Getting OCD About Language

I'm near the end of the editing process for Hack'D & Slash'D 2E, and I've come across a bit of a verbiage conundrum. I use the term 'hit' whenever you successfully attack a foe; if you 'hit', you succeed with your attack. However, I also use 'hits' to refer to the life force, grit, and vigor of a foe. When their 'hits' get to 0, they are defeated. So, you hit to deal hits, and your hit could deal 1 hit. 

I can keep track of it, but I could see it causing needless confusion. One of them needs to go.

Option one: I could replace the idea of 'hit' (successfully attack) with such terms as 'strike'. Almost every other word has a more specific implied context (buffet, pummel, smash) that limit their application in all of the contexts I use 'hit' for striking successfully. The problem with 'strike' is that it doesn't necessarily imply success - hit means you did what you intended to do. So, I don't think we go with option one.

Option Two: Replace the idea of 'hits' as 'life force' with another term. 'Health' is the simplest, but also not very evocative. 'Vigor' is pretty good, and more heroic/evocative. 'Life' is not bad, although many creatures don't have 'life', because they are literally not alive. I love the word 'resolve' (I named a system 'resolute' and used that for a while - like that concept a lot), because it implies a willingness and capacity to fight on. When your resolve hits 0, you just can't fight anymore. You give up, you run away, you collapse into the fetal position... it implies a wide range of options beyond simply unconscious. Words like moxie and grit also work in the same way, but resolve is better to my mind in this context. I really love how evocative 'heart' is, but it also implies being alive. 

Looking all of these options over, I think it comes down to either 'vigor' or 'resolve'. 'Vigor' is more literal, 'resolve' is more metaphorical. I often use the idea of 'damage' diminishing this stat. I think if I was to go with 'resolve', then there'd be other mechanical ways to reduce it - you could shake your foe's confidence, or even call them names to reduce their resolve. For purposes of this game, and the way that the ability is used mechanically, I think that 'vigor' is the best solution.

Edit: I went back and started making edits... and realized that I would have the word 'vigor' in the text 157 times. It's a little bit of an awkward word. I realized as I started the edit process that HP, short for 'hit points', has been a standard game term for decades. It's not evocative at all, but everyone knows what it means, and nobody is going to be bothered at all by it. It will fade into the background... it's a frictionless term for those experiencing the text, whereas 'vigor' is going to slow you down every time you get to it. Sigh. That's what I get for trying to be creative, rather than just leaning on the tried-and-true solutions.