The vigor and wound points damage system was originally developed for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game as a more cinematic method of handling damage than the traditional hit point system. The system allows for characters to improve the amount of punishment they can withstand as they go up in level, while still allowing for a single lucky attack to take down a character.  This system was later adjusted and re-printed in Pathfinder Ultimate Combat,  and Odyum  will be using a house ruled system somewhere between the two.

DETERMINING WOUND POINTS AND VIGOR POINTS

 Instead of hit points, creatures using this system have a number of wound points and vigor points. These two replacement scores are kept track of separately, and represent different ways a character handles the damage inflicted on him. The following are descriptions of these scores and how they work within the variant system of damage tracking.

Wound Points

Typically a creature has a number of wound points equal to its Constitution score.

When your current wound point total drops to exactly 0, you are disabled.

You gain the staggered condition and can only take a single move or standard action each turn (but not both, nor can you take full-round actions). You can take move actions without further injuring yourself, but if you perform any standard action (or any other strenuous action) you take 1 point of damage after completing the act. Unless your activity increased your wound points, you are now at –1 wound points and dying.

Healing that raises your wound points above 0 makes you fully functional again, just as if you’d never been reduced to 0 or fewer wound points.

You can also become disabled when recovering from dying. In this case, it’s a step toward recovery, and you can have fewer than 0 wound points (see Stable Characters and Recovery).

If your wound point total is negative, but not equal to or greater than your Constitution score, you’re dying.

A dying character immediately falls unconscious and can take no actions.

A dying character loses 1 wound point every round. This continues until the character dies or becomes stable.

When your character’s current Wound points drop to a negative amount equal to his Constitution score or lower he’s dead.

On the character’s next turn, after being reduced to negative wound points (but not dead), and on all subsequent turns, the character must make a DC 10 Constitution check to become stable. The character takes a penalty on this roll equal to his negative wound point total. A character that is stable does not need to make this check.

Vigor Points

Vigor represents a creature’s ability to avoid the majority of actual physical damage it might take from an attack. When a creature takes damage, the damage typically reduces its vigor points first. Some special attacks either deal wound point damage directly or deal both vigor and wound point damage (see Critical Hits).

Creatures with one or more full Hit Dice or levels gain vigor points. With each level gained or each Hit Die a creature has, it gains a number of vigor points based on its Hit Die type. Use the creature’s Hit Dice to generate its vigor points, just like you would hit points, but without adding the creature’s Constitution modifier. A creature gains maximum vigor points on its first Hit Die if it comes from a character class level. Creatures whose first full Hit Die comes from an NPC class or from their race roll their Hit Dice to determine their starting vigor points. A creature with less than one Hit Die has no vigor points; it only has wound points.

When a creature no longer has any vigor points, any additional damage it takes reduces its wound point total.

Player characters in Odyum gain twice the maximum die roll in vigor points for their first hit die.

REGAINING WOUND POINTS AND VIGOR POINTS

A creature can regain wound and vigor points in a number of ways, but in general it is easier to regain vigor points.

Healing Spells and Effects: When casting healing spells or using an ability with a healing effect (such as channeling holy energy on living creatures or the paladin’s lay on hands ability), the creature casting the spell or using the effect must choose whether it wants to heal wound points or vigor points. The creature decides this before casting the spell or using the ability. When that creature decides to heal vigor points, the healing spell or effect acts normally, replenishing a number of vigor points equal to the number of hit points the spell or effect would normally heal. If the creature decides to heal wound points, it heals a number of wound points equal to the number of dice it would normally roll for the healing spell or effect. In the case of effects like the heal spell, where a spell or effect heals 10 hit points per caster level, the creature heals its caster level in wound points.

For instance, if a 12th-level cleric uses her channel positive energy power to replenish wound points to living creatures, she would typically heal 6 wound points for all living creatures with her channel energy burst. If she casts the heal spell, she would restore 12 wound points to the creature touched.

Rest: When a creature has a full night’s rest (8 hours of sleep or more), that creature regains all its vigor points and 1 wound point. A creature will also regain one vigor point per character level per hour of rest. If there is a significant interruption during a rest, the creature regains neither wound points nor vigor points. If a creature undergoes complete bed rest for an entire day, it regains half its level in wound points and all its vigor points.

Restoration and Similar Effects: When a creature regains Constitution points by way of the restoration spell or a similar effect, that creature regains 2 wound points for every Constitution point regained. Relieving a Constitution penalty or Constitution drain regains any wound points that were lost from that penalty or drain.

ATTACKS THAT DEAL WOUND POINT DAMAGE

Some attacks can be used to deal wound points damage directly.

Critical Hits: When a creature is subject to a critical hit, the critical hit deals the damage normally, reducing vigor points first, and then reducing wound points when vigor points are gone. It also deals an amount of wound point damage equal to its critical multiplier (for example, 3 wound points for a weapon with a ×3 modifier), on top of any wound point damage the creature might take from the critical hit.

Negative Energy Damage: When a creature deals negative energy damage to a creature with a spell or effect, it can choose to deal wound point or vigor point damage (but not both) with the spell or effect. If that creature chooses to deal vigor point damage, the spell or effect deals negative energy damage normally, and that damage reduces vigor points only, even if it deals more damage than the target has vigor points. If the spell or effect deals negative energy damage to wound points directly, it deals an amount of wound point damage equal to the number of dice the creature would roll for that effect; if the effect deals a number of points per caster level (such as the harm spell), it deals a number of wound points equal to the caster level of the spell.

