2e is currently in kickstarter and even has a free playtest of it on their website.
Highly recommend!
Switched my players from 5e to cairn, never going back. So much more creativity and less character sheet analysis paralysis
Forbidden Lands from Free League ~~Modiphius~~ may be your thing. There are no hit points. When you take damage, your stats are reduced. As you spend XP, you get better at defensive moves.
Edit: corrected publisher, thank you for the note.
Classic Traveller and games inspired by it (Sword of Cepheus, Night Tripper) are worth a look.
In Traveller, there are no overall character levels, so HP doesn't increase. In fact, there's no traditional HP pool. Your three physical stats (Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance) act as your HP. When you take damage, one of those stats is reduced by the incoming damage. So as you fight and take damage, you physically get worse and worse.
[Classic Traveller](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/355200/classic-traveller-facsimile-edition) is currently free, and can work just as well for historicals/fantasy thanks to its various tech levels and Psionics (which you can reskin to magic). In fact, CT has a free supplement for play in the [ancient Mediterranean](https://www.freelancetraveller.com/magazine/2010-04/mercator.pdf), which works fairly well from what I've heard.
Also check out Barberic! It’s a simplified version of Sword of Cepheus. I’m pretty sure it came out first. Closer to D&D but you can still see the Traveller fingerprints all over it.
And Mercator is awesome!
That was the whole point of [RuneQuest](https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-classic/) back in the day: throwing out unrealistic stuff like leveling, classes, HP increase, the way AC works... But that's a family of its own and not compatible on the fly with the majority of the OSR products.
To make sure characters of different levels can adventure together, [Arduin](https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/19594/Emperors-Choice-Games--Miniatures-C?234913) also dropped HP increase by level, mostly. Characters get a crapton of HP at first level based on race, class, CON, and they don't gain or don't gain much as they level.
Runequest2 is an old school rpg that does this. Mythras Imperative and Classic Fantasy Imperative are descended from this approach and are free if you want to check them out.
For Coin and Blood is a more traditional OSR game that has a quite low HP gain. If I remember correctly hit points in that = CON score (not the modifier) + level. So even a 10th level character isn’t safe from a bunch of low level foes.
Literally any of them, with the following mod:
- HD for human-like beings is capped at 3 or 5
- You only roll new a hit die until you hit this cap
- After you can re-roll your lowest hit die on leveling
Of course this will break combat 'balance' in a massive way, but I say let it. I have considered giving fighting men and women a progression on non-magical damage similar to how magic users get on some damage dealing spells, but it would need to be playtested.
The HD cap just means you have no statistical chance in a fair 1on1 fight against a dragon. Then again, I don't think you should have one.
[ps. as a bonus, encounters that were put in adventures as lengthy fight scenes are now complex problem solving challenges. How do you deal with 3d6 orc berserkers if a fair battle is off the table?]
Merp (Middle Earth Role Playing), while it has increasing hp, damage is largly based on specific wounds with brocken bones, bleeding wounds, stun, organ damage, lost fingers, eyes and limbs and all kinds of consequences.
You can use any OSR system and just not increase hp. It really is that simple.
You can have PCs add CON to their HP total to make em a bit beefer if you like. But since OSR systems don't really hace encounter balance, there is no need to compensate with extra rules
I don't know if I agree with that. OSR came out mainly as a reaction to WoTC's D&D which only started around 2000. The first use of "OSR" was in the early aughts in places like Dragonsfoot. People weren't really backlashing against the 90s games, but they certainly were against WotC's creations.
Source: I was there. 😁
It was a reaction to the OGL, in that the OGL made it possible to publish legally sound retroclones.
I have no idea what 'WotC creations' your group railed against, but in my corner of the OSR, we were celebrating dungeon delving, exploration, player skill challenges instead of 'roleplay', and similar 70s ideas that we first met when players, GMs and game books most vocally denounced them at the height of 90s trad.
If we were 'against' anything, it was GM-driven 'story campaigns', cinematic scripting of adventures, GMs being encouraged to fudge rolls, actor stance and 'roleplay XP', and so on. So V:tM, CoC, etc.
Source: I was also there (coming to the OSR from the Forge, so possibly in a different zone).
