Death

Version 0.33: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Death is a common ailment in Dungeon Crawl, and almost invariably lethal.

Like most roguelikes, death in Crawl is permanent - unless you are playing a Felid with extra lives, or are in explore or wizard mode. When your character dies, your save file is deleted and the character is moved to the morgue. A bones file is created for the floor (if eligible), and a player ghost may be generated to be found in the necropolis.

The only way to die is to drop below 1 HP from taking damage. Sources of damage include monsters, self-injury, godly wrath, and lingering effects like poison.

Here's an example of a quick death by monster damage...

The goblin hits you with a +0 club.
You die...

0 Player the Charlatan (level 1, -1/15 HPs)
             Began as a Human Artificer on Sept 11, 2025.
             Slain by a goblin
             ... wielding a +0 club
              (4 damage)
             ... on level 1 of the Dungeon.
             The game lasted 00:00:51 (44 turns).

...and here's one by falling down some stairs.

You are confused.
In your confused state, you trip and fall back down the stairs.
You die...

41 Player the Slasher (level 3, 0/27 HPs)
             Began as a Coglin Gladiator on Sept 3, 2025.
             Fell down a flight of stairs (1 damage)
             ... on level 3 of the Dungeon.
             The game lasted 00:02:29 (1689 turns).

History

Crawl historically had a few other ways of dying, like falling into lava. See the Instadeath article for more details.