Type chart
I decided to have a type/element system. It's a little more complex than most type systems, which often only have the basic fire, water, air and ground types.
as you can see, it's a bit messy and complicated. Basically the green arrows show what type is super effective against another type. So water is super effective against fire, for example. It also works the other way around, so fire is ineffective against water. (but I was too lazy to draw red lines too...)
The black dot is 'dark', which is super-effective against the white dot, 'light'. light is super effective against dark too. These two types are kinda separate from the other types.
The brown dot is earth, with sub-type grass
The lavendel blue dot is wind, with sub-type electric
The turquoise dot is water, with sub-type ice
the red dot is fire, with sub-type lava
The sub-types are still individual types. However, the primary types and their respective sub-type are strongly correlated. classes of a sub-type can often learn many skills of the primary type and vice versa. For example, a character with the wind type can learn electric skills, and a character with the electric type can learn wind skills.
some units don't have a type. Typeless units don't get any advantages from using a certain weapon or skill, but they don't have an elemental weakness either. They're the most basic units that can use all skills in a class' skill tree equally well.
Super effective hits deal 25% bonus damage. ineffective hits deal 25% less damage.
Character stats
Health (maximum hit points)
Magic (maximum magic points)
Attack (affects physical damage done to enemies)
Defense (affects physical damage taken from enemies)
Magic attack (affects magic damage done to enemies)
Magic defense (affects magic damage taken from enemies)
support (affects healing and support abilities' effectiveness)
accuracy (affects ability to hit enemies and critical hit rate)
speed (affects ability to dodge enemy attacks and the order in which characters act in a turn)
Weapon types
There are eight weapon types, nine if you count 'no weapon'. Every character can equip up to two weapons. Some weapons can only be wielded with two hands.
The weapon types are:
Sword (both broadswords that can only be wielded with two hands, and smaller swords that can be wielded with only one hand)
Axe (both giant axes that can only be wielded with two hands, and smaller axes that can be wielded with only one hand)
Dagger
Katana (always wielded with two hands)
Spear (both long spears that can only be wielded with two hands, and smaller spears that can be wielded with only one hand)
Staff (both single-handed staves for the use of magic, and battlestaves. battlestaves are always wielded with two hands)
Rod
Bow (both traditional bows and crossbows. always wielded with two hands)
No weapon
It's pretty basic and traditional. Every class has one or two favored weapons, which will be explained in the next section.
Class system
There are seven different classes, each of them having three specialized sub-classes (with the exception to the elementalist, which has four sub-classes). Every sub-class has an elemental type and a favored weapon type, the latter unlocking a unique passive ability for that class. Those unique passives give the option for a different playstyle for that class, but they're definitely not required to win fights. Every class gets a bonus and a penalty in a couple of stats. Every class also gets a basic, typeless variant. The typeless variant doesn't unlock a unique ability with a any weapon, but it does get the stat changes of the class. A typeless healer, for example, can learn more abilities than a priest, but not the specialized abilities.
The classes are:
Knight
stat bonus: +10% health, +10% attack, +30% defense
stat penalty: -20% magic defense
specialty 1: Gallant.
type: fire
favored weapon: sword
Unique passive. Ardor Strike: the turn after the use of a fire type skill, any sword attack ignores 30% of the enemy's defense stat.
A righteous and ardent knight in golden armor. A Gallant's fair offensive presence in combination with his strong defenses make him a solid guard.
specialty 2: Lancer
type: electric
favored weapon: spear
Unique passive. Long Reach: If an enemy uses a melee attack or melee skill on the Lancer when defending, deal basic attack damage.
A well-trained knight that keeps enemies at bay. electric and stun skills grant great utility and defense.
specialty 3: Dark Knight
type: dark
favored weapon: katana/axe
Unique passive. Dark Plot: increase attack by 15% after killing any unit (includes your own team members)
A more repulsive knight that often ignores his own protection to put maximum punishment on his enemies.
Healer
stat bonus: +10% magic, +15% magic defense, +25% support
stat penalty: -10% attack, -10% defense
specialty 1: Priest
type: light
favored weapon: rod/staff
Unique passive. Magic influx: when defending, deplete 10% of an enemy's total magic bar at the end of the turn, and absorb half of that magic. (always targets the enemy with the highest amount of current magic)
A dedicated healer that uses protective barriers and stun abilities to prevent his allies from taking damage while healing them up.
specialty 2: Druid
type: grass
favored weapon: staff
Unique passive. Share the Pain: evenly spreads damage to adjacent allies when hit. Spreading damage stops when the adjacent ally/the druid himself has only 10% of max health left. The remaining damage then spreads to the other unit and the druid himself/the two adjacent allies. When the adjacent allies both can't take any more damage (so when the 10% perimeter is met), the druid takes the damage himself, even if he has only 10% of max health or less remaining.