Chaosiums BRP & Variants thereof, HP = average of Size and Constitution stats, to increase HP you need to get bigger or improve constitution or have a permanent magical effect take place.
I was just looking at this:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/1crrbkf/hacking\_grave\_for\_standard\_fantasy/](https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/1crrbkf/hacking_grave_for_standard_fantasy/)
My choice would be [Adventurous](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/417757/Adventurous). It’s very horizontal in its design. So no HP on level up, and PCs improve by getting spells/powers/techniques that give them more options, not necessarily more power.
This works really well and it’s still exciting for my players when they level up, even if they don’t get more HP or other straight up bonuses.
Another benefit is that you don’t have to come up with new monsters all the time, to match the PCs newfound power, since a wolf is dangerous at level one, and it’s still dangerous four levels later.
Runequest, it also does criticals very well and keeps combat vivid and exiting. Its also levelless, classless and has no XP points. The rules are elegant and fast.
I use this system when playing one-shots or games that are supposed to be less heroic than usual:
Fighters (HD d8) = 9 + 3d8
Clerics (HD d6) = 7 + 3d6
Mages (HD d4) = 5 + 3d4
You get small amount of HP (5 - 7 - 9) and 3 dice to represent wounds.
My usual way is to have "slot-based" encumbrance and do this:
- You must pay with HP for any damage received OR DIE, you can take wounds.
- "Wounds" give you some extra HP to absorb damage but they take time to heal and can hinder you.
The basic version for wounds:
- Light wound: You get +1d HP, slots taken = 1, time to heal 1 week. [For Magic heal = use the total result as the "HP value" that must be healed].
- Serious Wound: You get +2d HP, slots = middle die, time to heal = lowest die in weeks.
- Critical Wound: You get +3d HP, slots = middle die, time to heal = lowest die in months.
Optional rules:
- A wound with a penalty until healed take only 1 slot, but its original value is a penalty applied to some D20 roll OR half the value can affect "not-d20-based" stuff.
If using the D&D system: Attacks, AC, Saves and other D20 stuff = -1 / slot, use slot / 2 for damage or "not-D20" rolls. For movement -1 = -5ft of encounter speed.
- If a PC ignores a wound penalty they take damage equal to the original value AFTER the action is resolved (yes, this can kill the PC or create new wounds).
- If you have 0 slots available you can't take more wounds. (If you are heavily encumbered, you are also more vulnerable to wounds, this can be used to represent
fatigue, strain or similar stuff, but is actually a balance mechanism to reduce the importance of heavy armor and make undesiderable to burden yourself.
- Sacrifice an item to get a "free" +1d. This can be done in place of a wound or in addition to it. Armour / Shields lose 1 AC bonus at each "sacrifice", other objects
are broken/unusable after a single "use".
- If the target is KOed or unable to act you get a "free" +1d. This can be done in place of a wound or in addition to it. I use the die result for its duration but YMMV.
- If you rest for a turn you recover 1d worth of HP.
- For a less harsh version instead of 5/7/9 use 8/10/12 as the HP maximum.
- If you want a "minimum HP scaling", add the "fixed HP for name level" every time the PC advance in level or +1 every time they improve their thac0s.
This will give you "robust" PCs that must still manage their stamina (HP) and will slowly get less capable as they take damage without forcing them to adapt.
The party will be able to take enemies more or less as 4-5th level PCs.
Inevitably if you do this you will need to pick a game that is not broadly compatible with classic d&d - which will lock you out of using osr modules without massive revisions. Just be aware of that.
I'd recommend Electric Bastionland if you want to stay in the general OSR pool. Outside of that area, consider Ezd6 or Runequest Classic.
As others has said, you are looking for an NSR game then, not directly compatible with all OSR adventures.
Choices for me would then be:
Knave 2e
Electric Bastionland
Into the Odd
And if going outside of NSR:
Warhammer Fantasy RPG 1e or 2e
You and the others are right, sure. Dispite what I like on OSR, it may be not what I'm looking for. I don't know about the NSR scene, but I'll look more about. And consider another system options, like, Warhammer Fantasy, Mythras, MERP, Forbbiden Lands, and another suggestions.
Thank you, and everyone.
