Death, Saves & Negs

The basic shape

Death in Ugaris is recoverable, but it is never free. A character with saves in stock spends one of those instead of paying in flesh; the death is brushed off and the run continues. A character with no saves — or any Hardcore character — eats the full penalty.

Saves

A save is a stored ticket that cancels everything in the box above. Saves only exist on Softcore characters — Hardcore cannot hold them at all (see Hardcore vs Softcore).

The cap

Softcore characters can hold up to 10 saves at a time. Anything above that ceiling is wasted — spend a save before topping the stash up.

How thou get them

• One per level-up. Every time thy character levels, the realm grants one save (up to the cap of 10). For most adventurers this is the steady bulk of the stash — just by playing, the saves accumulate.
• Security shrines. Inside the Random Dungeons (see RD's), a Security shrine grants one save if thou currently hold few enough to receive it.
• Security potions. Brewed or bought, drinking one grants a save directly — useful when thou cannot reach a shrine before a fight.

How they get spent

• On a death. The first thing the realm checks when thou die is whether a save is available. If yes, the save is consumed and the entire penalty is waived — gear, gold, inventory, negs, all of it.
• At an LOE shrine. "Living On The Edge" shrines take all of thy saves at once and convert them into experience. A handy way to cash a full stash; less handy if thou are walking into a dangerous fight afterwards. LOE is a Softcore-only mechanic.
• At the Death shrine. The Death shrine kills thee on purpose for the "the Brave" title. It removes every save thou had, then gives thee a death. It does not add extra negs based on the number of saves removed.

Negs

When no save is available, the realm takes a chunk of experience — a neg. The size depends on character level and the type of death.

Special death zones

• Long Tunnels. Saves still work normally. If thou hast no save and die inside Long Tunnels, thy equipment is preserved. See Long Tunnels.
• Rodney's Warped World (RWW). Same rule — saves still work, and equipment stays on thee if an unsaved death happens there.

These zones do not bypass the save system. A save can still cancel the death; the special rule matters only once thou hast no saves left.

Hardcore: no saves at all

Hardcore characters cannot hold saves. Every death takes the full drop penalty and gives negs — that is the cost of the 30% kill experience and 10% MilExp bonuses Hardcore characters carry. The Security shrine refuses them with "Thou shalt never be secure" and the LOE shrine refuses them with "Thou art already living on the edge." See Hardcore vs Softcore.

Practical advice

• Cap thy saves before a tough push. 10 is the ceiling; level-ups bring thee there for free over a few sessions. Walking into Bone Quest, the deeper RDs or Teufelheim with zero saves is asking for it.
• Bank before any push. A full save absorbs everything, but if thou run out, the inventory loss alone can be devastating. Drop spare gear in the vault first.
• Know what Death costs. The Death shrine removes all thy saves and gives thee a death, but it does not charge extra negs per removed save. Use LOE first only if thou want to turn those saves into experience instead of losing them.
• Do not use Indecisiveness with negs. Indecisiveness shrines (RD 11, 24, 38, 43, 57, 64, 76, 83, 96) let thee reallocate experience, but interact poorly with negs already on the character. Do not use Indecisiveness if thou hast unspent negs.
• Carry a Security potion as a panic button. If thou are deep in a run and cannot reach a shrine, a single potion buys back a save before the fight gets ugly.
• LT and RWW are still dangerous. Saves can rescue thee there, but if thou die with no saves left, only thy equipment gets special protection.