A countdown takes place when there is an unknown time limit before something occurs. It is used in the following situations:

• Death. An unconscious character uses the countdown mechanic as he slips towards death.

• Illness. Disease and illness use the countdown mechanic as symptoms worsen.

• Drowning or suffocation. Characters who cannot breath (underwater, or some other reason) use the countdown mechanic to determine when they lose consciousness.

• Starship explosions. In N.E.W., badly damaged starships use a countdown pool to determine when they explode; hopefully the heroes can escape the ship before it does!

• Other ticking clocks. There are many other situations where a ticking clock is relevant. Occasions where you need a tense situation as a character tries to do something before something else happens are ideal for it. Can a climber scale a crumbling cliff before it collapses? Can a thief pick a lock before the magical alarms go off? Can a Smallfolk burglar recover the magic goblet and escape the dragon's lair before it wakes up?

The countdown is started by forming a dice pool. Different situations will determine the size of that dice pool – a dying character uses one equal in size to his ENDURANCE dice pool, for example, while cliffs or magical alarms will have their dice pool size set by the GM. The larger the dice pool, the longer you – probably! - have.

Each turn, the dice pool is rolled. Usually it's rolled by the player in question – she rolls her own death dice, or her own drowning dice.

Any dice which comes up with a six* is removed from the dice pool, and play continues.

Eventually the last dice will be removed from the dice pool. It is then that the character dies, the trap explodes, or the soldier looks in the crate.

*see Fast, Medium & Slow Countdowns, below

Fast, Medium, & Slow Countdowns

The default countdown – removing a dice on a roll of 6 – is a slow countdown. Countdowns can run down faster than this, however. For faster countdowns, dice are removed on rolls of 5-6, or even 4-6.

A countdown is always expressed in terms of a fast, medium, or slow countdown. The default countdown (if not specificed) is a slow countdown expiring on rolls of 6.

Stabilizing & Replenishing Countdowns

Some countdowns can be stabilized or replenished.

A stabilized countdown simply stops counting down – the trap has been disarmed in time, or the character is no longer in danger of dying.

Replenishing a countdown allows extra dice to be added, effectively extending it. In this way, illnesses can be pushed back “up” the countdown and dying characters can be stabilized with emergency healing.

Not all countdowns can be stabilized or replenished; the specific countdown will clearly indicate whether or not these are appropriate. Sometimes the cliff is going to crumble whatever you do – it's just a question of whether you get to the top before that happens!

Countdowns & Stages

Most countdowns are fairly simple – the dice pool is rolled until it reaches zero, at which point an effect (death, explosion, and so on) takes place. However, some countdowns have effects which take place at various stages throughout the process – diseases, for example, have symptoms which worsen as the dice pool depletes (and which get better if the dice pool is replenished with good medical care).

Stages take place as the dice pool reaches certain sizes. For example, an illness might have a character becoming blind when the pool reaches two dice, and dying when it reaches zero dice.

Average Countdown Length

The table below shows the expected (average) number of rolls a countdown will last for before expiry.