Alternative Ideas for Skill Mechanics?

I am compiling a list of different skill/magic systems:

• Vancian: Spell slots
• Magic Points: The default
• Blue Magic: Learn skills from enemies
• Powers: Skills that can be used 3/day, 1/battle etc. similar to D&D 4E
• Cooldown: Skills that can be used, say 1/4 rounds

These are the ones I thought of and jotted down. I'd like to hear your ideas for different Skill mechanics you'd be interested in having in RPG Maker. These don't have to be magic-related. They can be for melee characters as well.

Thanks!

Edit: Just to be clear, your ideas don't have to be currently doable in RPG Maker. They can be as wild and crazy as you'd like.

If the battles were real time over turn based, Unison League's version of cooldowns PLUS costs is a functional combat style.

I did one with rotation in a game awhile back where skills rotated out into other skills each time you used a skill. In my case I did three rotations, Starting skill->Next Skill->Final->Back to Starting Skill. Typically I made it that the skill either grew in power or over all utility; like hitting multiple targets or just doing more raw damage, recovering higher amounts of health, etc... The game didn't really take off or anything but I thought the idea was interesting so if its something you want to try by all means do so. I did use mp for that though but you could do that without mp as well of course.

I've seen combo systems in Ace before. Basically, some skills can only be used after using a certain skill (most often during the same turn via combo scripts)

I suggest a passive mana regen? It's a good mechanic to avoid back tracking for mana potions when exploring long asf dungeons.

@JtheDuelist
I'm thinking turn-based for now. Real-time will a discussion for the future.

@Vox Novus
Rotating skills is a very unique and interesting idea. I like that.

@Engr. Adiktuzmiko
That another interesting idea.

@Skurge
This one actually already made my list as a variant option to MP. :)

Thanks for the ideas. They're great! I guess I should be more explicit on something just in case. These ideas don't have to be currently doable with RPG Maker or with available scripts or plugins. They certainly can be but they can also be something pulled out of your imagination as well. Alternative variants or subsystems to the ones I listed are also highly welcome too.

I've been planning a switching mode for a character on my game. Where the character would buff himself with a state. It has two applicable state actually. But you can't have those two. Only one, and it negates the other. You have state A under effect, you use state B, state A will be gone, and vice versa.

On my previous complete game, it used to switch between offensive mode where you will have attack boost while in effect, chance to burn, and basically all dps buff. The second mode is defensive mode where you get reduced damage while also debuff the enemy.

I plan to keep this quirk for the next game though since it's kinda iconic. But I need to rethink the balancing.

-Skill swapping (when used, it switches access to another skill, and when used again, reverts access back to the original skill)
-Skill changing depending on certain conditions (terrain, ingame time, turn count etc)
-Skill levelling (builds power on use, resets after battle)
-Skill chaining (when like 2+ skills of the same type/element get used in the same turn, the skills following the first get boosted)
-Skill combo (when 2+ characters select combo compatible skills, resulting in a unique dual-attack, instead of performing their regular, individual actions)
-Key input combos, or button mashing to power up a skill.
-Mind Control, letting you take control of an enemy, including gaining access to their skill set.
-Time Reversal, reversing the battle to an earlier state.

I almost forgot that I once had an idea of a delaying skill that basically increase actor's skill cooldown by 1 or more. Must be 'fun' :p
Thanks for reminding me.

Some ideas:

Global cooldown: using any skill locks all skills for a brief cooldown period in order to encourage the use of combined arms, so to speak. Perhaps some skills can force an actor or enemy into a cooldown period.

Kingdom Hearts II MP system - an actor has regular MP, but when an actor uses up all their MP, they get 100% of it back after a recharge period during which no MP skills can be used. Ethers restore 100% mp or significantly reduce the recharge time.

Mass Effect skill combo explosions - an example of @Milennin 's "skill switch" idea in that when a target is "primed" with a state effect, hitting them with a "detonator" will trigger a different skill effect, such as an area-of-effect skill or an instant death effect.

