Producing a permanent result from a contest, such as killing a named NPC (rather than a goon) requires a complete victory. Only Narrator fiat can help a character reduced to 'dying' (complete defeat). See HQ page 76.
To take your example of a Storm Bull warrior who has a downed broo at his feet, of course the Storm Bull will kill the broo. That means a broo downed near a Storm Bull is going to be dead very shortly. That is, the broo is 'dying'; in a combat between broo and Storm Bulls, it takes a Complete Victory to down a broo near a Storm Bull.
As for the possibility of psychic damage; Storm Bulls already have it. Storm Tribe page 163 lists Fanatic and Hate Chaos as Urox virtues.
Also, the section on 'Killing Helpless Foes' (page 75) specifically mentions that Urox, Zorak Zoran and Humakt may kill defeated foes. I think you may have misunderstood that section. It says 'Most homelands and religions have rules about killing, and ways to avoid needless death'. It then lists several examples. The intent of the section seems to be to help the Narrator present options to the players, so they do not say 'my character kills him' without thinking about this in game terms. As HQ is a narrative role playing game, it is proper for the game to focus on narrative (plot, story, long-term consequences) and role-playing (psychological) aspects. If it were a wargame, it would simply deal with the grizzly mechanics. In a sense, whether the broo lives or dies is not important (glasshopper); what is important is that the player has an opportunity to role-play or develop their character's personality (whether lilly livered or psychopathic) or produce interesting story consequences (whether escorting the knight home for the ransom, or fighting off vengeful relatives).
> Even the old HW "Coup De Grace" rule was pretty
> weak here, I mean, the Storm Bully downs the
> broo villain, misses his roll for a Coup de
> Grace... what�s he supposed to do, just wander
> off and leave the broo sitting there
But what makes you think the broo is 'just sitting there'? Perhaps the broo, although wounded, is not helpless, and manages to escape. Or perhaps the wounded broo begins to fight desparately and drives the Storm Bull back?
Even an 'injured' combatant (one who has suffered a major defeat) is only 'mostly' helpless (HQ page 75). See especially the 'Sample Contest Consequences' on page 65; it says for even a major defeat that 'ability to escape is compromised' (but not prevented).
The rules do not tell you what happened in game world terms. That is for the players (especially the Narrator) to decide. The rules only tell you the relative magnitude of the outcome. See HQ page 64, step 6, 'Determine contest consequences'. The section gives some advice for inconclusive outcomes.
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