Game skills idea - need feedback

[Demonsteel 3]

Hello!

 

For a while I've been thinking of making a game. It's my first game, so I fully expect it to not be the best game in the world, but I still want to make an effort to make it as good as possible. As it is my first game, I'd like some feed back on some ideas I've had.

 

The game will have 7 characters;

 

Dalia - "Divine Priestess"

Skill type: Invocation

Skills:

Benediction - Restores some HP to all allies. TP cost of 10.

Celerity - Increases ATB charge speed for caster. Lasts 2 turns. TP cost of 10.

Shining Strike - Deals Light Elemental Damage to target. TP cost of 10.

Mystic Boon - Deals Physical damage and restores MP based on damage dealt. TP cost of 15.

Rapture - Increases potency of the next Magic Attack. TP cost of 30.

Penury - Negates MP cost of the next spell. TP cost of 30.

Lux - Damages and weakens an enemy.  Can only use on Undead enemies. TP cost of 15.

Clarity - Restores a small ammount of MP. TP cost of 5.

 

Fae - Thief

Skill Type: Thief

Skills: 

Steal - Steals an item from an enemy. TP cost of 3.

Poach - Steals an item from an enemy with greater success, and deals a small ammount of damage. TP cost of 5.

Mug - Steals an item from an enemy with even greater success, and deals damage. TP cost of 10.

Snatch - Steals a select item from an enemy with guaranteed success. TP cost of 15.

Pilfer Gil - Steals some gil from an enemy. TP cost of 5.

Steal HP - Steals HP from an enemy. TP cost of 10.

Steal MP - Steals MP from an enemy. TP cost of 10.

Absorb Poison - Steals "Poison" Status from an ally. TP cost of 7.

Absorb Blind - Steals "Blind" Status from an ally. TP cost of 7.

Absorb Mute - Steals "Mute" Status from an ally. TP cost of 7.

Absorb Paralysis - Steals "Paralysis" Status from an ally. TP cost of 7. *Note that Paralysis in this game would reduce ATB Charge rate and reduce evasion and magic evasion to 0%, and not make you unable to move*

Absorb All - Steals several status effects from an ally. 

Avenger - Deals damage based on and boosts the damage of your next Thief attack based on the number of number of detrimental status effects. Removes status effects. TP cost of 30.

Stab - Deals damage based on your Agility. Boosted by Avenger. TP cost of 10.

Paralyzing Stab - Transfers Paralyze to the enemy and deals extra damage. TP cost of 15. *Note that it only inflicts paralyze if you're under the effect of paralyze. Same applies to the extra damage.*

Muting Stab - Transfers Mute to the enemy and deals extra damage. TP cost of 15. Further boosted by Avenger.*Same as above*.

Blinding Stab - Transfers Blind to the enemy and deals extra damage. TP cost of 15. Further boosted by Avenger.*Same as above.*

Toxic Stab - Transfers Poison to the enemy and deals extra damage. TP cost of 15. Further boosted by Avenger. *Same as above.*

Mandalic Stab - An attack that ignores enemy defense. Boosted by Avenger. TP cost of 15.

Triple attack - Attacks an enemy thrice. Boosted by Avenger. TP cost of 40.

Flurry - Randomly attacks several enemies. Boosted by Avenger. TP cost of 45. *Note: Attacks 3 random enemies twice*

Quick Stab - A fast attack. Boosted by Avenger. TP cost of 5. *Note: Increases charge speed until next attack*

 

Torzan - Runic Knight

Skill Type: Runic Knight

Skills:

Charged Attack - A powerful attack. TP cost of 15. *Note: Has a charge rate of 60%*

Double Attack - Attacks an enemy twice. TP cost of 20.

Power Attack - Deals damage based on current TP. Clears TP. *Note: Every percentage of TP increases attack by 8%*

Wide Slash - Attacks all enemies. TP cost of 15.

Whirlwind - Attacks all enemies twice. TP cost of 25.

Flat Blade - Attacks with the flat side of your blade. Deals Blunt damage. TP cost of 10.

Rush - Rushes towards the target. Deals Piercing damage. TP cost of 10.

Hilt Bash - Bashes the enemy with the hilt of your sword. Stuns the enemy. TP cost of 5.

Rune: Napeai - Imbues your sword with a magic rune. Increases Attack while reducing Defense. TP cost of 15.

Rune: Noco - Imbues your sword wit ha magic rune. Increases Defense while reducing Attack. TP cost of 15.