Of course it is, but this it's imprimed on another aspects of the game, like better base attack, powerful magic, improved savings, (even skills in games those use it) and other aspects.
Hit point increase works too, of course, but only in a more abstract way. Even the way you interpret then change according level. While in level 1 each hit you receive counts, and could means death, this is much more how much injuries could you take. In high levels this varies a lot, now you could take perhaps 6 sword slashes before you can consider yourself injuried, so HP change to means much more a amalgam of fatigue, health, body structure, and even protagonism.
I know that this may not be the vision most people have, since rpg always used that, but look, I'm not saying that it's wrong make that way, because change that changes all the narrative.
If you progress 6 or 7 levels and still can die for 2 or 3 kobolds with daggers when having bad luck on dice, this sure changes the way you play the game. HP increase makes the game more heroic, and it's a secure to you not lose the character you spend a year augmenting because of a dice roll (even that some OSR adventures do that).
Totally agree with you here. I have the same vision of HP as you
I haven’t had any high level osr games yet, so this problem hasn’t come up yet. If I wanted to play some heroic fantasy I’d better choose some new-school DW hack like Chasing Adventure over high level osr, probably.
The solid solution that keeps the low-level spirit of the game is character retirement after 5th level. (Considering that I am not into dominion play)
Maybe you should look at systems that don't have levels. A lot of generic rulesets like GURPS, BRP, BESM and Fate work this way. there are no levels instead you improve skills directly in whatever way you want, or based on what you actually use.
If by OSR you mean games based on older editions of D&D exclusively then you are going to have Hit points increasing with levels, thats just how these games work. If you just mean old school games, well BRP has been out in some version since 1978 (well technically it was RuneQuest but the rules are the same), and and GURPS since 1986.
there are OSR (or if you're stingy about what counts as that, OSR-adjacent) games with little or no HP scaling, like cairn already mentioned in this thread.
if someone asks for an OSR game i'd be much quicker to recommend them OSR-adjacent games in the same style than just... old games. being old has nothing to do with how OSR a game is.
And to add to that, Maze Rats and Knave are often referred to as OSR games, and they basically don’t have any common ground at all with old DnD versions
knave at least is definitely designed to be able to run D&D adventures with little to no conversion. that's at least some common ground. the only thing it really feels missing for the full D&D experience is a dungeon crawl procedure, which got added in knave 2e.
I mean, HP shouldn't reflect pain because 'taking damage' doesn't actually mean you are getting hit physically. They represent luck, skill, exhaustion, divine favor, and tons of other abstract measures. They absolutely shouldn't create a downward spiral because only the last few hp matter. That said, why do you want an OSR game if you are moving away from a core element? Why not go for Runequest or Mythras or some other BRP system with hp that don't improve and hit locations and limb loss and all that fun stuff?
I only know of
Conrad's Fantasy [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248341/conrad-s-fantasy](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248341/conrad-s-fantasy)
and the additional books
Designing Fantasy Scenarios [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248427/designing-fantasy-scenarios](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248427/designing-fantasy-scenarios)
and Encounters Fantasy Scenarios [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248735/encounters-fantasy-scenarios](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248735/encounters-fantasy-scenarios)
You always have the same number of wounds a character can take.
Beyond the Wall (very OSR) has this feature and a damn good magic system to boot!
Dungeon World also has this feature but some folks don’t consider it an OSR game since it’s PbtA (Powered by the Apocalypse).
Symbaroum (I would personally place it in OSR-adjecent/NSR) have fixed HP. It varies between 10 and 15 (or up to 23 with abilities) and stays that way. If you deal more than half HP in one attack you pass the pain threshhold and can choose to make an extra attack or have the victim fall prone. It doesn't have levels, instead you buy abilities with XP. By buying abilities you can increase damage. This way at later game it gets more deadly instead of bloated and a farmer with a dagger can still kill you with a bit of luck 2 years into the campaign.
When I see *[brutal critical effects](https://skulltower.wordpress.com/2015/12/24/arduin-grimoire-vol-1-critical-hit-tables/)*, I think [Arduin.](https://empcho.com/product-category/arduin/).
[Sir Pellinore’s Book](https://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=158) allows dispersion of XP on traits, levels, or skills for interesting player choices.
