Each character has two crucial attributes which determine his or her status. These are Armor Rating and hit points.

Armor Rating tells you how much structural damage your clothing will negate. For example, a heavy suit of armor would provide many armor points, whereas normal clothing would only provide 2 or 3. Except for "Piercing" attacks, whenever you take a hit, if the damage is less than or equal to your armor rating, you may say "Reduced," and take damage of "One Pummel." This has no affect on attacks that deal no damage, such as an attack that does "Holy Smite," however it will remove any normal status effect associated with a damaging attack. If the damage is more than your armor rating, take the damage and effects as called.

Hit points represent your character’s toughness and hardiness. They tell you how much damage your character can take before he/she dies or goes unconscious. While your armor will usually protect you from some attacks, some attacks can directly affect your hit points (such as Piercing attacks or Rending effects).

There are five stages of Unconsciousness/Death: Unconscious, Dying, Dead, True Death, and Permanently Dead. You are "Unconscious," once your hit point count reaches 0. You are "Dying," once your hit point count reaches –1. If you are at 0 hit points or higher, and take a hit for damage other than Pummel damage, you are set to –1, even if you would normally be reduced to less by the hit. If you are at 0 hit points or higher, and take a hit for Pummel damage, you are set to 0. Pummel damage can never reduce your hit points once they reach zero or lower, however, once at –1, any other form of damage will reduce to further negative numbers as normal. This continues until you reach a negative amount equal to your hit point total, at which point you are considered "Dead." If you are dead at debriefing, or choose to enter True Death earlier, you become "Truly Dead" and can only be revived with Hell’s Gate, as described below. Once you run out of attempts at Hell’s Gate, you are Permanently Dead, and cannot be revived by any means.

• You choose to enter True Death
• You are healed to more than 0 hit points, in which case you become conscious once again and can interact with your environment
• You are Killing Blown, in which case you are Dead
• You take any amount of damage, in which case you are dropped to –1 and dying
• After a ten-count, you awake from unconsciousness at one hit point

• You choose to enter True Death
• You are healed to 0 hit points or more. If at zero, you are considered unconscious. If healed to more than 0 hit points you become conscious once again and can interact with your environment
• You receive a Revive effect (if hit with Revive 0, you are restored to Unconsciousness with Hit Points equal to 0, if hit with Revive X, you will be restored to Consciousness with X hit points, which will never exceed your normal maximum hit points)
• Debriefing occurs, in which case you enter True Death
• You receive a Killing Blow, in which case you are Dead

• You receive a Revive effect (if hit with Revive 0, you are restored to Unconsciousness with Hit Points equal to 0, if hit with Revive X, you will be restored to Consciousness with X hit points, which will never exceed your normal maximum hit points)
• You choose to enter True Death
• You are still dead at debriefing, after which you enter True Death

Example:

James’ Elven Fighter, Aloris, is 10th level, has 33 hit points, and has an armor rating of eight. Over the course of the day, he takes 20 hits from zombies that swing for 4 points of damage. These hits are all reduced to "One Pummel" each. Then he gets into a fight with a 9th level Cleric of Rend, who uses the power Touch of Rend to do "27 Holy Rending" If this had been hits from the zombies, doing less than his armor rating of eight, he would have only been taking pummel damage and would have been reduced to zero, or unconsciousness. Fortunately, a single hit can’t drop you below –1, and Aloris stays at that total. The Servant of Rend smacks him once for good measure, dealing "Two basic" and dropping Aloris to –3, he is still considered dying. As a cleric of Silveen is rushing toward him, the healer sets off a trap that does "40 basic," and Aloris is in the radius. (We won’t worry about the clerics, Aloris is in enough trouble as it is) This brings Aloris to –43 points, which is less than the negative of his hit point total (–33). Because of this, Aloris is now dead. With the Clerics blown sky high, no one is left to heal Aloris, but hoping someone comes by who can heal him, James waits until debriefing. No one comes into the temple, however, and at Debriefing, Aloris is considered to have entered True Death. If no one comes to use Hell’s Gate within 10 game days, Aloris is considered Permanently Dead, and cannot be brought back by any means whatsoever.

The Spirit Realm

Upon Death, all characters’ spirits are transported to the realm of Garguth, God of the Dead. The only way to leave the realm of the dead is to be "Pulled out" by another mortal through a power known as the "Hell’s Gate".

To attempt to Pull a character, another character must find a Cleric to use the Hell’s Gate skill within the deceased’ level in game days. Upon using the skill, any number of characters may step through the gate in an attempt to save the character and pull them back. Note that the Cleric who uses the skill is not required to step through, and if they do not they are also not Bound to any agreements that take place inside their Gate.