Rune: Ooanoa - Imbues your sword with a magic rune. Increases Hit Rater while reducing Evasion. TP cost of 15.

Rune: Baghie - Imbues your sword with a magic rune. Increases Counter Rate while reducing Critical Hit Rate. TP cost of 15.

Rune: Bransg - Imbues your sword with a magic rune. Increases Evasion while reducing Hit Rate. TP cost of 15.

Rune: Ednas - Imbues your sword with a magic rune. Increases Magic Reflect while reducing Magic Resist. TP cost of 15.

Rune: Graa - Imbues your sword with a magic rune. Increases TP Gain Rate while reducing Speed. TP cost of 15.

Rune: Parach - Imbues your sword with a magic rune. Increases Magic evasion Rate while reducing Magic Attack. TP cost of 15.

Rune: Parm - Imbues your sword with a magic rune. Increases Speed while reducing TP gain rate. TP cost of 15.

* Note: All of the Rune: effects last until the end of battle, or until replaced with a new Rune. *

 

Alex - Guardian

Skill type: Guardian

Skills:

Cover - Takes damage in the place of an ally. TP cost of 5. *Note: Lasts 1 turn*

Provoke - Increases chance that enemies will target you. TP cost of 15. *Note: Lasts 5 turns*

Shield Bash - Deals damage based on our Defense and stuns the enemy. TP cost of 10.

Reverse Blade - Hits the enemy with the backside of your blade. Deals Blunt damage.TP cost of 10.

Sword Shield - Takes a protective stance. Returns damage taken to enemies. *Note: Freezes you in place for 3 turns*

Perfect Defense - Maximizes Physical Defense. TP cost of 50. Lasts 3 turns.

Pointed Blade - Focuses your blade to hit a single point on an enemy. Deals Piercing damage. TP cost of 10.

Cross Slash - Attacks an enemy twice. Lowers Defense. TP cost of 20.

Switch Blade - Deals damage based on your enemy's attack versus your defense. TP cost of 10.

 

Slane - Gambler 

Skill type: Gamble

Note: Damage and recovery increases with character's luck on all skills.

Skills:

Dice Roll - TP cost of 5

• 2 - Snake Eyes - Kills user.
• 3 - Ace Deuce - Heals Enemies.
• 4 - Little Joe - Deals damage to everybody.
• 5 - Fever Five - Puts all allies to sleep, and reduces MP.
• 6 - Jimmie Hicks - Deals damage to all allies.
• 7 - Front-Line Winner - Deals damage that ignores enemy defense.
• 8 - Easy-Eight - Attacks a target 15 times.
• 9 - Centerfield Nine - Restores some MP and TP.
• 10 - Woman's Best Friend - Heals all allies.
• 11 - Yo-Leven - Highly damaging attack.
• 12 - Midnight - Resurrects and fully heals all allies.
• 8 - Square Pair (4 + 4) - Casts Death on every character and enemy whose HP is divisable by 8.

Wild Card - Deals random magic type damage to a random enemy. TP cost of 10.

• Fire Card
• Thunder Card
• Water Card
• Earth Card
• Wind Card
• Holy Card
• Dark Card

Jack Of All Trades - Deals random physical type damage to a random enemyTP cost of 10.

• Jack of Spades - Deals Neutral Damage to an enemy.
• Jack of Hearts - Deals Slash Damage to an enemy.
• Jack of Diamonds - Deals Piercing Damage to an enemy.
• Jack of Clubs - Deals Blunt Damage to an enemy.

Roulette - Highly random attack. TP cost of 20. * Note: Deals between 9% and 3600% of your normal magic attack/attack damage, but averages out to about 2-3 times your normal damage, before Luck modifier.*

• Red! - Deals random Physical damage to an enemy.
• Black! - Deals random Magical damage to an enemy.
• 0 - Deals random neutral damage to all allies.
• 00 - deals random neutral damage to all enemies.

Coin Flip - Heals either allies or enemies. TP cost of 15.

• Heads - Heals all allies
• Tails - Heals all enemies

Razzle - Inflicts a random status effect on all enemies. Has a chance to backfire. TP cost of 10.

• Poison - Inflicts all enemies with Poison.
• Blind - Inflicts all enemies with Blind.
• Mute - Inflicts all enemies with Mute.
• Paralyze - Influcts all enemies with Paralyze.
• Sleep - Inflicts all enemies with Sleep.
• Trouble - Inflicts all enemies with Trouble. (Causes damage you deal to backfire and also damage all allies)
• No Effect - No effect.
• Strike Back - Adds Poison, Blind and Silence on allies.
• Total Failure! - Adds Poison, Blind and Silence on allies, and causes damage you take to spread to all allies.