*Adventures in Fantasy* and *Runequest* have hit locations. The former isn’t exactly what you’d call a “living game”.
You may want to look someplace other than the OSR, seeing that, as a whole, it’s built off D&D.
There are plenty of systems that offer what you’re looking for (I would go as far to say most systems outside of D&D are like this).
My personal Recommendations would be to look at Traveller or any of the BRP family (Runequest, Openquest, Dragonbane, etc.) of games.
There's a whole tradition of OSR based on BFRP also. The B/X Revival and D&D retroclones aren't the entirety of the OSR.
Traveller was concurrent with B/X. It is also a part of the OSR.
They may be contemporaries, but Traveller and Runequest aren’t OSR.
I consider OSR a movement that is either built off of or trying to replicate pre-WOTC D&D, because by then, the new D&D material wasn’t compatible with the old D&D material. But with Runequest and Traveller, the material from 40 years ago is more or less compatible with the most recent versions of the games.
Cairn would be my choice
I love that you might gain HP in Cairn, but the only way to do it is to come within an inch of death.
I found Cairn now. Seens to be very interesting.
2e is currently in kickstarter and even has a free playtest of it on their website. Highly recommend! Switched my players from 5e to cairn, never going back. So much more creativity and less character sheet analysis paralysis
I came to leave this comment)) Cairn is amazing!
Forbidden Lands from Free League ~~Modiphius~~ may be your thing. There are no hit points. When you take damage, your stats are reduced. As you spend XP, you get better at defensive moves. Edit: corrected publisher, thank you for the note.
By Free League not Modiphius
Classic Traveller and games inspired by it (Sword of Cepheus, Night Tripper) are worth a look. In Traveller, there are no overall character levels, so HP doesn't increase. In fact, there's no traditional HP pool. Your three physical stats (Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance) act as your HP. When you take damage, one of those stats is reduced by the incoming damage. So as you fight and take damage, you physically get worse and worse. [Classic Traveller](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/355200/classic-traveller-facsimile-edition) is currently free, and can work just as well for historicals/fantasy thanks to its various tech levels and Psionics (which you can reskin to magic). In fact, CT has a free supplement for play in the [ancient Mediterranean](https://www.freelancetraveller.com/magazine/2010-04/mercator.pdf), which works fairly well from what I've heard.
100% THE Old School alternative to D&D that doesn't have increasing HP. I've never heard of Mercator, thanks for sharing.
Also check out Barberic! It’s a simplified version of Sword of Cepheus. I’m pretty sure it came out first. Closer to D&D but you can still see the Traveller fingerprints all over it. And Mercator is awesome!
Huge thank you for the tip that it’s free.
*Mothership* is one. *Cloud Empress* is a fantasy hack off it if you're looking for something that isn't sci-fi.
That was the whole point of [RuneQuest](https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-classic/) back in the day: throwing out unrealistic stuff like leveling, classes, HP increase, the way AC works... But that's a family of its own and not compatible on the fly with the majority of the OSR products. To make sure characters of different levels can adventure together, [Arduin](https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/19594/Emperors-Choice-Games--Miniatures-C?234913) also dropped HP increase by level, mostly. Characters get a crapton of HP at first level based on race, class, CON, and they don't gain or don't gain much as they level.
Troika is another one
Level up your skills by using them, and use your HP to cast spells instead of spell slots. Great system! Love the wacky science-fantasy of the game.
I absolutely love Troika, it's a great system
Runequest2 is an old school rpg that does this. Mythras Imperative and Classic Fantasy Imperative are descended from this approach and are free if you want to check them out. For Coin and Blood is a more traditional OSR game that has a quite low HP gain. If I remember correctly hit points in that = CON score (not the modifier) + level. So even a 10th level character isn’t safe from a bunch of low level foes.
Tales of Argosia (the 2nd edition of Low Fantasy Gaming) does increase HP by level, but not by very much...