OTHER CONSIDETRATIONS

The following are a few other considerations to take into account when using the wounds and vigor system.

Temporary Hit Points: When a creature would normally gain temporary hit points, it gains temporary vigor points instead. When that creature takes damage, it loses these temporary vigor points first. If an attack deals damage to wound points only, these temporary vigor points are not lost.

Nonlethal Damage: When a creature takes nonlethal damage, it takes that damage in vigor points only, even if the attack deals more damage than the creature has vigor points. If the creature has no vigor points (and no temporary vigor points), each time that creature takes damage from an attack that deals nonlethal damage, it takes either 1 wound point of damage, or a number of wound points in damage equal to the attack’s critical hit modifier if the attack is a critical hit.

Spells or Effects with Hit Point Triggers: When using this system, if a spell or an ability has an effect that occurs when you reduce a creature to 0 or fewer hit points (such as the disintegrate spell), that effect is instead triggered when a creature is reduce a creature to 0 or fewer wound points . In the case of the harm spell or a similar effect where a creature cannot be reduced below 1 hit point by the spell or effect, a creature’s wound points cannot be reduced below 1.

Creatures Without Constitution Scores: Undead and constructs do not have Constitution scores. Undead use their charisma scores to determine wound points while constructs are treated as having a constitution score of 10.

Bonus Hit Points: If a creature would have bonus hit points based on its type, these are treated as bonus wound points. (For example, a Medium construct gets 20 bonus wound points.) The same holds true for any permanent effect that increases a character’s hit point total (such as the Toughness feat).

Damage Reduction: Damage reduction functions normally, reducing damage dealt by attacks. However, any critical hit automatically overcomes a creature’s damage reduction when applying wound damage based on a weapon's critical multiplier, regardless of whether the attack could normally do so. For example, a critical hit with a longsword against a skeleton (DR 5/bludgeoning) overcomes the creature’s damage reduction when applying the longsword's 2 points of critical damage to the skeleton's wound points, the remainder of the damage from the longsword is still subject to damage reduction.

In the abstract combat system of the D20 game, a character’s armor defends him by reducing the chance that an attack will deal damage. That system simplifies the realities of battle in order to streamline combat resolution. An attack that fails due to a character’s armor or natural armor doesn’t really fail to connect, but rather fails to connect with enough force to deal any damage. (That’s why touch attacks ignore a character’s armor and natural armor—the touch attack only needs to connect to deliver its effect, and need not actually breach the target’s armor.)

ARMOR DAMAGE REDUCTION VALUES

In this system, armor offers two benefits against attacks: an armor bonus to AC, which functions just like the armor bonus in the standard D20 rules but is usually lower in value; and damage reduction. See Table 4–4: Armor and Damage Reduction for the armor bonus and DR values for common armor types. (All other armor statistics, such as maximum Dexterity bonus, armor check penalty, and arcane spell failure chance, are unchanged.) For armors not covered on Table 4–4, you can determine the new armor values and damage reduction based on the standard D20 armor bonus. To determine the armor’s damage reduction, divide the armor’s normal armor bonus by 2 (rounding down). To determine the armor’s new armor bonus, subtract the DR from the normal armor bonus. For example, studded leather has a normal armor bonus of +3. That gives it a DR of 1/– (half of 3, rounded down) and a new armor bonus of +2 (3 minus 1).

MAGIC ARMOR

An armor’s enhancement bonus (if any) increases its armor bonus to AC, but has no effect on the armor’s damage reduction. A +3 chain shirt, for example, adds +5 to AC and grants damage reduction 2/–.

STACKING DAMAGE REDUCTION

The damage reduction granted by armor stacks with other damage reduction of the same type (that is, damage reduction that has a dash after the number). A 7th-level barbarian wearing a breastplate has DR 3/– (1/– from his class levels and 2/– from his armor). A fighter wearing full plate armor who is the target of a stoneskin spell, however, has DR 4/– from the armor and 10/adamantine from the spell

SHIELDS

Shields function normally in this variant, granting their full shield bonus to AC. Unlike with armor, a shield’s effectiveness is measured wholly by its ability to keep an attack from connecting with your body.

NATURAL ARMOR

 A creature’s natural armor also provides a modicum of damage reduction. Divide the monster’s natural armor bonus (not including any enhancement bonus) by 5 to determine the monster’s damage reduction. The same value is subtracted from the monster’s natural armor bonus to AC to find the monster’s new AC. These calculations are summarized in Table 4–5: Natural Armor and Damage Reduction. If the creature already has damage reduction, either add the value gained from natural armor (if the existing damage reduction is of the same type) or treat it as a separate DR value (if it is of a different type). For example, a mummy normally has a natural armor bonus of +10. This gives it DR 2/–, and its natural armor bonus is reduced by 2 points to +8 (making its AC 18). Since the mummy already has DR 5/– as a special quality, its total damage reduction becomes DR 7/–. A mature adult red dragon has a natural armor bonus of +24. This gives it DR 4/–, and its natural armor bonus is reduced by 4 points to +20 (making its AC 28). The dragon’s existing damage reduction is 10/magic, so the two damage reduction values remain separate.

Finally, a frost giant has a +9 natural armor bonus, so it gains DR 1/– from natural armor. The chain shirt it wears gives it an additional DR 2/–. If that frost giant were a 7th-level barbarian, the barbarian class levels would give it DR 1/–. These three values add up to DR 4/–. The giant’s AC would be 20 (10, +8 natural armor bonus, +2 chain shirt).