History Main / StatDeath

* ''NetHack'': if your intelligence drops to zero, you die of "brainlessness", and not even an [[AutoRevive Amulet of Life Saving]] will save you, you are DeaderThanDead. This mostly happens because of Mind Flayers, which drain your intelligence by eating your brains.

** Some enemies (but thankfully not the player characters( in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' are subject to this, as well. Certain creatures (like Ultima Weapon and the monsters in the Cultist's Tower) are made of magic, and thus will die instantly if their MP is exhausted. This is why the game gives you the Rasp spell.

* In older editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', zero constitution is fatal. Zero in another physical stat means you're physically helpless and immobile, but you can still use some mental or magic powers. Zero in any mental stat means you're comatose and drooling. (In 4th edition, stat damage is no longer possible.)

* In ''ArxFatalis'', max health is calculated by formula "Max health = 2*Constitution*(Your Level +1)", meaning that simply leveling up gives you enough health, even if your Constitution is at absolute minimum of 6, and making CN a DumpStat. However, HilarityEnsues if a lich randomly decides to cast a [[ThatOneAttack Curse spell]], decreasing all your stats by 10 - which, according to the above formula, means instant death for anyone with CN below 11.

** A player loses the game if they need to draw a card and there are none left in their Library. As the Library represents the player's mind, with many cards that disturb it implying [[MindRape cracks in sanity]] , this can be thought of as the player finally succumbing to madness from intelligence draining.

* ''Warhammer 40000'' has a rule that states: "If a model's Strength or Toughness are ever reduced to zero, it is immidiately removed as a casualty." Though in practice this is a very, ''very'' rare occurrence. Other stats (apart from [[HitPoints Wounds]], obviously) can be reduced to zero without penalty, though that usually means the model will be very easy to kill if attacked.
* ''{{Exalted}}'': An interesting case where there is a [[MagiBabble long-winded explanation]] about this sort of demise, and nothing to do with your Stamina having just been reduced to 0. All ''sapient'' beings possess five graces: Heart (Willpower), Sword (Valor), Ring (Temperance), Cup (Compassion), and Staff (Conviction). If your Heart grace is reduced to 0, you simply cease to be something that matter. You're even less transient than the dream of a [[TheFairFolk creature made of dreams]]. This is not something that Creation-born have to worry, but they can still have StatDeath if all their ''other'' graces are reduced to 0, which is usually the result of being soul-ravished by the aforementioned dream-creature.

* ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'' which, as shown above, has specific cases in the source code for KILLED_BY_STUPIDITY, KILLED_BY_WEAKNESS and KILLED_BY_CLUMSINESS.
* ''NetHack'': if your intelligence drops to zero you die of "brainlessness", and not even an [[AutoRevive Amulet of Life Saving]] will save you, you are DeaderThanDead. This mostly happens because of Mind Flayers, which drain your intelligence by eating your brains.

->@@[=case KILLED_BY_STUPIDITY:=]@@

-->--[[DungeonCrawl Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup source code]]

[[AC:TableTopGames]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''DungeonCrawl'' which, as shown above, has specific cases in the source code for KILLED_BY_STUPIDITY, KILLED_BY_WEAKNESS and KILLED_BY_CLUMSINESS.

[[AC:BoardGames]]

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* ''Warhammer 40000'' has a rule that states: "If a model's Strength or Toughness are ever reduced to zero, it is immidiately removed as a casulty." Though in practice this is a very, ''very'' rare occurence. Other stats (apart from [[HitPoints Wounds]], obviously) can be reduced to zero without penalty, though that usually means the model will be very easy to kill if attacked.

A rule where death occurs as a result of a primary stat being reduced to 0. Your [[GlassCannon extremely out-of-shape Wizard]] tried out an unidentified ''-5 ring of strength''? His bones and organs are crushed under his own weight. Your [[DumbMuscle profoundly stupid fighter]] got his Intelligence sapped by a Mind Flayer? [[TooDumbToLive He forgets how to breathe]]. And woe to the hero whose Dexterity falls to 0, who suddenly slips on a banana peel and breaks his neck.

* A variant in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', if a creature has 0 Toughness then it dies. No, you can't regenerate it, no, being Indestructible won't save it. Creatures simply can't exist if they don't have positive toughness. The same [[StoneWall clearly]] doesn't apply to Power.
** Also a player is killed if there are no cards remaining in their library. As the library represents the player's mind, with many cards that disturb it implying [[MindRape cracks in sanity]] , this can be thought of as the player finally succumbing to madness from intelligence draining.

