{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/rpg-grind--death-loss","type":"mechanic","id":"rpg-grind--death-loss","lang":"en","title":"Progress loss on failure","summary":"Defeat removes resources, experience or some loot, making preservation part of the loop.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/rpg-grind--death-loss/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/rpg-grind--death-loss.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/rpg-grind--death-loss.md","aliases":[],"tags":["RPG grinding","Cost and risk"],"sourceIds":["source-818b67d41c84bd82"],"sources":[{"id":"source-818b67d41c84bd82","title":"Dark Souls","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/211420/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Defeat removes resources, experience or some loot, making preservation part of the loop."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"death-loss-options\"></a>\n\n- Lose some unbanked loot. <a id=\"death-loss-option-1\"></a>\n- Recover losses by returning to the defeat site. <a id=\"death-loss-option-2\"></a>\n- Risk the current character in a permanent-loss mode. <a id=\"death-loss-option-3\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"A defeated hero leaves a purse at the death site and decides whether to recover it."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A systematic RPG grind reference: 110 mechanics and 330 variants in 18 sections. Four layers answer different questions: what the player repeats, what develops, how rewards arrive and what constrains the loop. It covers single-player RPGs, ARPGs, MMORPGs and adjacent management and accumulation systems. Every mechanic has an explanation, variants and a hypothetical example; coverage, combinations and verified game observations follow the catalog."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"rpg-grind","id":"death-loss","title":"RPG grinding","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/rpg-grind/#death-loss","categoryIds":["cost-risk-controls"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Progress loss on failure","description":"Defeat removes resources, experience or some loot, making preservation part of the loop.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/dark-souls-stamina-manual.webp","width":534,"height":287,"game":"Dark Souls","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/211420/","originalUrl":"https://shared.fastly.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/211420/manuals/DarkSouls_PC_Manual_Online_GB.pdf?t=1721682669#page=6","credit":"FromSoftware / Bandai Namco; screenshot extracted from official PC manual, PDF page 6","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Screenshot supplied in the official guide; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"A soul balance that can be lost on death","alt":"A soul balance that can be lost on death","markers":[{"x":89,"y":91,"label":"The 992 souls remain at risk until spent"}]},"tips":["Explain recovery and the consequences of dying again before recovery."],"examples":[{"title":"Dark Souls","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/211420/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original editorial RPG grind taxonomy authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and expanded to cover activities, progression goals, reward rules and constraints. All original thirty family/branch/variant identities are preserved. Official developer and publisher sources support only the specifically described released-game observations; design variants and scenarios are hypothetical.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/rpg-grind"}}