Low-Stat Game

I'm making a low stat game, trying to stimulate a pnp RPG type feeling in Legends of Gaia-Sol.

An example:
Starting Stats:
Class: Mage
HP:60 (Mages/Wizards/Sorcerors generally get 1d6 HP. All I did was take the highest possible roll and multiply by ten.))
MP:4 (All spells cost mp equal to its level. A lv.1 spell will cost 1mp, but a lv.4 will cost 4mp)
Strength(ATK): 10
Endurance(DEF): 10
Intellect(MATK): 18
Willpower(MDEF): 16
Agility(AGI): 12
Luck(LUK): 14

So, while there's less HP, the stats are about average. That's what I'm worried about. As I notice that enemies tend to do 15 - 30 dam when, which means an enemy can kill a player in two hits should they choose the mage class. I don't know how to balance it. I could use some help.

Have you tried messing with the damage formulas for attacks? Instead of

a.atk*4 - b.def*2maybe try something like

a.atk*1.5 - b.defI mean that probably won't solve your balance problem outright, but it's a place to start.

How do I do that with regular attacks?

nvm, just noticed that normal attacks use an 'attack' skill.

With such low stats I would highly recommend for you to turn off the Random Encounters on maps and place your battles as walking events. 

Generally with low HP and MP values, attrition from battles accumulates fast in dungeon runs. If you put enemies around so that players can see them walking on the map, you will be able to control the amount of encounters easier, at the same time giving you more tools to create interesting dungeons.

Chests guarded by powerful enemies. Multiple roads with various difficulty in fights. Possible stealth sections. And the player can consider his resources before a fight. 

Otherwise you will have to somehow account for the random fights wearing down the party. 

So you know... just a heads up on this possible problem. 

If your making a low stat game, I would highly suggest looking at Envelsion Halcyon Days, it has low stats and it's one of the most amazing games I played.

I'm prob late, and I haven't so much as made a single floor using rpg maker yet. But I know game theory and programming =P.

You can also make it so an attack stat merely affects the number of chances you have of dealing damage. for example, you can make it so 10 atk doesn't do 10 damage to 0 defense (or whatever), but rolls 10 dice (well not actual dice obviously but you get the idea) with as many sides a you please where only one actually dishes out 1 damage.

If you want the damage to be relatively consistant too though, you can also scale defense even more than attack, and make it so damage is equal to attack divided by defense or whatever. so 10 attack to 5 defense does 2 damage instead of 5 = 50% reduction so 10*50% = blah blah.