Life and Death

Horizon can be a rough place, Stranger. Many would tell you they dream of peace, but when sacrifice calls, far fewer could agree on what that peace should look like. Going your own way can only carry you so far before you arrive on someone else's doorstep, so in reality, nobody is ever far from conflict. Even those who talk of peace will rarely be seen unarmed, because in the end everyone needs the same things. What you have, someone else can take more easily than make it themselves. And vice versa. Here, we discuss the grim reality of what it is to live an die on Horizon.

As in many roleplaying and video games, “Health” or “Hit Points” are the measure of how much physical punishment or “damage” a Character can receive before they meet their end. Unlike many other games however, Characters in Horizon have IRIS, the advanced system of nano-machines operating within their bodies at all times. Among its many other functions, IRIS can dramatically improve durability and even bring a character back from beyond conventional death in the right circumstances. Here are the details:

• Every Character has Health, displayed as a number.
• Attacks against that Character cause Damage, which reduces that number.
• When Health reaches 0 or less, that Character's actions are severly restricted until they return to positive Health. This state is called “Death Coma”.
• Corruption may trigger at any point during a Death Coma. Be ready.
• When Health goes fully negative, the Character suffers True Death and dies permanently. For example, a Character with 50 Health suffers * True Death at -50 Health. A Character cannot recover from True Death.
• A Character's maximum Health can be increased by raising their Resolve (RES) Trait. See the Traits page for details.
• All Characters regenerate a small amount of Health each day at midnight. The amount recovered depends on the Character's Resolve (RES) Trait.
• Several additional effects can recover lost Health, including Medicine from the Biology Skill and Med Packs, found in the Equipment section.

Death Coma is an artificially induced stasis, during which IRIS attempts to maintain the host's vital functions, to the exclusion of all else. In this state, IRIS can initiate accelerated regeneration using the body's Stamina reserves, speeding recovery from the Death Coma into normal consciousness. Additionally, IRIS has been known to force movement in the host's unconscious body to remove it from imminent danger, such as fire or drowning, though this puts massive strain on the host and cannot be sustained long. IRIS also lacks the sensory awareness to tell friend from foe if others are nearby, and will generally ignore other people or animals unless pain is detected, at which point minimum movement to a safe distance will be performed. It should be noted that, at the best of times this will be a painfully slow movement: do not run heedlessly into danger expecting to wake up safely in a nearby town.

• Death Coma is initiated when a Character has 0 or less Health.
• In this state, a Character may benefit from Accelerated Healing. This provides their Natural Healing amount once each hour, instead of only once per day at midnight. This effect ends immediately, once positive Health is achieved. Natural Healing is increased by the Resolve (RES) Trait. See the Traits page for details.
• Each time a Character activates Accelerated Healing, they lose 5 Stamina.
• A Character may also crawl or slowly swim away from imminent danger, depending on their surroundings. If the Director deems movement possible, the Character may move up to their Agility (AGI) Trait in meters each round. They lose 1 Stamina for each meter traveled.
• At any point during Death Coma, including the moment it begins, a Character's Corruption may trigger, offering the opportunity to temporarily ignore Death Coma if they Embrace Corruption. The form this Corruption takes is at the Director's discretion, but only the Player may choose if they Embrace it or not. Should they refuse, they resume Death Coma as normal. Should they accept however, then they ignore Death Coma, but must find a way to obey their corrupted impulse with no resistance possible. This continues until they willfully submit to the Death Coma they have ignored. For every round of combat, or every 1 minute spent out of combat, the Character's Corruption rating increases by 1, until Death Coma resumes.
• Remember that a Character who exceeds XXX Corruption at any time becomes Feral and cannot return to a playable state. (Make a new Character)

True Death is the end of a Character's existence. Having been pushed beyond even the IRIS' ability to survive, there is literally too little left of mind or body to continue. A Character that suffers True Death is well and truly gone.

• True Death occurs when a Character's Health is fully negative. For example, a Character with max 50 Health who reaches -50 Health.
• Even if this happens just before some other effect comes into play that could have prevented it, the Character's Health cannot at any time be fully negative, or they will suffer True Death.
• The Director may inflict True Death on any Character at any time, should they deem the Player's behavior sufficiently inappropriate, though having a good reason is very highly recommended.