Edit: moar

Kingdom Hearts Command Deck: similar to vancian magic, except each actor has a "deck" of skill slots in which multiple instances of skills are "equipped" each with their own cooldown.

Kingdom Hearts Reaction Commands/Situational Commands - skills become available to actors based on the current situation, perhaps based on what enemies are in play and under which circumstances. For example, after an enemy has used a certain skill, a reactionary skill might become available.

@Milennin @Eschaton @TheoAllen
Thanks! Some really great ideas in there.

Keep 'em coming, everyone!

I'll just list some of the things I've been doing in my current project to see if they appeal. A few have already been listed, but I'm listing them again to emphasize that I think they're good ideas:

• "Energy" from certain classes in world of warcraft is like MP, but the pool is small and never really grows from level 1 all the way to whatever the decided maximum level is. Skills have relatively high costs in comparison (20-50 energy per use) but you also recover large amounts passively every round. It's also completely feasible to have specific skills (such as a lower-damage attack) that can be used at will to completely refill it.
• "Combo" skills. I've got a few of these set up already and I really like them. The concept is borrowed from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, and it can work in a few different ways, depending on what your goal is: 1) Using Sucker Punch unlocks Uppercut for next round. Using Uppercut unlocks Haymaker for next round, etc. Or the combo can reset back to the beginning. 2) Using Mix unlocks a single use of Mystery Potion. Unlike the first example, Mystery Potion remains in the skill list until it gets used, or the battle ends. 3) Using Awaken Power (ideally a limit break or cooldown ability that can't be spammed) transforms, say, the user's Cure, Flare, and Raise into Curaja, Flareja, and Full-Life for X rounds. It could even reduce or remove MP costs while active.
• "Rage" is also borrowed from world of warcraft, and while TP can emulate this pretty well, that might not be ideal if you want TP to exist for something else--in my case, FF7-style limit breaks. Anyway, the idea here is that the gauge starts empty, but fills up gradually as the user deals or receives damage.
• Cooldowns only. I've seen a few games get rid of skill-based resources entirely, and instead, replace the big ones with cooldowns. For example, you'd be able to use Fire, Cure, etc at will, but Flare, Ultima, and Curaja would have cooldowns.
• Power ramp-up: Another thing from FFBE gives certain skills a base multiplier that increases with consecutive use up to a maximum. For example, a spell could have a modifier of 12 that increases by 2 each time the user casts it, capping off at a modifier of 24. While it disappears at the end of battle, other factors could also reset the modifier, such as the user dying, using a different skill, an enemy using a dispel-type ability intended to reset all stacking skills, etc.
• This was mentioned in another thread, and it's something I've planned on using in my next game for awhile now: Weapons as skills, inspired by Saga Frontier and other, similar SaGa games. Specifically, the player equips, say, 4 different weapons, and in combat, they are presented with a list of skills based on those weapons. Here's what I mean: Let's say I equip a Dagger, Axe, Phaser, and Assault Rifle. In combat, I'd see the following skills when I selected Attack: Dagger, Axe, Phaser, and Assault Rifle. Or I could get fancy and associate more than one ability themed around those weapons when they are equipped rather than using the names of the weapons specifically. So, with the equipped weapons mentioned above: Stab, Slash, Chop, Energy Beam, Stun Beam, Chainfire, and Bullet Spray.
• As for MP regen (another user mentioned this, but I want to emphasize it myself) this is just a good idea to include regardless of what else you're using. Even if it's something small, like 3-5% per turn, it's great to have because it allows your wizards to do more than just guard on every fight until you reach the boss, and it lets your melee attackers do more than just spam basic attack.
• Dualcast/Dual Skill: The concept has been around since Final Fantasy 5 I believe, but the idea is that the user can use any 2 similar skills (2 black magic, 2 white magic, 2 any magic, 2 sword skills, etc) in any order every round instead of just one ability per round.

@Aesica
Nice list. Thanks! Definitely some good ideas in there that I can use.