Harrowtoll The world
Loot and death
What creatures leave, who may take it, and what dying costs you.
Remains
A fallen creature leaves its remains where it fell. They hold gold, the materials of its kind and sometimes a piece of gear, and now and then a Gem of Loss.
- Whoever did the creature the most damage may loot it alone for 2 minutes. After that anyone may.
- Remains decay 5 minutes after the creature fell, or 2 seconds after they are emptied.
- Double-click remains to run to them and open them, or stand within 3 m, select them with V and press E. E again takes everything.
Loot tiers
A creature's level sets its loot tier, and the tier sets what a dropped piece can be. A harsher creature's gear is made of better material, to a better quality, with more and stronger spells, and more often with a property.
| Tier | Creature level | Materials | Most spells | Strongest spell | Best property |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 to 3 | Grades 1 to 2 | 1 | I | I |
| 2 | 4 to 7 | Grades 1 to 3 | 2 | II | I |
| 3 | 8 to 14 | Grades 1 to 4 | 3 | III | II |
| 4 | 15 to 29 | Grades 1 to 4 | 4 | III | III |
| 5 | 30 and over | Grades 2 to 4 | 6 | III | III |
The grades of material are those on Items: grade 1 is copper, hide, ash and homespun, and grade 4 is tidesteel, sharkskin, ironwood and tidefelt. A drop of any tier can be as good as Superior, and the better qualities grow likelier with each tier. No drop is ever Masterwork: only a smith makes that. A named rare can fall from any creature, very rarely, and more often from harsher ones and from an island's named creature.
The scrap a creature leaves follows where it stands, not its level: the poorest grade on Saltmere and around Bellcross, the second on the first four islands, the third in their caves and on the islands behind a seal, and the best in the caves there.
Flotsam and hoards
Not everything worth opening was alive. Each high tide leaves flotsam on the strands: wrack heaps, sea-worn crates, brine casks, lashed bales and drowned chests. The buildings creatures hold keep chests of their own. Both are opened as remains are, hold loot of the same tiers as the creatures around them, and are anyone's to take. See The tide.
When you die
- Every stat is weakened for a while. See Death's weakness.
- You leave a quarter of the gold you carry on your body.
- You leave your most valuable gear: 1 piece at first, 2 from level 10, 3 from level 25.
- Your starting kit never drops, and neither does tidewrought armor.
- A Gem of Loss worth more than a piece is lost in its place. The cheapest gem that covers the piece is the one that goes.
Your body lies where you fell for 2 hours, and what is on it is yours alone for the first 30 minutes. After that anyone may take it. Your latest body is marked on the compass.
You wake at the bell you are bound to. With no bond you wake on Bellwether green, or in Bellcross once you have left Saltmere. See Bells and recall.