A tricky spellcaster with restorative and status skills. His support makes sure that your team won't get overwhelmed easily.
specialty 3: Purifier
type: water
favored weapon: no weapon
Unique passive. Free Motion: increases support and agility by 25%
specialized in single target healing. The purifier offers great utility with his cleansing skills and ability to put up icy walls for protection.
Warrior
stat bonus: +30% health, +20% attack
stat penalty: -10% magic, -10% magic attack
specialty 1: Viking
type: ice
favored weapon: axe (only giant axes)/sword (only broadswords)
unique passive. Cleave Swing: when attacking an enemy, do 30% of damage to adjacent enemies.
Brutal warriors that swing their weapon around as if it weights nothing. Very sturdy and dangerous, but not exactly magically capable.
specialty 2: Savage
type: ground
favored weapon: dual axes /dual daggers
unique passive. Prey on the Weak: deals 25% bonus damage against an enemy with only 30% of it's max health remaining.
Though able to be extremely aggressive, savages tend to have a close relation to plantlife and animals. They respect what they kill, most of the time anyway.
specialty 3: battleranger
type: wind
favored weapon: crossbow
unique passive. Pure Strenth: handles the knokback of a crossbow just fine with one arm, allowing the battleranger to carry another weapon or a shield.
Tough and muscular survivors that shoots arrows with such incredible force that they create powerful gusts.
Martial Artist
stat bonus: +20% attack, +15%magic attack, +15%speed
stat penalty: -10% magic defense, -10% support
specialty 1: Pugilist
type: lava
favored weapon: no weapon
unique ability. Untamed Spirit: increase damage done to enemies and speed by 25% when afflicted with a status condition. If the status condition gets cured, the stat bonus will stay for one more turn.
Talented and focused martial artist that throw out rock hard, yet fiery punches. Even though the pugilist prefers physical combat, he can be very potent at using magic as well.
specialty 2: Staff Master
type: air
favored weapon: staff (battlestaff only)
unique ability. Parry: 40% chance to counter melee enemy attacks.
Athletic and nimble fighters. Staff masters have lightning fast reflexes that allow them to dodge and parry attacks while overwhelming enemies with blows of their own.
specialty 3: Fisherman
type: water
favored weapon: spear
unique ability. Impale Risk: throwing a spear deals 50% more damage. If the spear kills the enemy, the fisherman can instantly pick up his spear.
Though originally just regular Fisherman, these people created a unique fighting style utilizing range and the power of the seas.
Assassin
stat bonus: +10% attack, +15% accuracy, +25% speed
stat penalty: -10% defense, -10% magic defense.
specialty 1: Devoted
type: light
favored weapon: dual daggers
unique ability. The Light Protects: gain a health barrier worth 50% of the damage done to an enemy with a physical attack and keep it for the remaining of the turn.
The devoted relies on speed, and faith, to stay unharmed. Between his high accuracy and dual weapons, he often lands critical hits.
specialty 2: Ninja
type: dark
favored weapon: katana
unique ability. Shadow Hide: the turn after using defend, the ninja goes into stealth mode, which makes him completely undetectable until he uses any attacking move. If the enemy uses an area move and the ninja gets hit, he will be damaged and revealed.
A ninja hides into the shadows until the time is right to deal massive single-target damage. High attack and accuracy guarantee that the enemy will have a tough time.
specialty 3: Marksmen
type: grass
favored weapon: bow
unique ability. Opening Gambit: the first basic attack in a battle will always be a critical hit.
Very accurate shooters adapt at damaging and crippling their enemies. Because most of his attacks are from range, a marksmen is virtually immune to counterattacks.
Elementalist
stat bonus: +15% magic, +15% magic attack, +10% magic defense, +10% support
stat penalty: -10% health, -10% speed
specialty 1: Frostmage
type: ice
favored weapon: rod/staff
unique ability. Frostburn: ice type skills deal 50% more damage to burning enemies.
An icy wizard with freezing skills. Icy walls protect the frostmage until he is ready to summon powerful blizzards that deal damage in an area.
specialty 2: Lightning Mage
type: electric
favored weapon: rod
unique ability. Sting Lightning: electric type skills deal 50% more damage to stunned enemies.
