Suffocation

When a creature’s body is deprived of oxygen, its brain starts shutting off. That’s generally considered bad. If you can’t breathe, you can hold your breath one minute for each point of Endurance you possess (thirty seconds per point if performing strenuous activity such as swimming or underwater combat). After this length of time, you quickly black out and asphyxiate. You fight lethal Stamina Drain so long as you go without air.

The suffocating condition (see below) causes Stamina Drain (DL 15; +1 every round; lethal). The lack of oxygen to the brain pulls a creature into a permanent slumber. Once you reach stage 5 on the Knockout Track, you fall comatose. If you can't take in a breath and you gain six Death Marks, you turn an odd shade of blue and die, grasping at your throat, probably.

If you regain the ability to breathe, you lose the suffocating condition, and you can begin to remove any Death Marks imposed by that pesky hypoxia.