If your character falls below 0 hit points, they have died and cannot be restored. A tombstone showing information about your character will be displayed. You are also permitted to get a record of your character, and all your equipment (identified) either on the screen or in a file.
Your character will leave behind a reduced save file, which contains only your option choices. It may be restored, in which case a new character is generated exactly as if the file was not there.
There are a variety of ways to “cheat” death (including using a special “cheating option”) when it would otherwise occur. This will fully heal your character, returning him to the town, and marking him in various ways as a character which has cheated death. Cheating death, like using any of the “cheating options”, will prevent your character from appearing on the high score list.