A powerful wizard with powerful weather-based magic. Though easy to hit, stun skills prevents enemies from even damaging he Lightning mage in the first place.
specialty 3: Magma Mage
type: lava
favored weapon: no weapon
unique ability. Evaporate: magma type skills deal 50% more damage to frozen enemies.
A controller of liquid and solid rock. By manipulating earthly heat, a magma mage can create fissures and eruptions.
specialty 4: Earth Mage
type: earth
favored weapon: no weapon
unique ability. Gritty Wounds: earth type skills deal 50% more damage to bleeding enemies.
A mage that controls the earth. Quake attacks, sturdy walls and speed control skills let the earth mage put his stamp on any battle.
Battlemage
stat bonus: +10% magic, +10% attack, +30% magic attack
stat penalty: -10% defense, -10% accuracy
specialty 1: Pyromancer
type: fire
favored weapon: no weapon/rod
unique ability. Burn up: when the fire mage has only 10% of his magic left, his next fire type skill or attack deals 250% damage. The mage loses his fire type after that and all fire type skills are disabled. If magic is restored to 50% or more, the ability resets. Otherwise the ability only resets after each battle.
The fire mage's favorite activity is engulfing the surroundings in flames. He sometimes goes too far and burns himself out though, disabling the use of any sort of fire attacks.
specialty 2: Lightbringer
type: light
favored weapon: rod/staff
unique ability. Inner Focus: if the sacred mage defends and doesn't get hit, decrease all cooldown by 2 turns. (will be explained later)
A sacred wizard with divine tactics. Mostly focuses on piercing enemies right through their amor with concentrated light magic, or blinding them.
specialty 3: Black Sorcerer
type: dark
favored weapon: dagger
unique ability. Gloomy Bet: when throwing a dagger, do 100% of magic attack as additional dark damage to the target and adjacent enemies. You´ll lose your the dagger´s bonus stats until the end of the fight. (throwing weapons will be explained in the next section)
Though skilled at magic attacks, the dark mage isn't afraid to get his hands dirty in physical combat. Bleed and poison skills add to the enemy's suffering.
In battle combat system and UI
This section will explain a bit about the actual options you have in battle. I'm going to assume that the RPG is being played on a handheld with a d-pad (like the 3ds), because that's generally a fitting system for a turn based strategy like this and it's easier for me to explain how selecting different options work.
The basic options are:
attack
skills
defend
item
run
This seems pretty basic again, but there's more to it. I'll explain each option more in depth.
Attack
When you select attack, you can select an enemy and you'll strike it with your weapon. Simple enough
You can press the left or the right button on the d-pad to 'scroll' through different attacking options. If you press right once, you can select from your class' empowered attack. An empowered attack does elemental damage corresponding with the sub-class' type. It deals part normal attack damage, and part additional magic damage using the magic attack stat to determine the damage. The psychical and the magical part of the damage are shown individually, but they're counted as one attack so they can't both crit. Empowering an attack costs a little magic.
If you press left once (or right twice), you can select to throw your weapon to do a ranged attack. This is only possible with small swords, daggers, spears and small axes. A successful ranged attack deals double the damage and always makes the enemy bleed, but you can only pick up your weapon after the battle is over, so you'll lose the weapon's bonus stats until then. Some enemies can pick the weapons up and use for their own if they survive or dodge the attack.
Skills
When you select skills, you get a list of all the skills that your character can learn. If you use the d-pad, you can scroll through the select menu of each separate type of skills (damage, support, status) to sort through your abilities more easily. If, for example, a skill deals damage and applies bleed, you can find it in both the damage and status selection menus.
Every skill has a cooldown of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or even 5 turns. When a skill is on cooldown, you can't use it anymore until it comes off cooldown again. This is were defend comes into play.
Defend
When you use defend, you take 50% less damage from any source. You also reduce all your cooldown by 1 turn, so at the end of the turn all your cooldown will be decreased by 2. If you use defend when all your skills are off cooldown, you'll store an 'energy point'. If you have an energy point, the next skill you use will have 1 turn less cooldown. You can store up to 3 energy points. So for example, when you have 2 energy points stored by defending two times in a row without having any skills on cooldown from previous spells, and you use a skill with a 2 turn cooldown, your character will have enough energy to use the same skill twice in a row (in two separate turns, you can't perform multiple skills in the same turn).
