Water is deadly to those who aren’t prepared for it. Here are some standard water hazards and how often a character must make a Swimming roll, with each failure adding a Fatigue level.
A character with at least a d4 in
Swimming does not have to roll when in calm water.
In rough water, all characters must make a
Swimming roll every minute.
In white water, the hero is swept into eddies and whirlpools (hydraulics) and rolls every round.
A hero forced to tread water for long periods without a flotation device must roll once every hour.
Modifiers: Subtract –2 from a hero's Swimming rolls if he is trying to hold something up, including another character. Add 2 to the roll if he’s wearing a life vest.
Recovery: Once a character is out of the water, he recovers one
Fatigue level every five minutes.
Incapacitation Effects: Death in a number of rounds equal to half the victim’s
Vigor die. If someone can get to the victim within five minutes of “death,” he can be resuscitated with a
Healing roll at -4.
Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition p. 100