Casting a Gate requires a portal of some kind, such as a doorway or other similar opening with dimensions no greater than 10’ x 10’. The Cleric must maintain contact with the plane of the gate during the initial casting of the power, but once the gate has been created it will stay open on it’s own without the cleric. During the casting, at least one person who knew the deceased (who becomes the target) as well as one object belonging to the deceased must remain within ten feet of the cleric. Casting the Gate requires a ten count, and as soon as it is completed the gate will dissolve at the end of another ten count if the target does not step through it. Any number of people may enter within a ten count of the target, and all who enter are Bound by the same terms as the Target upon leaving the Spirit Realm and are considered additional targets of the skill for any further rules issues. Note also that the Cleric and Target can be the same person, which generally leads to better odds of success. A gate is clearly visible to any who can see it, although it does not obstruct vision through it. As soon as the Targets leave the Spirit Realm, the Gate disappears. Until the Gate dissolves, it must be marked by black tape around the portal to signify that it may not be crossed. As long as it is in place, it is considered to be impassable and indestructable, and can not be destroyed by any means. During this time, the Portal surrounding the Gate is also indestructable, although any other structures attached to the portal still retain their normal properties. The use of this power as a barrier with no intent to cross generates ill-will towards the cleric by their deity.

Upon entering the Spirit Realm, the target must choose an Avatar to address. This must be chosen from the following list:

• Garguth
• The Original Target’s Deity
• The Cleric’s Deity
• The Deceased’s Deity

If the deceased is an Undead, Rend is substituted for Garguth on the above list.

To have ideal odds of success, the Cleric should be the Target, and both they and the Deceased should be followers of Garguth (unless the deceased is Undead, in which case they should all be followers of Rend). Otherwise, the Target should determine which of the available gods they have the best "odds" with based on how in favor they are.

The Target, having summoned an Avatar, has two choices. They may choose to fight the avatar or negotiate for the release of the Deceased. If a fight is chosen and the Target wins, the Deceased is brought back to life with no marks on their soul. However, due to the high power of an Avatar, this is usually considered to be impossible and should not be attempted. Any who are killed by an Avatar while in the Spirit Realm are immediately kept there, regardless of how long they have been dead, and must be Pulled by another character if they wish to live again.

Negotiating with an Avatar is generally chosen as the method for Pulling people back to life, although comes with a serious consequence. Whatever term is agreed upon becomes Bound to the souls of both the Target(s) and the Deceased, and if the terms are not met the God will begin "reminding" those Bound of their obligation. Reminders usually start off small, involving minor hit point or skill loss, but can take the form of Death or Soul Marks if the God gets particularly angered by the characters. Once the Terms are completed, all characters who are Bound are released from their Bond and are no longer able to be affected by the "reminders".

If a Bound character dies, the terms of their Bond must be completed before Pulling them back may be attempted. In addition, no character may pass through a Gate if they are Bound, so if a character is Bound from Pulling a previous character, they may not attempt another Pull until they’ve finished the first one.

Before being Pulled, the Deceased is informed of the Terms and may choose to refuse to be Pulled if they wish. This does not prevent the Target or any other character from attempting to Pull them again later.

Being Pulled creates a "mark" on a person’s soul, although it is exhibited in different ways and in different amounts. All souls are strong enough to survive three full Pulls, but after that there is a chance the Pull will be unsuccessful and the Deceased must remain in the Spirit Realm. After that a character will have to "pull cards". The full suit of hearts will be present in a deck, plus one black card for every time the character has died beyond the first three. The character draws a card, and if a red card is drawn, the Pull is completed as normal. If a black card is drawn, the soul wasn’t strong enough and the character is dead forever.

Hell’s Gate may be used to enter the Spirit Realm for other reasons at Plot discretion. Appropriate components may be substituted in these cases. Note that frivolous "visits" are likely to be considered "irritants" to the Gods - one does not simply "pop in" to say "hi" to a god - although it is tolerated under certain circumstances. It is rumored that some of Silveen’s more devout followers speak their wedding vows in the Spirit Realm in the presence of Silveen both for her blessing and for the Binding of their vows. Other gods are not known for presiding over weddings, although it is said that the two Warrior Goddesses have Rituals in the Spirit Realm to bless their champions.

Any Terms agreed upon by two parties while in the Spirit Realm are considered Bound to their souls, although if they were not made during a "Pull" attempt they do not interfere with later Pulling. Until the Terms of the Bond are met, the only way for a Bond to be broken is for both parties involved to say to the other "I release you of your Bonds" after which the Bond is broken. Note that in the case of a Pull involving multiple Targets, if one is released from the Bond it does release any others.