| Rel,
Good stuff, and thanks for throwing it out here for the entire world. A little trickier than many may realize.
I'm particularly fond of your handling of milestones. I agree that it's better as written for "all campaigns" in the books, but that this will add a cool "flava" element to a running campaign.
PC wounding - ok, I get that it's not quite gritty enough. Your example is a good one. My primary concern here is that juggling with the wounding will prove "fatal" to your party at some point. I try to avoid like the plague anything that requires me to make adjustments to "pre-built" encounters, because saving time is king in my gaming experience. If my PC's all agreed they wanted a grittier campaign, with greater threats, I would probably do something like this:
1) Anytime you are bloodied or unconscious make a save. Failed save results in a wound.
2) Steal a wound chart from Rolemaster or Hackmaster and determine randomly.
I also like your thoughts on skills, and the bonus skills to begin the game. I agree with your assessment that the core game system leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to character creation. Very little beyond the basic race/class/buy generic stats. This is a change that is positive in that direction without worrying about unbalancing issues. | 
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