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Ironically, DF fix the OP's definition of 'not video gamey'.

As do a LOT of first person shooter video games. Also, Mechwarrior. Hold shift-# for a called shot!

Blood levels VS Skill levels
Barbarians, monks and psions.
I though about classes a little bit and decided my original plan of just re-fitting classes to the rules wont quite work in the case of barbarians and monks.
The monk everybody loves and knows is pretty much going to be absorbed into the psion/psionic warrior. You have Ki attacks (where the D&D explanation for psionic powers and the historical idea of Chi/ki is exactly the same)
However the monk class is going to be something different, just like the barbarian class and dragon class (used for dragon born, dragons and kobalds).
This new type of class will be the blood class, and will not have its attributes mixed with a skill class (that is why you multiclass); A blood class gives bonuses to ability scores and natural hardness and softening.
Barbs will get a rotation of STR/DEX/CON and NS/NH, monk (the class) will get a rotation of WIS/INT/DEX and NS with their own special ability. Dragon covers just about everything and also has size increases.

LuciferNietzsche wrote:

I'd always thought that, given the abstraction that is HP in D&D, the best way to make a more brutal and gritty game would've been to do the following...

Give Crits a higher probability of occuring. Reduce attack bonuses and increasing defense bonuses. Reduce the HP of all creatures including PCs (or instead increasing the damage potential of all weapons and damage-dealing powers...or perhaps a little of both). Make all called shots (if employed) impart some sort of penalty to the attack roll, then make a small, simple table of what happens when specific body parts get hit.

I mean...wouldn't that get the same feel and be a lot simpler?

But, I can understand making up a new system just for the fun of it, so I don't begrudge your attempt, and wish you luck.

The point of what I did with HP was to nudge down the abstraction of HP without making it too complicated. But just ask your self, which is more brutal, simply dieing easily, or having your arm ripped off and bleeding nearly to death, and then passing out? (something that can happen the way I've made it) I just need to make it less probable for the players to be instantly killed, and let them get creative with dismembering their enemies. Maybe have the first encounter always be kobalds with adamantine helms? Whatever works.

Thanks Dave.
I've planned out how Psionic powers will work, and it won't be magic with points. I'm going to make each power a feat rather, and build up paths to more advanced powers something like the psionics of second edition, but more thought out and less broken.

The powers will be split into the inward and outward paths, which are telekinesis and esp respectively. Chi strikes, energy rays, disintegration and even warping of space is in the realms of the outward path. Precognition, telepathic contact, mind-reading dodges and mind rape fall under the in-ward path.

For the paths of power, chi strike opens 3 energy enhancements and concussive attacks, each of these has two exclusive counters and an epic form.
I interpreted most of your standard move-stuff-about telekinesis as messing with gravity so it is all descendant from Warp the world (a concussive attack), this opens up the options of having invisible telepathic hands, levitation and even producing wormholes.