GRIT

A Survival Horror Player Damage Module

Drop-in replacement for player hit points

 

 

Overview

Grit replaces player hit points with a state-based damage system inspired by survival horror games. Players no longer track a number — instead they track their condition. Damage is visceral, recovery is earned, and every hit matters.

Monsters and NPCs continue to use standard hit points. Only player characters use this system. This means you can drop this module directly into almost any game with very little change to existing rules.

 

Design Goal: Create the feeling that players are always one bad roll away from disaster, that healing resources are precious, and that a tough Fighter and a fragile Wizard feel genuinely, mechanically different.

 

 

 

 

The Five States

Each player character exists in one of five states. States worsen as damage accumulates and improve when Grit is spent or story beats occur. Dead means mortally wounded and dying, but may be prevented by spending Grit (see Grit).

 

State	Movement	Actions	Check Slots
🟢 Green	Full	No penalty	□ □ □
🟡 Yellow	Full	No penalty	□ □ □
🟠 Orange	1/2 speed	No penalty	□ □ □
🔴 Red	1/4 speed	-1 to all rolls	□ □ □
Dead	None	None	None

 

Each state has three check slots: □ □ □. When all three fill, the character drops to the next state and checks clear.

 

 

 

 

Taking Damage

When a player character takes damage, the GM rolls a pool of d6s based on the severity of the attack. Each die is resolved individually.

 

Damage Dice

Attack Type	Dice	Examples
Light	1d6	Zombie claw, arrow, dagger, fall
Heavy	2d6	Sword strike, beast claw, hard fall
Brutal	3d6	Boss attack, grab, explosion

 

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.

Die Results

• 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.

 

Resolution Order

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.

 

Carry-Over

When checks overflow a state, the excess carries into the next state. A character at Green 2/3 receiving two checks fills Green, drops to Yellow, and carries one check — ending at Yellow 1/3.

 

Worked Examples

Example 1 — Check carry-over

Fighter at 🟢 Green 2/3. Hit by 2d6. Rolls 4, 3.

• Both dice are checks. Green fills (3/3) → drops to Yellow. One check carries over.

• Result: 🟡 Yellow 1/3

 

Example 2 — A 6 clears checks

Fighter at 🟢 Green 2/3. Hit by 1d6. Rolls 6.

• 6 fires first → drop to Yellow. Pre-existing Green checks are wiped.

• Result: 🟡 Yellow 0/3

 

Example 3 — Mixed roll

Rogue at 🟡 Yellow 1/3. Hit by 3d6. Rolls 6, 5, 3.

• 6 fires first → drop to Orange 0/3.

• 5 and 3 → two checks.

• Result: 🟠 Orange 2/3

 

Example 4 — Double 6

Wizard at 🟢 Green 0/3. Hit by 3d6. Rolls 6, 6, 2.

• Both 6s fire → two state drops: Green → Yellow → Orange 0/3.

• 2 → one check.

• Result: 🟠 Orange 1/3

 

 

 

 

Damage Reduction

Tougher classes are not merely harder to hurt — they shrug off small hits entirely. Each class has an ignore range: rolls within that range are discarded without effect.

 

Note: A roll of 6 always drops a state. It cannot be ignored by Damage Reduction, regardless of class or level.

 

Listed below are reference classes. Exact classes will vary by system. GMs should map their classes onto the sample below. If in doubt, model your class off the Paladin / Ranger / Monk.

 

Class	Ignores Rolls Of	Check Triggers
Barbarian	1, 2, 3	4–5 add a check
Fighter	1, 2	3–5 add a check
Paladin / Ranger / Monk	1	2–5 add a check
Wizard, Bard, Civilian	—	1–5 add a check

 

A Barbarian facing a 3d6 attack that rolls 1, 3, 6 ignores the 1 and 3, then has the 6 drop a state. A Wizard facing the same roll takes two checks and a state drop — a drastically different experience from the same attack.