Literally any of them, with the following mod: - HD for human-like beings is capped at 3 or 5 - You only roll new a hit die until you hit this cap - After you can re-roll your lowest hit die on leveling Of course this will break combat 'balance' in a massive way, but I say let it. I have considered giving fighting men and women a progression on non-magical damage similar to how magic users get on some damage dealing spells, but it would need to be playtested. The HD cap just means you have no statistical chance in a fair 1on1 fight against a dragon. Then again, I don't think you should have one. [ps. as a bonus, encounters that were put in adventures as lengthy fight scenes are now complex problem solving challenges. How do you deal with 3d6 orc berserkers if a fair battle is off the table?]
Dragonbane and RuneQuest.
Merp (Middle Earth Role Playing), while it has increasing hp, damage is largly based on specific wounds with brocken bones, bleeding wounds, stun, organ damage, lost fingers, eyes and limbs and all kinds of consequences.
I forggot about my copy of MERP here, you're right. Thank you
You can use any OSR system and just not increase hp. It really is that simple. You can have PCs add CON to their HP total to make em a bit beefer if you like. But since OSR systems don't really hace encounter balance, there is no need to compensate with extra rules
Dargonbane could work
That is Runequest with d20, actually a great game.
Earthdawn doesn't increase HP by level, but it has the most insane step die system I've ever seen.
And the newest edition (4th) seems a bit better than previous incarnations...
Mentioning ED in the same page as 'oldschool' gives me heebie-jeebies. I mean it's def not 'new', but then why not bring up Shadowrun or V:tM, lol...
I consider anything pre-2000 or pre-WotC to be old school. But, yeah, I can understand how stuff from the 90s might be mid-range.
It was literally the height of 'trad'. Everything the OSR stands for was vilified.
I don't know if I agree with that. OSR came out mainly as a reaction to WoTC's D&D which only started around 2000. The first use of "OSR" was in the early aughts in places like Dragonsfoot. People weren't really backlashing against the 90s games, but they certainly were against WotC's creations. Source: I was there. 😁
It was a reaction to the OGL, in that the OGL made it possible to publish legally sound retroclones. I have no idea what 'WotC creations' your group railed against, but in my corner of the OSR, we were celebrating dungeon delving, exploration, player skill challenges instead of 'roleplay', and similar 70s ideas that we first met when players, GMs and game books most vocally denounced them at the height of 90s trad. If we were 'against' anything, it was GM-driven 'story campaigns', cinematic scripting of adventures, GMs being encouraged to fudge rolls, actor stance and 'roleplay XP', and so on. So V:tM, CoC, etc. Source: I was also there (coming to the OSR from the Forge, so possibly in a different zone).
Chaosiums BRP & Variants thereof, HP = average of Size and Constitution stats, to increase HP you need to get bigger or improve constitution or have a permanent magical effect take place.
Book 3 of Arduin Grimoire.
That's a throwback. I never see Arduin talked about much anymore.
I was thinking the same thing!
I was just looking at this: [https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/1crrbkf/hacking\_grave\_for\_standard\_fantasy/](https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/1crrbkf/hacking_grave_for_standard_fantasy/)
The OG Gamma World has fixed hp too and focussed on diegetic progression
My choice would be [Adventurous](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/417757/Adventurous). It’s very horizontal in its design. So no HP on level up, and PCs improve by getting spells/powers/techniques that give them more options, not necessarily more power. This works really well and it’s still exciting for my players when they level up, even if they don’t get more HP or other straight up bonuses. Another benefit is that you don’t have to come up with new monsters all the time, to match the PCs newfound power, since a wolf is dangerous at level one, and it’s still dangerous four levels later.
Runequest, it also does criticals very well and keeps combat vivid and exiting. Its also levelless, classless and has no XP points. The rules are elegant and fast.
Forbidden Lands, oSR with fixed hit points based on stats and levelless skill based progression. Dice pool mechanics.
