Everyone who died can say it: Dying sucks. Losing your character to an unexpected attack is not helping anyone, and may make players quit out of sheer rage because they couldn't do anything to save their characters. Here's an idea I though off after examining the current combat system:
1- Upon death, everything a character holds or wears drops with him.
2- The dying character loses a small percentage of his skills and stats (Rigor mortis messing with muscles) and the victor gains a small percentage of the LP the dying character lost (not at a 1:1 ratio). Thoses percentages changes depending if the dying character is in change or tradition.
3- The dying character can choose to reincarnate at either his HF, his village totem or his claimpost. He also got the option to outright kill his character and allows him to become an ancestor.
4- If the dying character choose to reincarnate, he starts knocked down, but with a buff that makes him regenerate his hp up to half his max at an accelerated rate.
Of course, it would require some changes:
1- HF should be more easily destroyable. Sieges on villages will start with the attackers making their HF behind trees to respawn there if anything happens. If they are found, they should be easy to put down.
2-Change the effect of Tradition/Change slider. their global effect (Tradition makes you lose less stuff, change makes you lose more stuff) remains the same, but at a slower rate.
It's not fleshed out yet, but I believe it is enough to be open for debate.