* This is the way damage works in ''{{Traveller}}'', where the ''only'' damage is to your physical statistics - if two of your physical stats hit zero, you're helpless; when the third joins them, you die.
* In most games in TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness, having your Stamina brought to zero causes you to swiftly weaken and die of illness in days.
** Similarly, if your KarmaMeter (Humanity for vampires/Prometheans, Morality for mortals, etc.) hits zero, the character becomes a monster, either literally (vampires) or figuratively (most everything else). They may not die, but they become unplayable.

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<<|DeathTropes|>>

* In older editions of ''DungeonsAndDragons'', zero constitution is fatal. Zero in another physical stat means you're physically helpless and immobile, but you can still use some mental or magic powers. Zero in any mental stat means you're comatose and drooling. (In 4th edition, stat damage is no longer possible.)
* In ''{{GURPS}}'' you die if aging causes ''any'' stat to drop to zero. If some other force drops a stat to zero you're rendered all but helpless.
* In MutantsAndMasterminds, Constitution drain won't kill you outright unless you would have been drained ''below'' zero, but landing at 0 will still put you in a very bad way.
* A variant in ''MagicTheGathering'', if a creature has 0 Toughness then it dies. No, you can't regenerate it, no, being Indestructible won't save it. Creatures simply can't exist if they don't have positive toughness. The same [[StoneWall clearly]] doesn't apply to Power.

* In most games in TheWorldOfDarkness, having your Stamina brought to zero causes you to swiftly weaken and die of illness in days.

* DungeonCrawl which, as shown above, has specific cases in the source code for KILLED_BY_STUPIDITY, KILLED_BY_WEAKNESS and KILLED_BY_CLUMSINESS.
* NetHack: if your intelligence drops to zero you die of "brainlessness", and not even an [[AutoRevive Amulet of Life Saving]] will save you, you are DeaderThanDead. This mostly happens because of Mind Flayers, which drain your intelligence by eating your brains.

* In BetrayalAtHouseOnTheHill, if any of a character's four stats are reduced to the skull at the bottom of its counter and the haunt is in effect, that character dies.

A rule where death occurs as a result of a primary stat being reduced to 0. Your [[GlassCannon extremely out-of-shape Wizard]] tried out an unidentified ''-5 ring of strength''? His bones and organs are crushed under his own weight. Your [[DumbMuscle profoundly stupid fighter]] got his Intelligence sapped by a Mind Flayer? [[TooDumbToLive He forgets how to breathe]]. And woe to the hero whose Dexterity falls to 0, who [[RocksFallEveryoneDies suddenly slips on a banana peel and breaks his neck]].

A rule where death occurs as a result of a primary stat being reduced to 0. Your [[GlassCannon extremely out-of-shape Wizard]] tried out an unidentified ''-5 ring of strength''? His bones and organs are crushed under his own weight. Your [[DumbMuscle profoundly stupid fighter]] got his Intelligence sapped by a Mind Flayer? [[TooDumbToLive He forgets how to breathe]]. And woe to the hero whose Dexterity falls to 0, lest he slip on a banana peel and break his neck.

A rule where death occurs as a result of a primary stat being reduced to 0. Your [[GlassCannon extremely out-of-shape Wizard]] tried out an unidentified ''-5 ring of strength''? His bones and organs are crushed under his own weight. Your [[DumbMuscle profoundly stupid fighter]] got his Intelligence sapped by a MindFlayer? [[TooDumbToLive He forgets how to breathe]]. And woe to the hero whose Dexterity falls to 0, lest he slip on a banana peel and break his neck.

When a primary stat drops to 0, you're dead. If its intelligence, you forget how to breathe. If strength, you collapse under your own weight. If dexterity, you slip on a banana peel (in a dungeon?) and break your neck.

Stat death is used in {{RPG}}s as a fatal penalty for extreme MinMaxing. It forces players to invest a little bit into their DumpStat lest a MindFlayer suck your fighter's precious little brain meats out or that unidentified ring your wizard tries out is a ''-5 ring of strength''.

case KILLED_BY_STUPIDITY: \\
if (terse) \\
desc += "stupidity"; \\
else if (_species_is_undead(race)) \\
desc += "Forgot to exist"; \\
else \\
desc += "Forgot to breathe"; \\
break;
--> [[DungeonCrawl Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup source code]]

* In older editions of ''DungeonsAndDragons'', you die if your constitution falls to zero. If any other physical stat falls to zero, you are merely helpless (though if you have spell-like abilities, supernatural abilities, psionic powers, or have spells that don't have somatic components either as part of the spell or through metamagic feats, you are not completely useless, but at the same time you are pretty much limited to aiming in the direction you are facing when you fell down if you have no means to move yourself), while if your mental stats go to zero you are rendered unconscious until your stats improve. 4E does not grant anyone the ability to cause stat damage and therefore there are no rules covering it.

** Similarly you almost always have a stat that represents your ability to resist your monstrous instincts (Humanity, conscience, etc) that if it drops to 0 you become a mindless monster and have to be put down.