Hit points and wounds

[stevo the yak]

This is how I work hit points in my campaign.

Hit Points: Though purely a cosmetic change, don't think of hit points as wounds. Think of hit points as being what you spend to AVOID being wounded. All damage is not lethal unless resulting from a critical hit or it is considered unavoidable by the DM.

Wounds: To determine the wound location, roll on 1d10 on the table below.

Roll Location Effects

1-2 Left Arm Any action using that arm.
3-4 Right Arm Any action using that arm.
5 Abdomen All actions. In addition, reduce the character's movement by the same amount.
6-7 Torso All actions. In addition, reduce the character's movement by the same amount (rounded up to the nearest 5.)
8 Left Leg armor class is reduced by the amount of failure and his movement is reduced by twice the amount of failure (round up to the nearest 5.)
9 Right Leg armor class is reduced by the amount of failure and his movement is reduced by twice the amount of failure (round up to the nearest 5.)
10 Head Attack rolls and perception checks.

Wound Check: DC is equal to: Attackers BAB + 1/2 damage rolled + Weapon Bonus

Weapon Bonus: X3 Crit weapons add a +2 to the DC of any wound check. x4 crit weapons add +4. The rare x5 weapon will add +6.

Wound Save: The character's wound save increases at a rate similar to his BAB bonus. Characters with a d10 or d12 hd increase at a rate equal to a fighter's BAB. Characters with a d6 or d8 hd improve at a rate equal to a rogue's BAB. Characters with a d4 hd improve at a rate equal to a wizard's BAB.

Wound Level: Equal to the amount the save failed by.

Success: Minor wound. -2 to future wound checks.
Failed (1-9): Light wound. Penalty to all uses of that limb equal to amount of failure. Save DC (10 + Wound Level)
Failed (10-14): Serious wound. Limb is useless until Wound Score drops below 10. A broken limb is an example of a serious wound. Save DC (20 + twice wound level.)
Failed (15+): Mortal Wound. Limb is utterly destroyed, there is no recovery. Hope that wasn't your head.

Recovery: Characters may attempt to recover once per day after awaking from a nights rest. This requires a fortitude save with a DC as determined by the severity of the wound. A successful save means the wound level drops by one. A failed save results in no improvement, but the character gains a +1 bonus to his save the next day. Recovering rom a Serious wound can take a long time indeed. Successful improvement removes this +1 bonus.

Heal Skill: A successful use of the heal skill (DC 15) grants a +1 a recovery roll. An additional +1 is granted for every 5 points the healer beats DC 15.

Multiple Patients: Multiple patients impose a -2 penalty on heal checks per patient beyond the first. Having one healer in an army is obviously futile.

Cure Spells: May be used to cure hit point damage as normal. May also be used to heal wounds. +2 to recovery rolls per spell level. The character still can only improve by one point per day.

[pdmiller]

How would you rationalise healing or curing effects if the target had not actually suffered a wound but had lost hit points?

I like your ideas - the hp as luck/avoidance thing appeals to me, with actual damage only happening with a critical shot or when you run out of luck.