So if you're unconscious under the water, taking death saves, what happens when you succeed in 3 death saves but are still unconscious under the water ? From my reading of below...nothing would happen. You cannot either gain HP or be stabilised as you still cannot breathe...

My interpretation of this is that you would continue taking death saves, until dead or rescued ?

PHB: A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds).

When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying, and it can't regain hit points or be stabilized until it can breathe again.

Just to clarify, were already at the bold bit underwater. This is not a question on holding your breath or time for suffocation.

Thanks in advance

Quote from Morgancarr >>

My interpretation of this is that you would continue taking death saves, until dead or rescued ?

Correct.  Basic process works like this:

1. Make death saves as normal.
2. At 3 failures, you die.
3. Successes do nothing until you can breathe again.
4. If you can breathe again and succeed, and after succeeding you have 3+ successes, you stabilize.

Since you can't stabilize while suffocating until you can breath again, 3 successful death saving throws while dying means you die.

Thanks, Plaguescarred.

So you are saying that At most a player underwater/unable to breathe and taking death saves, at most can survive 5 rounds? i.e 2 fails, 2 successes and then a final 5th nail in the coffin, regardless of whether ultimately that's a successful set or failed set of death saves?

Thanks M

No, a player can survive until they fail 3 death saves, which could take any number of rounds, depending on rolls and game features adjusting these saves. Nothing about drowning turns a successful death save into a fail or changes the amount of failures needed to die. All it does is add the requirement of being able to breathe to stabilizing.

Quote from Morgancarr >>

Thanks, Plaguescarred.

So you are saying that At most a player underwater/unable to breathe and taking death saves, at most can survive 5 rounds? i.e 2 fails, 2 successes and then a final 5th nail in the coffin, regardless of whether ultimately that's a successful set or failed set of death saves?

Thanks M

 Yes because your 5th Death saving throw will make you stop making saves as you will die. If you can't stabilize at the end, you don't stay dying forever, you die instead. Otherwise drowning character would never die of suffocation. 

That is wrong. On your third failure, you die. That is all. No number of successes will cause you to die; success don't do anything in themselves. Three successes cause you to stabilize if you can breathe; if you cannot breathe you cannot stabilize. But having not stabilized does not prevent you from continuing to accumulate successes (that don't do anything by themselves) nor kill you. That is just wrong. 

You don't die when you have gotten to your 6th save without stabilizing. You die when when you accumulate 3 failures. Those are different.

Quote from WolfOfTheBees >>

That is wrong. On your third failure, you die. That is all. No number of successes will cause you to die; success don't do anything in themselves. Three successes cause you to stabilize if you can breathe, if you cannot breathe; you cannot stabilize. But having not stabilized does not prevent you from continuing to accumulate successes (that don't do anything by themselves) or kill you. That is just wrong. 

 So what you think happen when you have 3 success? You're foerever dying and survive indefinitly untill you can breath again? 

Suffucation says you can survive for a number of rounds meaning you can die from it. 

Getting 3 successes does nothing because they can't stabilise while drowning. Therefore - they keep making death saving throws.

Quote from Emmber >>

Getting 3 successes does nothing because they can't stabilise while drowning. Therefore - they keep making death saving throws.

 No you don't continue you only make saves untill you either have 3 success or failures.

Death Saving Throws: The successes and failures don’t need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.

The death saving throw rule says:

1. You make a death saving throw at the start of your turn if you have 0 hp.
2. Keep track of successes until you hit 3.
3. Keep track of failures until you hit 3.
4. If you have 3 successes you stabilise.
5. If you have 3 failures you die.

Nowhere does it say to stop making death saving throws if you reach 3 of one or the other. Dying stops you from making more death saving throws because you start your turn dead rather than at 0 hp. Stabilising stops you from making death saving throws because the "Stabilizing a Creature" rule says stable creatures don't make death saving throws.

If you are neither dead nor stable - because you can't become stable while drowning - you must continue to make death saving throws.

Quote from Emmber >>

It says keep track until you hit 3. Not that you stop when you get there.

The rule that says you stop is what happens when you hit 3. It says you die if you fail 3 times (so you're unable to do anything) - or that you stabilise if you hit 3 successes. It's the "Stabilizing a Creature" rule that says stable creatures don't make death saving throws. If you can't stabilise - then you must keep making them.

 Hehe If you take this too literally, it never actually says you stop so you can argue that you keep roling all your life thereafter!  ☺

You keep track because there's a resolution after 3 either way.  Logic tells you to not roll after that.

PS But i woundn't mind giving an extra round to a PC in such circumstances to only let it die at 3 failures instead. 

I edited my previous reply.

You don't continue making them all your life thereafter because you only make them when you start your turn with 0 hp - and it says "keep track of both until you have 3 of a kind" - so once you have 3 of a kind there's no need to track that type any more.

Granted - it's not written especially well - but then very few of the rules are.

Quote from Emmber >>

I edited my previous reply.

You don't continue making them all your life thereafter because you only make them when you start your turn with 0 hp - and it says "keep track of both until you have 3 of a kind" - so once you have 3 of a kind there's no need to track that type any more.

Granted - it's not written especially well - but then very few of the rules are.

 If you don't keep track after rolling 3, it means the 6th roll is discarded. You don't keep track of it, it's not a failure then. It's evidently not like that. 

Like I said - not very well written - but the intent is clear. If you can't stabilise - you keep making death saving throws - even after 3 successes.

Quote from Emmber >>

Like I said - not very well written - but the intent is clear. If you can't stabilise - you keep making death saving throws - even after 3 successes.

 The intent is clear, you keep track of both until you have 3 of a kind, which you do once you get 3 success. Not both kinds but 1. 

Suffocation is really a corner case that change how you can't stabilize, but otherwise doesn't change how Death Saving Throws are made. 

Quote from Plaguescarred >>

Quote from Emmber >>

Like I said - not very well written - but the intent is clear. If you can't stabilise - you keep making death saving throws - even after 3 successes.

 The intent is clear, you keep track of both until you have 3 of a kind, which you do once you get 3 success. Not both kinds but 1. 

Suffocation is really a corner case that change how you can't stabilize, but otherwise doesn't change how Death Saving Throws are made. 

 Your conclusion doesn't follow. You only die if you collect 3. Even if you follow your terrible reading that you stop keeping track, you don't stop rolling and you don't die. You only die when you collect 3 fails.

I'm reading it just fine Wolf, don't need to be snarky.

Trying to claim you keep making Death saving throw after you don't keep track is the conclusion that doesn't follow the rules as written. 

Where do the rules indicate that you die then though?

The Suffocation rule don't say so clearly but if you don't die what happen, you remain dying indefinitly since you don't make Death saving throw after 3 of any kind? You evidently die  when you can't stabilize and don't make saves anymore.