It’s fairly easy to get killed in the world of Sommerset, but luckily for those who tarry in the plane of Agartha and the other distant dimensions associated with it, Heroes don’t die easy.
Critical: If you would drop below 0 Blood, you begin to bleed to death. A typical character bleeds to death in one minute. During this time, a character can shout, moan, scream, or make any amount of noise, but cannot move under their own power and are helpless. They cannot use skills unless those skills specify that they may be used while in Critical, but are allowed to use items. You are under effect Weakness, Exhaustion, Pacify, and Down for the duration of the Count or until Critical is Removed through a "Remove Critical" call, at which point you are at 0 Blood and are given a 1 Minute Weakness count.
Deathblows: Helpless characters may be Deathblowed in order to kill them immediately. To Deathblow a character, you must role play executing a lethal attack for at least five seconds. Deathblow descriptions are very flexible. A Deathblow immediately ends the target’s Critical count and starts their Death count.
Death: At the end of your Critical Count, you die. You are unable to see or hear things around you, and you cannot move, speak, or do anything but lay there. However, your soul is still around at this point, and a powerful healer can put you back together. Your Death Count is 5 minutes, after which point, your Soul is Banished. You can be spared from Death with a “Remove Death”. This puts you back at 0 blood, but alive.
Banishment: After your death count is complete, your soul departs from the body. You must leave a Dead Man’s Marker at this site, but otherwise you must go Out of Character, and head immediately to NPC shack. The call "Banish with Destroy All" will remove the need to leave a death marker.
Dead Man’s Marker: an item left behind by a PC to signify where their soul-less body is.
Corruption is usually gained in one of three ways: Coming into contact with extremely dangerous and evil creatures, committing profoundly evil acts, and soul Banishment. Corruption cannot be removed by any normal means. Once you have been corrupted, this mark will be born on your soul for the rest of your life without the use of extremely powerful magics. Corrupted individuals have more difficulty being healed and brought back from the brink of death.