Death (mechanic)

"Beauty and harmony.
Governed by one eternal law.
All that begins must end."
-- Introductory poem from Shogun 2: Total WarGenerally speaking, any character that goes into fully-negative HP (e.g. -12 HP if they'd normally have 12 HP) must immediately make a HT roll to avoid dying. While there are a lot of things that may help (first aid, spells, ultra-tech healing drugs, being in stasis until a cure is found), there are sometimes moments when a character living would be weird.
== For Game Masters ==
When setting up a game, it's important to communicate the likelihood of character death is -- or isn't -- for a campaign.How to be a GURPS GM, p.11 Some genres tend to be more lethal (realistic tactical shooters and horror ), whereas some are dangerous but avoid characters outright dying: some Fantasy settings have resurrections, and some Supers keep coming back from death through no particular power of their own.
== For Players ==
Generally, when a character dies, that's the end of their career.Basic Set: Characters, p.296 Of course... that's with realistic rules. There's resurrections, mind transfers, clone backups, and Extra Lives... just try not to abuse these.
== Death Levels ==
"Death Levels" are organized from 0 to 7, from "most final" to least.Pyramid 3/99: Death and Beyond, "Death and How to Avoid It", p.36-37
=== DL0 ===
Death is the end, and naught lies beyond. It is a grim certainty with no gameplay afterword -- this is different than DL1 in that there's evidence that there isn't an afterlife.
=== DL1 ===
Stephen Colbert: What do you think happens when we die? 
Keanu Reeves: I know that, the ones who love us, will miss us.
-- interview circa 2019Death is the end, but there may be something beyond. No one's ever come back, but there might be reincarnation or some unknown afterlife. This is sort of a "default" in most "grounded" settings.
=== DL2 ===
Miracle Max: ...It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.
Inigo Montoya : What's that?
Miracle Max : Go through his clothes and look for loose change.
-- The Princess Bride (1987)Death is generally considered an insurmountable obstacle... generally. There's a handful of people who have definitively come back from the dead, but they are remarkably rare. They are done by miracles, or wishes granted, or by deals with gods of the underworld (or by fighting them!). There's likely some evidence of an afterlife, but there's no guarantee that it's the same place that big-name protagonists have gone!
=== DL3 ===
Coulson: ...You see, I haven't feared death for a long time.
Sibyl: Is that so?
Coulson: Yeah. The fact is, dying, it's kind of my superpower.Death happens, but it's thwarted or averted in strange and/or uncommon ways. It may be possible to go on a quest for a source of resurrection, but that source will change each time it's used. This level is common in long-running science-fiction and fantasy TV shows.
=== DL4 ===
Death is a nuisance, and there's a lot of exceptions. People are resurrected with magic, divine favors, reality-warping, time travel, etc. This is common for long-running comic-book supers stories (and many soap operas). Some characters have been brought back multiple times! Grief councilors have their work cut out for them, as no one knows if death will actually "stick".
=== DL5 ===
"Thanks for using Hyperion's New-U Station. Please die again!" -- Borderlands 2Death is a big... inconvenience, but there's codified knowledge on how to overcome it. Getting a resurrection is likely expensive, but no stranger than laser eye surgery. Some rare situations might make resurrection impossible (certain curses, poisons, perhaps being burned to ash or sacrificed), but at least the afterlife is a thing, and folks might even have maps of the hereafter.
* This is common in high fantasy settings with powerful healers and divine intervention (such as The Dungeon Fantasy RPG),
* This may also work with adventures based on videogame mechanics -- you get set back a few thousand credits, but you can respawn.
=== DL6 ===
Lt. Santino : Remember how they always thought there wasn't a way to kill a toon? Well, Doom found a way. Turpentine, acetone, benzene. He calls it "The Dip."
-- "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988)Death is a concept, but not quite a concern. It's something that probably happened, at some point, but everyone a character knows has either come back from "being dead" or just hasn't died from anything. This is the default for Toons and other light-hearted adventures.
=== DL7 ===
Death is simply unknown as a concept. People either don't die at all, or death isn't permanent or altering in any meaningful way.
== See Also ==
* If you're just pretending to be dead, see playing dead
* For the character, see Death (Discworld)
== References ==