Slots - Grants a random positive effect to all allies. Chance of backfiring. TP cost of 15.

• No Effect
• Protect - Increases Defense.
• Shield - Increases Magic Defense.
• MP Cost Down - Decreases MP cost.
• HP Regen - Gradually restores HP.
• MP Regen - Gradually restores MP.
• TP Regen - Gradually restores MP
• Ailment Guard - Makes you immune to debilitating status effects.
• Vampire - Allows you to absorb HP with every time you deal physical damage.
• Jackpot - Grants Immortal, HP Regen, MP Regen, TP Regen, MP Cost Down, Persist II, Shield II, Protect II. * Note: Immortal makes you immune to Death for 1 turn, and Persist II gives you a 25% chance to survive a lethal attack for 5 turns. 
• Reverse Protect - Increase Defense of all enemies.
• Reverse Shield - Increases Magic Defense of all enemies.

Three-Card Monte - Chance of resurrecting a dead ally. TP cost of 20

• Failure - Nothing happens
• Success - Resurrects a random dead ally.

Sleigh Of Hand - Attempts to steal from an enemy. TP cost of  5

Distraction - Distracts an enemy, making it more susceptible to damage. TP cost of 15.

High Roller - Deals damage based on the number of high-rolls. TP cost of 30.

 

Kire - Dragalier

Skill type: Dragalier

Note: has a pet Wyvern that has a chance of attacking with a random attack each turn. Essentially, a free extra attack. Chance of attacking per round depends on a variable, but starts out at about 20-25%.

Skills:

Sweep - Deals Slash damage to a single enemy.  TP cost of 10.

Bracing the Wall - Puts the butt of your weapon against the ground. Damages the attackers. TP cost of 15.

Leg Swipe - A wide attack aimed at the feet. Has a chance to inflict Stun. Attacks all enemies. TP cost of 15.

Dragon's Wings - A two-fold attack that damages all enemies. TP cost of 20.

Pyrrhic Thrust - A highly damaging five-fold attack. TP cost of 30.

Defensive Wyvern - Commands your Wyvern to focus on Defensive attacks. TP cost of 10.

Physical Wyvern - Commands your Wyvern to focus on Physical attacks.  TP cost of 10.

Magical Wyvern - Commands your Wyvern to focus on Magical attacks. TP cost of 10.

Neutral Wyvern - Commands your Wyvern to return to a neutral state. TP cost of 10.

Stand Down - Tells your Wyvern to stand down. TP cost of 0.

Resume Attack - Tells your Wyvern to resume her attacks. TP cost of 0.

 

Possible Wyvern attacks:

• Bite - Swoops down to bite two random enemies. (Physical)
• Wyvern Rush - Deals damage to one random enemy. (Physical)
• Fire Breath - Fire damage to all enemies. (Magical)
• Water Breath - Water damage to all enemies. (Magical)
• Thunder Breath - Thunder damage to all enemies. (Magical)
• Wind Breath  - Wind damage to all enemies. (Magical)
• Earth Breath - Earth damage to all enemies. (Magical)
• Light Breath - Light damage to all enemies. (Magical)
• Dark Breath - Dark damage to all enemies. (Magical)
• Tail Swipe - Deals damage to all enemies. (Physical)
• Healing Breath - Heals all enemies. (Defensive)
• Defensive Breath - Protect on all allies. (Defensive)
• Shielding Breath Shield on all allies. (Defensive)
• Soothing Breath - restores MP to all allies. (Defensive)
• Curing Breath - Restores HP to all allies. (Defensive)
• Roar - stuns two random enemies. (Physical)
• Toxic Breath - Poisons all enemies. (Magical)
• Muting Breath - Mutes all enemies. (Magical)
• Blinding Breath - Blinds all enemies. (Magical)
• Chomp - Chomps a single enemy. (Physical)
• Resurrecting Breath - Resurrects all allies. (Defensive)
• Restoring Breath - Restores TP to all allies. (Defensive)

Mimi - Alchemist

Skill type: Alchemy

 

I haven't quite planned this character out yet, beyond her having the ability to mix ingredients together for various effects. She needs more skills than that though, but I can't for the life of me figure out what they should be. I also plan on adding some more skills to Dalia and Alex, and maybe Kire, as they feel somewhat incomplete. 