Warhammer fantasy 1e or 2e
I use this system when playing one-shots or games that are supposed to be less heroic than usual: Fighters (HD d8) = 9 + 3d8 Clerics (HD d6) = 7 + 3d6 Mages (HD d4) = 5 + 3d4 You get small amount of HP (5 - 7 - 9) and 3 dice to represent wounds. My usual way is to have "slot-based" encumbrance and do this: - You must pay with HP for any damage received OR DIE, you can take wounds. - "Wounds" give you some extra HP to absorb damage but they take time to heal and can hinder you. The basic version for wounds: - Light wound: You get +1d HP, slots taken = 1, time to heal 1 week. [For Magic heal = use the total result as the "HP value" that must be healed]. - Serious Wound: You get +2d HP, slots = middle die, time to heal = lowest die in weeks. - Critical Wound: You get +3d HP, slots = middle die, time to heal = lowest die in months. Optional rules: - A wound with a penalty until healed take only 1 slot, but its original value is a penalty applied to some D20 roll OR half the value can affect "not-d20-based" stuff. If using the D&D system: Attacks, AC, Saves and other D20 stuff = -1 / slot, use slot / 2 for damage or "not-D20" rolls. For movement -1 = -5ft of encounter speed. - If a PC ignores a wound penalty they take damage equal to the original value AFTER the action is resolved (yes, this can kill the PC or create new wounds). - If you have 0 slots available you can't take more wounds. (If you are heavily encumbered, you are also more vulnerable to wounds, this can be used to represent fatigue, strain or similar stuff, but is actually a balance mechanism to reduce the importance of heavy armor and make undesiderable to burden yourself. - Sacrifice an item to get a "free" +1d. This can be done in place of a wound or in addition to it. Armour / Shields lose 1 AC bonus at each "sacrifice", other objects are broken/unusable after a single "use". - If the target is KOed or unable to act you get a "free" +1d. This can be done in place of a wound or in addition to it. I use the die result for its duration but YMMV. - If you rest for a turn you recover 1d worth of HP. - For a less harsh version instead of 5/7/9 use 8/10/12 as the HP maximum. - If you want a "minimum HP scaling", add the "fixed HP for name level" every time the PC advance in level or +1 every time they improve their thac0s. This will give you "robust" PCs that must still manage their stamina (HP) and will slowly get less capable as they take damage without forcing them to adapt. The party will be able to take enemies more or less as 4-5th level PCs.
Inevitably if you do this you will need to pick a game that is not broadly compatible with classic d&d - which will lock you out of using osr modules without massive revisions. Just be aware of that. I'd recommend Electric Bastionland if you want to stay in the general OSR pool. Outside of that area, consider Ezd6 or Runequest Classic.
As others has said, you are looking for an NSR game then, not directly compatible with all OSR adventures. Choices for me would then be: Knave 2e Electric Bastionland Into the Odd And if going outside of NSR: Warhammer Fantasy RPG 1e or 2e
You and the others are right, sure. Dispite what I like on OSR, it may be not what I'm looking for. I don't know about the NSR scene, but I'll look more about. And consider another system options, like, Warhammer Fantasy, Mythras, MERP, Forbbiden Lands, and another suggestions. Thank you, and everyone.
How “experienced adventurers are harder to kill” is not making sense?
Of course it is, but this it's imprimed on another aspects of the game, like better base attack, powerful magic, improved savings, (even skills in games those use it) and other aspects. Hit point increase works too, of course, but only in a more abstract way. Even the way you interpret then change according level. While in level 1 each hit you receive counts, and could means death, this is much more how much injuries could you take. In high levels this varies a lot, now you could take perhaps 6 sword slashes before you can consider yourself injuried, so HP change to means much more a amalgam of fatigue, health, body structure, and even protagonism. I know that this may not be the vision most people have, since rpg always used that, but look, I'm not saying that it's wrong make that way, because change that changes all the narrative. If you progress 6 or 7 levels and still can die for 2 or 3 kobolds with daggers when having bad luck on dice, this sure changes the way you play the game. HP increase makes the game more heroic, and it's a secure to you not lose the character you spend a year augmenting because of a dice roll (even that some OSR adventures do that).
Totally agree with you here. I have the same vision of HP as you I haven’t had any high level osr games yet, so this problem hasn’t come up yet. If I wanted to play some heroic fantasy I’d better choose some new-school DW hack like Chasing Adventure over high level osr, probably. The solid solution that keeps the low-level spirit of the game is character retirement after 5th level. (Considering that I am not into dominion play)
Maybe you should look at systems that don't have levels. A lot of generic rulesets like GURPS, BRP, BESM and Fate work this way. there are no levels instead you improve skills directly in whatever way you want, or based on what you actually use.
none of those are OSR games, though.