 

 

 

 

 

Grit

Grit is the party's shared pool of narrative resilience. It represents collective willpower, cinematic luck, and the bonds between characters. It is not a measure of physical toughness — it is the reason protagonists survive things they shouldn't.

 

Pool Size

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.

 

Party of 3 Players	Initial / Maximum Grit Pool Size
Level 1	7 Grit
Level 5	18 Grit
Level 10	33 Grit
Level 20	63 Grit

 

Spending Grit

Grit Cost	Effect	Notes
1 Grit	Erase 1 check	Any player, any time
3 Grit	Raise one state	Clears current checks
4 Grit	Prevent death	Same round only → Red 0/3

 

Grit is a Meta Action

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.

 

Preventing Death

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.

 

Multiple Deaths

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.

 

 

 

Healing

Healing comes in three tiers and can be delivered as a potion, a spell, or any other form the fiction calls for. In each case, the effect is the same: Grit is restored to the party’s shared pool rather than to any individual character’s hit points.

 

Healing Type	Effect
Minor	Restores 7 Grit
Major	Restores 14 Grit
Full	Restores 21 Grit

 

Single-target healing follows the table above directly. The player administering the potion or casting the spell chooses which tier applies — or the GM determines it based on the item or spell in question.

 

Area healing — any spell or effect that restores health to multiple party members simultaneously — should be treated as at least Full Healing. The GM may increase this further based on the power of the effect: 28 Grit for a notably strong area spell, or 35 Grit for something truly exceptional.

 

For example: a cleric casts a major healing spell on all members of the party. The GM determines this heals 35 Grit, which for a party of 4 level 10 players is approximately 80% of their Grit Pool.

 

Extremely powerful healing magic may completely fill the party’s Grit pool. That is perfectly fine and should be treated like a player-initiated Grit Reset.

 

Please note that the player drinking the potion may not necessarily be the player receiving the immediate benefit. That is fine. Front line players take damage and spend Grit. Support players manage resources and support combat specialists.

 

For example: the fighter is tanking damage and needs Grit to heal while the wizard is drinking a potion to restore the Grit pool.

Resurrection

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.

Grit Refresh

Grit does not refresh on a long rest. It does not track bodily recovery. Grit refreshes when the story earns it — at GM discretion, tied to narrative momentum and cinematic beats.

 

Story Beat Triggers (GM Guidance)

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

 

"Smoke 'em if you got 'em"

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Quick Reference

On Your Turn

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

When You Take Damage

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.

When You Go Down

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.

 

Grit Spending Cheat Sheet

• 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

 

Designer Notes

Grit is built around one core feeling: you are never as safe as you think, and resources that feel plentiful now might be desperately scarce later.

 

The state track creates the illusion of safety in Green and Yellow — players feel fine, act boldly, and push their luck. Orange is the first moment the body begins to fail. Red is survival mode: every roll is compromised, every step is agony, but the character is still in the fight. That tension is the point.

 

Grit exists to simulate cinematic plot armor — the reason action heroes survive things they shouldn't. It is deliberately communal because survival horror is about what the group sacrifices for each other. Burning Grit to save the Wizard means the Fighter might hit Red alone later. Those decisions are the heart of the system.

 

"Smoke 'em if you got 'em" is table culture, not a rule. Use it well and it will become a sound your players are conditioned to love.

 

 

POISON

A Grit Supplement

Qualitative threat. Not just damage by another name.

 

 

Design Philosophy

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.

 

 

 

The Two Types

Type	State Cap	Duration	Cure
Weak	🟡 Yellow 0/3	1 hour table time	Time
Strong	🟠 Orange 0/3	Until cured	Antivenom

 

Weak Poison

Weak Poison caps the character at Yellow 0/3 for one hour of at-table time. Not game time. Not in-world time. The clock on the table. The real minutes passing while the players make decisions and roll dice and argue about which corridor to take.

 

• The character cannot be raised above Yellow while the poison is active.

• Grit spent raising them above Yellow is wasted — the poison immediately reasserts the cap.

• Healing flows into the pool normally but cannot lift that character past Yellow.

