The Meadgard death penalty has two parts, and they hit at different moments. Dying in the forest costs you half of everything you are carrying, and if the whole party goes down the day's objective fails outright — you go back to the tavern and run the same objective again on the next in-game day. Nothing is deleted from your save, but a whole day is.
Meadgard death penalty: the two costs
- Half of your carried resources. Dying in the forest means losing a portion of what you collected, and the blunt version of it is half of everything you are carrying. Anything already sitting in the village is untouched.
- A failed objective for the day. When the whole party goes down, the objective fails and you repeat it on the next in-game day, and the day after that. The objectives that actually push the tavern forward can take several in-game days when a hunt goes badly.
Being downed is not being out
A downed teammate is not a dead teammate. Another player brings them back by slapping them with a weapon, so a fight does not end the expedition the moment somebody hits the floor — although somebody still has to be free to reach the body and do it.
Who stays free to do the reviving is covered in the co-op roles guide.
The hard part is the fight itself rather than the aftermath. Combat in Meadgard is punishing, and enemies can be stunlocked, which means the run that kills you is often the one you could have finished.
The money risk after a busy night
There is a second loss that has nothing to do with the forest. Leaving a tavern shift immediately after a busy night can cost you the money you just made, so let the shift close properly instead of quitting out of the game the instant it ends. Where that money comes from is covered in the gold guide.
How to shrink the risk
- Take less into the woods. Carrying less means losing less when you go down, and it makes the run faster.
- Size the hunt to the shift. Bring back only what you can actually cook and serve that night.
- Keep one player free. In co-op, the person with a weapon in hand is the one who can revive.
- Do not fight what you do not need to. Eggs and exploding mushrooms clear a lot of trolls for free.
The hunting and foraging guide has the full day loop.