GRIT
A Survival Horror Player Damage Module

GMs will need to map their system damage to 1d6 - 3d6. No attack should cause more than 3d6. If the narrative requires greater damage than 3d6 then the GM should narrate the effect and decide how it affects the players.

• A roll of 6 drops the character one full state immediately. All current checks are cleared - the new state starts at 0/3.
• A roll of 1-5 (that is not ignored by Damage Reduction) adds one check to the current state.
• When checks fill a state, the character drops to the next state and remaining checks carry over.

Important: Always resolve 6s first, then apply check results in order. 6s fire before checks accumulate.

1. Apply all 6s - each drops one state. If multiple 6s occur, each drops an additional state.
2. Apply all check results to the current state, with carry-over as needed.

Any surprise attack, backstab, or trap that deals damage includes a bonus 6.

The bonus 6 follows all standard rules for a 6 in the damage system: it fires first, drops the character one full state, and clears existing checks. Damage resolution then continues normally from the new state.

If the attack deals no damage — because Damage Reduction discards all dice — the bonus 6 does not apply.

1. Bonus 6 fires first — drop one state, clear checks.
2. Apply all remaining 6s from the attack dice.
3. Apply remaining dice, ignoring those within Damage Reduction.
4. Add one check per remaining die; carry over as needed.

The bonus 6 only triggers if damage lands. Damage Reduction still protects tougher characters — a Barbarian who shrugs off a Light attack entirely is not punished for being surprised.

Poison in most RPG systems is simply damage with a different label. It moves the same numbers in the same direction using the same mechanic. It is redundant by design and uninteresting by consequence.

Grit poison is qualitatively different. It does not deal damage. It does not add checks or drop states directly. Instead it changes the ceiling — the maximum state a character can recover to.

A poisoned character is not hurt more. They are limited. Their resilience is compromised in a way that no amount of Grit spending or healing can fully overcome until the poison is addressed.

Core Rule: Poison caps recovery. Grit and healing still function normally but cannot raise a poisoned character above the poison's ceiling. The poison must be treated first.

Weak Poison caps the character at Yellow 0/3 for one hour of at-table time — not game time, not in-world time. Real minutes passing while players argue, explore, and roll dice.

• The character cannot be raised above Yellow while poisoned.
• Grit spent raising them above Yellow is wasted — the cap immediately reasserts.
• Healing flows into the pool normally but cannot lift that character past Yellow.
• After one hour of table time, the poison clears naturally.

Weak Poison is always fair to use. Time solves it. The clock creates urgency without permanent consequence.

Strong Poison caps the character at Orange 0/3 until an antivenom is administered. There is no clock. There is no natural recovery. The character is in penalty territory — half movement — for the duration of the adventure unless the party finds the cure.

• The character cannot be raised above Orange while the poison is active.
• Orange carries a movement penalty — half speed. The entire party moves at their pace.
• The -1 to all action rolls at Red remains in effect if they drop below Orange.
• Only antivenom, Neutralize Poison, or equivalent magic clears Strong Poison.
• rit and healing function normally within the Orange ceiling.

GM Ethics: Strong Poison must only be used if an antivenom can reasonably be found. It must already exist somewhere the players can reach — bought from an alchemist, carried by the enemy who deployed it, hidden in the dungeon's deepest room. Strong Poison without a cure is not a challenge. It is a sentence. If no antivenom exists in the world, use Weak Poison instead.

The antivenom becomes the most important item in the dungeon. Not the legendary sword. Not the treasure hoard. A small bottle the party will tear every room apart to find. The poison creates the quest. The antivenom waits at the end of it.

Unless there is a compelling narrative reason to continue it, poison status clears between sessions. The character found a moment between Saturdays to recover. Time passed. The world moved while the players were living their lives.

• Weak Poison almost always clears between sessions. An hour of table time is rarely unresolved across a session boundary.
• Strong Poison clears between sessions unless the antivenom quest is the engine driving the next session forward.
• If the party fled the dungeon without finding the antivenom and the GM wants that to matter next session, keep it. The story earns the exception.

