With the possibility of a genre-shift on the horizon, a way to make encounters more forgiving without changing all of the combat mechanics is Vitality Points.
Vitality Points are your character's heroic ability to roll with punches and turn hits into near misses. Damage you would normally take your your health will be subtracted from these Vitality Points. Upon running out of Vitality Points, you are damaged as normal.
Since Vitality Points are a heroic trait, your character must be at least level 4 to gain vitality points. Characters below this level don't have enough experience in combat to roll with the punches.
Currently, the plan for how to determine Vitality Points is simple, it is your character's level x5. For example, a level 4 character will have 20 Vitality Points.
Also, this means that certain enemies may benefit from Vitality Points as well. Generally, these will be the story-arc ending bosses such as the Judge or the Inquisitor.
A critical hit bypasses vitality points.
Survival Horror genre roleplays will have Vitality Points disabled.
Let me know what you think. https://www.strawpoll.me/10434633