 

Additionally; there's over 50 other MP-based skills. Every character get one skill to start out, with the exception of Kire who will have the Wyvern-controlling abilities from the start, as well. The rest of the skills are taught by using the skills in battle. The MP based skills are instead learnt by spending AP obtained from battle.

 

TP can be restored by using MP-based skills, or by using the various TP modes (similar to the FFX system), while a small amount MP is restored by using TP abilities. Thus, a balance of TP and MP abilities will be necessary to use in battle.

 

So far I've mainly worked on the MP and TP abilities and have them working as they should and are somewhat balanced, as I plan on using the same or similar abilities in future games. I would, however, appreciate some feedback on this, whether you think anything should be changed , removed or added. I'd also appreciate any "Looks good" comments, as that would let me know I'm at least going in the right direction.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Demonsteel

[Darkanine 116]

Nice! they sound unique and pretty good,and I love how you made the priest.but they seem a bit to cheap,and the thief doesn't seem to have strong end-game stuff,but good.

[Demonsteel 3]

Thank you for your feedback!

 

The reason they're somewhat cheap is that it's a bit harder to get tp in my game, as the normal attack command doesn't generate any TP, nor does taking damage unless the TP mode is set to that. I would also like to try and make it so that the player doesn't (and shouldnt) have to rely on the standard attack button as much to get through almost every battle, something that plagues most RPG's.

 

As for the thief, why do you figure? I saw it as somewhat overpowered in some situations. It's designed to shine during situations where the enemy uses attacks like poison etc. as each negative status effect on the thief opens up abilities that deals double your normal damage when used. On top of it, Avenger increases the next attack by 500% if inflicted by poison, blind, mute and paralyze. So stacked with Triple Attack, that's close to 1500% damage for the cost of 40 TP. Even with only one of the, active, it increases your damage by 200% for a total of 600% damage for 40 TP. Then again, Avenger itself costs 30 TP, so that has to be taken in to consideration, too. In most cases you won't want to use it unless inflicted with 2 or more status effects for that reason.

[Ocedic 249]

I'm glad that you're trying to add unique skills to your game. In my opinion it makes a huge difference in standing out from other RPG Maker games and makes your game much more fun. Nothing's more disappointing than going into battle and seeing default spells.

 

You seem to have a good thematic grasp on your abilities, but one thing I noticed is at least one of your gambler spells can damage allies, which I see as potentially way too frustrating. I would personally never use that spell, and if a lot of his abilities are based around that I would avoid that class/character. It also creates way too much of a variance in battle effect. I suggest simply making the 'bad' roll do something weak rather than actually hurting your own team.

[Darkanine 116]

Oh nevermind,I'm used to seeing thief's as pseudo-fighters-mages,I now noticed that he's more support in your game,on a side note I agree with Ocedic on the gambler.

[Demonsteel 3]

For the gambler, I was trying to imitate a kind of real-life gambling effect. Dice is the first initial spell, and teaches new spells on what he roll. Like with dice, 7 has the highest odds and teaches Jack of All Trades, which damages the enemy. Dice is the standard ability, and therefor the most unreliable and used mainly as a way of teaching skills. Therefor the self-damaging effects are somewhat rarer, and in the case it's not (6), rather weak and more of a "you lose" effect. Dice itself is supposed to be something you don't really want to use later on, as you'll move on to the more reliable single-purpose skills. The second purpose of Dice is raising the amount of high-rolls you get for the High-Roller skill, as it has the highest odds of getting a high-roll (12 or 4+4, at 2/36 chance) and is the cheapest to use, but in turn you get lower overall damage and more unreliable effects.

As for the other ability, I assume you mean Roulette, which damages the entire party - like real roulette, it's a 1/38 chance of landing on it, so the majority of the time you will damage the enemy, and when it does damage you, odds are it won't do 36x normal damage - albeit it is possible.

The idea behind it therefor is a character that deals somewhat reliable damage with the potential of high spikes ("jackpot"), with a small risk of it backfiring on you (the equivalent of losing all of your money), which is why some of the abilities (slots Jackpot, for example) has a really strong ability that can completely change the course of battle.

It's something I'll take in to consideration though. Would a 1/38 chance make it too frustrating?