• After one hour of table time the poison clears naturally. No treatment required.

 

Weak Poison is always fair to use. Time solves it. The character manages a defined period of compromised recovery and emerges the other side intact. The clock creates genuine urgency without permanent consequence.

 

At Table Time: Use a real clock. The one hour begins when the poison lands. Players watch the clock. The dungeon continues. The tension is real because the timer is real.

 

Strong Poison

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.

• Grit 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.

 

 

 

Session Reset

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.

 

 

 

Poison in Play

The Green Dragon

The green dragon is perhaps the most devastating application of Strong Poison in the game. A dragon's breath weapon hits the entire party simultaneously, dropping every character to Orange 0/3 in a single action. The ceiling falls on everyone at once.

 

The party's options crystallize immediately. They can run — tactically correct, narratively humiliating — and return later with antivenom. Or they can commit fully, burning every potion and Grit point available, fighting to lift the ceiling before the attrition kills them. Half movement against a flying creature with 3d6 attacks is a brutal equation.

 

The dragon's Strong Poison breath is not cruelty. It is the GM communicating clearly that this is not a fight the party is supposed to win today. The dungeon is telling them something. The tunnel full of bones already told them once.

 

Design Note: A green dragon with Weak Poison is a fight the party can win. A green dragon with Strong Poison is a fight the party must earn the right to win. Same dragon. Different message. The GM chooses which story they are telling.

 

The Assassin

A single poisoned blade changes the entire dynamic of an ambush. The assassin doesn't need to kill the target. They need to land one hit. Weak Poison on a successful strike caps the target at Yellow for an hour of table time — exactly long enough for whatever the assassin was buying time for to happen.

 

Strong Poison from an assassin is a statement. Someone with resources and planning and access to rare materials wanted this character specifically compromised. The antivenom exists — the assassin's employer has it, or it can be bought at great expense — but finding it is now the adventure.

 

The Trapped Chest

Weak Poison from a trapped chest is fair and interesting. The rogue who failed their check is capped at Yellow for an hour while the dungeon continues. Everyone knows the clock is running. Decisions accelerate.

 

Strong Poison from a trapped chest requires the GM to have already placed the antivenom somewhere in the dungeon. The trap and the cure exist in the same space. Finding one means the other is reachable. This transforms the trapped chest from an obstacle into a thread the party can pull.

 

 

 

Quick Reference

 

Type	State Cap	Duration	Cure
Weak	🟡 Yellow 0/3	1 hour table time	Time
Strong	🟠 Orange 0/3	Until cured	Antivenom

 

Weak Poison

• Cap: Yellow 0/3

• Duration: 1 hour at-table time

• Cure: Time

• Safe to use: Always

 

Strong Poison

• Cap: Orange 0/3

• Duration: Until antivenom administered

• Cure: Antivenom, Neutralize Poison, or equivalent

• Safe to use: Only if antivenom exists somewhere findable

• Clears between sessions unless story requires otherwise

 

Both Types

• Poison caps recovery. It does not deal damage directly.

• Grit and healing function normally within the cap.

• Grit spent raising above the cap is wasted.

• The poison must be treated before full recovery is possible.

Ambush & Group Split

A Grit Supplement

 

Surprise Attacks

 

A character caught off guard by an ambush, backstab, or trap is already hurt before they know it. To reflect this, any surprise attack that deals damage carries a bonus 6 in addition to its normal damage dice.

 

The Rule

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 and the character remains at their current state.

 

Resolution Order

1. Bonus 6 fires first — drop one state, clear checks.

2. Apply all remaining 6s from the attack dice, each dropping an additional state.

3. Apply remaining dice, ignoring those within the character’s Damage Reduction range.

4. Add one check per remaining die. Carry over if checks fill a state.

 

Why Conditional? 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. The ambush penalty activates only when something gets through.

 

Worked Examples

Example 1 — Surprise with a check

Fighter at Green 1/3 is backstabbed by a goblin for 1d6. Goblin rolls 4.