Item
When you select the item button, you instantly get a list of all the items you can use in battle. If you have at least one energy point stored up, using an item takes away one energy point, but you'll be able to use any other action (including defense to gain the energy point right back) in the same turn. This allows you to be more efficient with using items, but you'll have to prepare for it beforehand.
Run
flee from battle...
let me give a practical example of how a battle might play out, in case you found the above a bit confusing:
The battle starts. You party consist of a gallant and a priest, the enemy team consist of two goblins. The gallant and priest hold a sword and a rod respectively, so both units have their unique ability unlocked.
- gallant used 'fire sword' on goblin 1, deal 100 damage
- priest used defend
- goblin 1 attacked gallant, deal 30 damage
- goblin 2 attacked priest, deal 18 damage
- magic influx triggers, enemy goblin 1 loses 3 magic, priest gains 0 magic (he is already at max magic)
Turn 2. The gallant can't use his fire sword anymore since it's on cooldown. The priest has stored 1 energy point from defending without having any running cooldowns.
- gallant attacked goblin 2, ardor strike triggers, deal 63 damage
- priest used a potion on the gallant, heal 30 health
- priest used empowered attack on goblin 1, deal 10 damage (the physical part), deal 16 damage (the magical part), goblin 1 was defeated
- magic influx triggers, goblin 2 loses 3 magic, priest gains 2 magic (he used up a bit of magic for using the empowered attack, so now he can absorb magic)
Turn 3. The gallant can use his fire strike again. The priest used up his energy point in turn 2.
- gallant threw his sword at goblin 2, deal 100 damage, goblin 2 was defeated
The battle ends. The gallant and priest get experience and gold. The thrown sword goes back into the inventory.
Status conditions
I feel like I should get this out of the way before I go over to the abilities for each class. There are 5 types of status conditions, each having a different effect. Both allies and enemies can use and receive these status conditions. Bosses are immune to all sorts of status.
Poison
Poison depletes 1/20 of your health every turn. Poison can stack 3 times. Some skills instantly put three stacks of poison on the opponent though, so it's not always necessary to stack poison to achieve the highest possible damage.
Stun
A stun completely shuts a unit down until it wears of.
Bleed
Bleed reduces accuracy by 3% for every 10% max health you lost (so if you have 90% of your health your accuracy will be reduced by 3%, and if you have only 50% of your health left your accuracy will be reduced by 15%). Bleed also reduces all sources of healing by 25%. Bleed stops if you don't take more than 20% damage over 2 turns.
Burn
Burn depletes 1/12 of your health and magic every turn. Getting hit by water or ice attacks removes the burn.
Freeze
Freeze increases the cooldown of all skills by 1 turn. It also decreases speed by 50%.
Skills
Each class has a skill tree for the three types of skills: offense, support and status. Every time you level up, you get skill points with which to unlock different skills. Some skills have different paths. Spending skill points is permanent, you can't change the skills for a specific sub-class. There`ll be an option to completely reset a sub-class allowing you to choose your skills again from scratch, but you`ll have to level up that class from scratch too. Every sub-class has a favored ability, which increases it´s effectiveness by 10%.
Using a skill usually costs magic. If you run out of magic, you can't use magic skills anymore. There are also skills that don't require magic to be used, but those abilities tend to have rather long cooldowns.
Most skills work with ratio's, attack ratio's, magic attack ratio's and support ratio's. For example, if a skill has an attack ratio of 125, the skill will deal 125% of attack in damage. A skill with both attack and magic attack ratio's deal two components of damage that interact differently with the enemy`s defense and magic defense. Both components will be displayed, but they`re not considered two different hits so they can`t both crit for example.
The skill trees presented here are not finalized. For now, I only made a few abilities for the first three classes so you can get a general idea of how the system works. The actual skill trees would be much much bigger.
Knight
Healer
Warrior
Personal Comments
I really had fun making this so far, so I hope you like it too.
I wanted to put emphasis on combining skills and regular attacks together instead of just spamming the most powerful skill you have turn after turn. That's why I used a cooldown system. You need to use different skills every turn with almost every character. This makes every battle dynamic and different. The energy point storing by using defense is kinda ripped from Bravely Default, but it just works so well. storing a turn to use later allows you to plan ahead and it just adds a great amount of strategy to an rpg.
I might update the skill tree if I find some time. Not really sure yet. The type chart might need some work too, but I don't want to make it so complicated.
So yeah, this is like the end of the thread. Congratulations if you read through all of that. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. I appreciate all criticism and comments. Thanks for reading.