 

Edit: Here's the spread between them:

 

Dice

2 - 1:36 

3 - 2:36

4 - 3:36

5 - 4:36

6 - 5:36

7 - 6:36

8 - 4:36

9 - 4:36

10 - 3:36

11 - 2:36

12 - 1:36

4+4 - 1:36

 

Wild Card: 1:7 on each one

Jack of All Trades: 1:4 on each one

 

Roulette:

Red! - 18:38

Black! - 18:38

0 - 1:38

00 1:38

 

Coin Flip - 1:2 on each

 

Razzle -

Poison - 5:36

Blind - 5:36

Mute - 5:36

Paralyze - 5:36

Sleep - 5:36

Trouble - 3:36

No Effect - 5:36

Strike Back - 2:36

Total Failure! - 1:36

 

Slots - 

No Effect - 6:36

Protect - 5:36

Shield - 5:36

MP Cost Down - 2:36

HP Regen - 4:36

MP Regen - 3:36

TP Regen - 2:36

Ailment Guard - 2:36

Vampire - 2:36

Jackpot - 1:36

Reverse Protect - 2:36

Reverse Shield - 2:36

 

Three-Card Monte

Success! - 1:3

Failure! - 2/3

Edited March 4, 2013 by Demonsteel

[+ Crossroads 12]

don't change the gambler!  lol  nah, you can edit whatever you want, but even if people don't use a skill that doesn't mean it's not a nice thing for other people to have available.  Just make the benefit to NOT hitting that one dice roll good enough to try for it.  I've played several games where hurting yourself or your allies was a really fun way to go about battling.  As long as the upside outweighs the hits you take, it can be fun!

[Tharis 212]

I think the Gambler is meant for players of like mind. You leave open the opportunity for that class to be the most powerful in the game, as well as a potential detriment to the party. I think of Characters Like Taloon from DQ4 or Ronfar the Priest from Lunar Eternal Blue or even some skills from Breath of Fire 3 they could detriment your party or help immensely. If done correctly I think this could easily add the element you are goign for with this type of character so long as the chance of being a negative to the party is slight it shouldn't be an over all problem.

[Valgramme 0]

I think the Gambler is meant for players of like mind. You leave open the opportunity for that class to be the most powerful in the game, as well as a potential detriment to the party. I think of Characters Like Taloon from DQ4 or Ronfar the Priest from Lunar Eternal Blue or even some skills from Breath of Fire 3 they could detriment your party or help immensely. If done correctly I think this could easily add the element you are goign for with this type of character so long as the chance of being a negative to the party is slight it shouldn't be an over all problem.

 

I concur. The Gadgeteer class from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance comes to mind. I could either Haste all allies or all enemies based on one coin-flip.

"What's that? I hasted all the enemies and they swept my team? Oh well. Life's about taking risks!"

 

I say keep the Gambler skill-set. Variety is always good in my book. 

 

Can't wait to see the finished product!

-Val

[Demonsteel 3]

I thought of some ideas for the Alchemist. Haven't made them yet, though, so not sure how strong or unbalanced they would be, but I'd still like some feedback on them whether they're good or not.

Deus Ex Machina - restores party to a previous state
*When used, this ability restores the party to whatever HP and MP your party had in the previous turn. As the name suggests, it's a skill best used if, for example, a boss uses a strong attack that wipes almost the entire party. Would cost something like 60 TP, and maybe only be usable once per fight.

Pax - lowers target rate of an ally.

Bellum - Increases target rate of an ally.

Carpe Diem - Allows your next skill to be used three times in succession.
Sublimation - converts some of your MP in to TP.
Deposition - converts some of your TP in to MP.
Recombination - converts some of your HP to restore TP for allies.
Modus Veritas - studies an enemy to reveal its weakness.
Nigredo - Reduces enemy HP by 15% of its current HP.
Albedo - increases the potency of items.
Citrinitas - transfers some of your TP to an ally.
Rubedo - deals damage and heals your party equal to the damage dealt.
Tabula Rasa - removes all positive and negative effects effects from a target.

I'm trying not to give it any damaging TP skills, as I'm hoping the main source of its damage would be from Mix. What would the point of it be otherwise?

Edited March 5, 2013 by Demonsteel

[Anderfell 2]

Penury - Negates MP cost of the next spell. TP cost of 30 i would make that once a bit more expensive don't want huge spells spamed if TP is High maybe Half cost??

 

With Your Theif maybe a nice attack based off your DEX to me he seems like a item hoarder and self buff can he buff other players with stored stolen stats ??

 

Runic Knight maybe depending on your attack or defense buff the TP use is lower or high depending on what the spell is?

 

The rest looks awesome and don't take my comment as putting you down im not this is really well thought out =D

Edited March 14, 2013 by Anderfell