• Normally: one check → Green 2/3. No drama.

• With bonus 6: drop to Yellow 0/3 first. Then the 4 adds one check.

• Result: Yellow 1/3

 

Example 2 — Damage Reduction blocks the hit

Fighter at Green 1/3 is backstabbed. Goblin rolls 2.

• Damage Reduction (Fighter ignores 1–2) discards the die entirely.

• No damage dealt. Bonus 6 does not apply.

• Result: Green 1/3 — unchanged.

 

Example 3 — Surprise with a natural 6

Rogue at Yellow 2/3 is caught in a trap (Heavy, 2d6). Rolls 6, 3.

• Bonus 6 fires: drop to Orange 0/3.

• Attack die 6 fires: drop to Red 0/3.

• Die 3 adds one check.

• Result: Red 1/3

 

Example 4 — Wizard surprised by an assassin (Heavy, 2d6). Rolls 4, 3.

• Bonus 6 fires: drop to Yellow 0/3.

• Dice 4 and 3: two checks (Wizard has no Damage Reduction).

• Result: Yellow 2/3

 

 

Group Split

 

The Grit pool is communal by design. Splitting the party splits that safety net. How the split occurs determines whether the pool divides with it.

 

Voluntary Split

Players may choose to split up — scouting ahead, covering multiple exits, guarding the rear — without affecting the shared Grit pool. The pool remains whole. A player in one corridor can still spend Grit to help a player in another.

 

Voluntary splits are a tactical choice. The system does not punish good planning.

 

Forced Split

When the narrative tears the party apart — a cavern collapse, a slamming door, a bridge giving way — the Grit pool divides with them. Each group operates on its own sub-pool until the party reunites.

 

Players in Group A cannot spend Grit to help players in Group B, even if they can hear each other through the wall.

 

Dividing the Pool

The pool is divided pro-rata according to each player’s contribution. Each player contributes 1 + their level to the pool at the start of a story beat. Their share of the current pool is proportional to that contribution.

 

Player	Level	Contribution	Share of Pool
Player A	1	2 Grit	2/9 of current pool
Player B	1	2 Grit	2/9 of current pool
Player C	1	2 Grit	2/9 of current pool
Player D	2	3 Grit	3/9 of current pool

 

Example — Party of 3×Level 1 and 1×Level 2, current pool at 7/9 Grit:

• Group A (Players A + B, 4/9 share): 4/9 × 7 = 3.11 → 3 Grit

• Group B (Players C + D, 5/9 share): 5/9 × 7 = 3.88 → 4 Grit

• Total preserved: 7 Grit. Nothing is lost in the division.

 

Always round the smaller share down and the larger share up so the total is exactly preserved.

 

Before the Split: Smoke ‘em If You Got ‘em A GM who knows a forced split is coming should call “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” immediately beforehand. Players spend freely to replenish themselves, the pool refreshes to 100%, then the cave collapses anyway. This eliminates fractions entirely — a full pool divided by headcount is always clean arithmetic. It also means each sub-pool starts at a fair, healthy baseline. The drama comes from the separation, not from going in already depleted.

 

Reunion

When the party reunites, their sub-pools add together at current values. Grit spent while separated is gone. Reunion does not restore anything — it simply merges what remains. GMs may issue another “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” event at reunion if the fiction warrants it.

 

 

Quick Reference

 

Surprise Attacks

• Any surprise hit that deals damage includes a bonus 6.

• Bonus 6 fires first: drop one state, clear checks. Then resolve remaining dice normally.

• If no damage is dealt (Damage Reduction), the bonus 6 does not apply.

 

Group Split

Situation	Pool Effect
Voluntary split (player choice)	Pool stays whole. Grit can cross groups.
Forced split (narrative cause)	Pool divides pro-rata by contribution.
While split	Each sub-pool is independent. No cross-group spending.
Reunion	Sub-pools add together at current values. No restoration.
Before a known forced split	GM calls “Smoke ‘em.” Pool refreshes first, then divides cleanly.