn't solve the original issue of creating a breathable atmosphere in the holding cell, unless there's a nuance I'm missing.  The fluff on Air Plants also indicates the air is stored in the leaves "keeping the plant at the surface to receive sunlight", which makes using them in an underwater holding cell additionally problematic.

[Caylin]

However you are the dm. If you say the plants in the garden supply oxygen enough for the prisoner then they do. It´s unlikely your players will try to calculate if there are enough plants for it to work in real life.

You could also simply design a creature from the elemental plane of air and say it creates oxygen and is unable to return home do to the no magic or other wards on the prison. It could even be there of its own volition or be a guardian there so if the players kill it they are on the clock for getting away before the air is used up.

Reall as the dm you can pretty much do whatever you want and if the story/adventure is exciting who cares about the physics?

[InnaBinder]

However you are the dm. If you say the plants in the garden supply oxygen enough for the prisoner then they do. It´s unlikely your players will try to calculate if there are enough plants for it to work in real life.

You could also simply design a creature from the elemental plane of air and say it creates oxygen and is unable to return home do to the no magic or other wards on the prison. It could even be there of its own volition or be a guardian there so if the players kill it they are on the clock for getting away before the air is used up.

Reall as the dm you can pretty much do whatever you want and if the story/adventure is exciting who cares about the physics?

At which point we're in DM-Fiat territory, which I'd rather avoid if possible.  After all, I could use DM-Fiat without seeking advice from the forums on the actual rules-viable ways to accomplish this, couldn't I?

[Caylin]

Use the psionics is different variant then and do whatever you wish with psionics.

[phaedrusxy]

Pipes?

+1. Any reason why this won't work?

[Halinn]

Pipes would have a problem with the fact that while oxygen in the air is consumed, it gets replaced with CO2 in the respiratory cycle. A constant pressure means that it is not easy to replace one type of gas with another.

Some data on plants: http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/newton/askasci/1993/biology/bio027.htm
Assuming plants with about 30 leaves, 500 plants in a garden should provide more than enough oxygen for a person. Add to the room a good light source to let the plants grow (A permanent daylight spell in a locale outside the antimagic, then some use of mirrors to transport the light).

[phaedrusxy]

Pipes would have a problem with the fact that while oxygen in the air is consumed, it gets replaced with CO2 in the respiratory cycle. A constant pressure means that it is not easy to replace one type of gas with another.

So add a pumping system to ventilate it, and promote gas exchange. Or a magical air source, which is itself outside the AMF, but connected to it via the pipes. Maybe a bottle of air, with a hose on the end?