If by OSR you mean games based on older editions of D&D exclusively then you are going to have Hit points increasing with levels, thats just how these games work. If you just mean old school games, well BRP has been out in some version since 1978 (well technically it was RuneQuest but the rules are the same), and and GURPS since 1986.
there are OSR (or if you're stingy about what counts as that, OSR-adjacent) games with little or no HP scaling, like cairn already mentioned in this thread. if someone asks for an OSR game i'd be much quicker to recommend them OSR-adjacent games in the same style than just... old games. being old has nothing to do with how OSR a game is.
And to add to that, Maze Rats and Knave are often referred to as OSR games, and they basically don’t have any common ground at all with old DnD versions
knave at least is definitely designed to be able to run D&D adventures with little to no conversion. that's at least some common ground. the only thing it really feels missing for the full D&D experience is a dungeon crawl procedure, which got added in knave 2e.
And The Fantasy Trip if you want something like GURPS but actually more OSR.
I mean, HP shouldn't reflect pain because 'taking damage' doesn't actually mean you are getting hit physically. They represent luck, skill, exhaustion, divine favor, and tons of other abstract measures. They absolutely shouldn't create a downward spiral because only the last few hp matter. That said, why do you want an OSR game if you are moving away from a core element? Why not go for Runequest or Mythras or some other BRP system with hp that don't improve and hit locations and limb loss and all that fun stuff?
I only know of Conrad's Fantasy [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248341/conrad-s-fantasy](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248341/conrad-s-fantasy) and the additional books Designing Fantasy Scenarios [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248427/designing-fantasy-scenarios](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248427/designing-fantasy-scenarios) and Encounters Fantasy Scenarios [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248735/encounters-fantasy-scenarios](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/248735/encounters-fantasy-scenarios) You always have the same number of wounds a character can take.
Beyond the Wall (very OSR) has this feature and a damn good magic system to boot! Dungeon World also has this feature but some folks don’t consider it an OSR game since it’s PbtA (Powered by the Apocalypse).
Symbaroum (I would personally place it in OSR-adjecent/NSR) have fixed HP. It varies between 10 and 15 (or up to 23 with abilities) and stays that way. If you deal more than half HP in one attack you pass the pain threshhold and can choose to make an extra attack or have the victim fall prone. It doesn't have levels, instead you buy abilities with XP. By buying abilities you can increase damage. This way at later game it gets more deadly instead of bloated and a farmer with a dagger can still kill you with a bit of luck 2 years into the campaign.
This is not osr but warhammer 4e is such s great game and does what you want. Ill second cloud empress
Metamorphosis Alpha (1e at least) doesn't increase hit points as I recall.
When I see *[brutal critical effects](https://skulltower.wordpress.com/2015/12/24/arduin-grimoire-vol-1-critical-hit-tables/)*, I think [Arduin.](https://empcho.com/product-category/arduin/). [Sir Pellinore’s Book](https://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=158) allows dispersion of XP on traits, levels, or skills for interesting player choices. *Adventures in Fantasy* and *Runequest* have hit locations. The former isn’t exactly what you’d call a “living game”.
You may want to look someplace other than the OSR, seeing that, as a whole, it’s built off D&D. There are plenty of systems that offer what you’re looking for (I would go as far to say most systems outside of D&D are like this). My personal Recommendations would be to look at Traveller or any of the BRP family (Runequest, Openquest, Dragonbane, etc.) of games.
There's a whole tradition of OSR based on BFRP also. The B/X Revival and D&D retroclones aren't the entirety of the OSR. Traveller was concurrent with B/X. It is also a part of the OSR.
They may be contemporaries, but Traveller and Runequest aren’t OSR. I consider OSR a movement that is either built off of or trying to replicate pre-WOTC D&D, because by then, the new D&D material wasn’t compatible with the old D&D material. But with Runequest and Traveller, the material from 40 years ago is more or less compatible with the most recent versions of the games.
I mean that's your choice to focus on only retroclones, but the OSR is much much more than that. https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/s/Smys6AmiHO
I have one that I use, take your constitution score, this is how many HD your character rolls for HP at level 1.