GM Principle: The session reset serves the players. The exception serves the story. Read the table and decide which the moment needs.

Each player contributes 1 + their level to the shared pool at the start of each game. This assumes a D&D style leveling system.

If your game does not include levels then try to map as best you can to this system.

The Grit pool cannot exceed its initial size. Healing that would push the pool above this ceiling is capped at the maximum.

The minimum size of a Grit pool is 7 Grit. This ensures that single players or small parties still have enough Grit to effectively play the game, since 7 Grit allows 1 death save and 1 state improvement.

The examples below show team compositions and difficulty ratings by Grit amount from Monte-Carlo testing. This assumes total Grit, e.g. Grit pool plus healing. Use these as needed to tune your game to the desired flavor, i.e. Survival Horror, Epic Adventure, etc.

Grit can be spent at any time, by any player, without consuming a turn, action, reaction, or bonus action - with one exception. It sits almost entirely outside the action economy.

• Grit can be spent on another player's turn.
• Grit can be spent as a response to a hit, before the round fully resolves.
• Grit can be spent by an incapacitated or downed player.
• Grit cannot be counterspelled, blocked, or interrupted by any game mechanic.

Exception: After the game master has rolled the attack dice, but before rolling the damage dice, Grit is locked and cannot be spent.

If a character reaches Dead, their allies have until the end of the same round to spend 4 Grit and pull them back to Red 0/3. Once the round ends, it is too late.

Timing: If the character dies on initiative 15, any player may spend Grit before initiative resets. The GM should be generous with the fiction - the sword dug into their armor, etc.

If multiple characters die in the same round, the party must decide who to save with their remaining Grit. 4 Grit per person means triage is always a real decision.

Lesser resurrection spells restore a dead player to Red 0/3 state. Greater resurrection spells may restore to higher states, including Green, at GM discretion according to the needs of the fiction.

These are prompts, not rules. The GM decides when a refresh is warranted and how significant it is.

• Completing a major objective - escaping a dungeon, defeating a boss, rescuing a prisoner
• A dramatic character moment - a meaningful sacrifice, a rousing speech, confronting a backstory
• A tonal shift - moving from a horror sequence into a safe haven, tension breaking
• A lucky break or unexpected act of mercy from the world

When the GM says this phrase, the party knows the Grit pool will fully refresh at the end of the current scene. This is both permission and signal.

• Permission: Any Grit remaining at the refresh is wasted. Spend freely - erase those lingering checks, pull someone back from Red, take the risk.
• Signal: The GM is telling you this scene is wrapping up. A story beat is landing. The tone is about to shift. Hear the phrase and exhale - briefly.

The GM should resist saying it too often. When it lands, it should feel like a reward.

Your state tells you what you can do. Check your state card - that's it.

1. GM announces the attack type (Light / Heavy / Brutal) and rolls the damage dice.
2. All 6s resolve first - each one drops you one state, clearing checks.
3. Remaining dice: ignore those within your class's ignore range, add one check per remaining die.
4. If checks fill your state, drop to the next state and carry over the remainder.

If caught off guard, any damage includes a bonus 6 that fires before all other dice. If Damage Reduction discards all dice, the bonus 6 does not apply.

• Weak Poison: caps recovery at Yellow 0/3 for 1 hour of table time. Clears naturally.
• Strong Poison: caps recovery at Orange 0/3 until cured with antivenom.
• Grit and healing still work normally but cannot raise a poisoned character above the cap.

Any player may spend 4 Grit before the round ends to bring you back to Red 0/3. If no one spends the Grit in time, proceed with standard death saving throws.

• 1 Grit - erase 1 check (any player, any time, no action required)
• 3 Grit - raise one state, checks clear (any player, any time, no action required)
• 4 Grit - prevent death, same round only → Red 0/3