Please note that this is a long, detailed post. This document puts you under no obligations, moral, legal, or otherwise, to read the rest of it. Thank you for your time, either way. OK, here are some real details on my game, tentatively titled Pentaverse: Dual Magic Expenditure System: Each spellcaster has Magic Points and Spell Points. MP are easily restored by certain potions (similar to Ether from FF) and spells. Each spell has a set MP cost, which is higher the stronger the spell is. SP are nearly impossible to restore by any means other than rest. Although a few unique items might be able to restore SP, SP are the primary limiting factor on your ability to cast spells. All spells cost 1 SP in addition to their MP cost. A night's rest (8 hours) will restore your characters' MP and SP to their maximum value, in addition to partially restoring their HP and giving most poisons and spell effects time to wear off. Character Attributes: As in many electronic RPGs, stats in Pentaverse are divided into two categories: Basic and Adjusted. Basic stats are as follows: (20 is average for a basic stat, 1 sucks, and 40 is excellent) Strength : Determines how much damage a character does and how good they are at piercing their opponents' armor. Constitution : Determines how many hit points characters start with, how many they get per level, and how long they can move at a sprint. Dexterity : Determines how accurate characters' blows and aimed spells are. At higher levels, this helps characters react slightly faster as combat begins. Reflex : Determines how well characters dodge attacks and how fast they react when combat starts. Speed : Determines how often characters can act. A character with twice the Speed stat of another character can act roughly twice as many times as them in any given period of combat. Intelligence : Determines MP, SP, and spell damage and duration for offensive-style spellcasters. Wisdom : Determines MP, SP, and spell effectiveness and duration for Healers' spells Charisma : Determines recruiting ability and effectiveness of lies attempted by character Adjusted stats are as follows: HP : Based on level, Constitution, and character's class(es). If a character's HP falls to 0, they are unconscious. If it falls to -(1/4 max HP), they are badly injured (penalties to attack and defense.) Further damage will temporarily lower maximum HP as well as current HP. If a character's HP ever falls to -(1/2 max HP), that character is dead. If HP is ever equal to -(max HP) or maximum HP reaches 0, that character is dead beyond possibility of magical resurrection. Reaction : Determines what percentage of a character's AP gauge is filled when a battle starts. BAV : Base Accuracy Value; Determines how accurate characters' attacks are. Based on class and level. DR : Defense Rating; Determines how well a character dodges or blocks blows. Modified by a character's Reflex rating and by how much armor they are wearing. AP : Maximum AP are determined by Speed score and level. All actions in combat cost AP, which regenerates at a constant rate. AP and Pentaverse's Real-Time Combat System : All characters have an AP gauge that is set to anywhere from 0% to 100% full when a battle begins, with the percentage being based on Reflexes. The gauge fills at a constant rate determined by that character's Speed as the battle unfolds. Most combat actions cost at least a few AP to perform. An incomplete list is as follows: 'Slow' movement ((Speed*3)/(20)) ft./sec. is free. 'Normal' movement (Speed/2) ft./sec. is 5 AP/sec. 'Fast' movement (Speed) ft./sec. costs an increasing amount as the character runs. The actual formula uses the character's Constitution, Speed, and AP recharge rate, so I won't try to type it here. Normal Attack: AP cost is based on level and class. Attack options include Trip, Stun, Disarm, and Attack Held Object Toggle Defensive Mode: Free. While defending, Defense Rating goes up and attack accuracy goes down. Absolute Defense/Defend Other: 5 AP/sec. Double the defensive ability, but the character can do nothing but move slowly while this ability is active. Excellent for keeping another character safe while they charge up their AP Gauge. Cast Spell: 15 AP. Takes two seconds to cast your average spell, during which time your spellcaster can be attacked or killed. Dismiss Active Spell: 10 AP. Destroys a lasting effect that you have created through magic, such as an energy barrier. Happens instantly. Change Equipment: Varies based on how large the item is and whether that item is at the ready or buried in your sack. Ex: Changing armor takes 60 AP and 2-7 minutes, while a quick change of magic belts would take only 10 AP and 4 seconds if the spare belt was not in a container. Class/Character Techniques: AP Varies Ultimate Technique: Uses all AP. When a character's AP gauge is fully charged, that character can completely empty their AP gauge to perform an Ultimate Technique unique to that character. Ultimate Techniques are all different and are balanced so that lower-level Ultimate Techniques will still be useful to high-level characters. Using a lower-level Ultimate Technique does not require filling your character's AP gauge completely, but that character's highest level Ultimate Tech will always require your AP gauge to be filled to use that Technique. Abilities/Techniques: Special Abilities have no limit to how many times they can be used, while Techniques have a set number of times that they can be used between any two given 8-hour sleep periods. Each technique's usage is tracked separately, so you may use up all Technique Points for one technique, but will still be able to use others. Most techniques and abilities cost AP to activate, but some abilities are a constant effect instead of a performable action. Ex. Ability: Pick Lock. Thief class ability. 15 AP. Attempts to pick a lock, with success rate being determined by thief level and intelligence. Unlimited usage. Ex. Technique: Hypercharge. Character ability. 2 TP per day. Charge a foe within 300 ft. with any polearm for only 6 AP. Does 150% of normal attack damage, plus 1 damage for every 5 feet charged. Main Characters in Game: Backgrounds and names are currently being thought up for all characters. Main Character: Fighter/Wizard/Healer Fighter Wizard Polearm Fighter Pyromancer Martial Artist Ranger Ambidextrous Fighter Pentagrammist (Can increase spell casting time to increase spell's power) Mage (Can increase MP and SP expended to increase spell's power) Healer Sniper (Uses rifle) Thief Psionicist Troll (Fighter) Reptillian Humanoid (Martial Artist/Ranger) Tas'narii (Don't ask) Shaman Summoner NPC Classes: Fighter, Wizard, Martial Artist, Ranger, Pentagrammist, Mage, Healer, Thief, Psionicist, Ninja, Shaman, Paladin, Dark Paladin, Druid, and Barbarian. NPCs can be freely recruited by your party to increase your party size even further. In addition, character classes can be mixed freely without lessening abilities that a character has already gained. Spell Mods: Although many spells are provided, a number of keywords can be attached to a spell being cast to create unusual or powerful effects. Some mods effect the spell being cast, while others effect how it is being cast, by increasing or decreasing spell cost or casting time. Some mods include Holy, Fire Elemental, Non-Elemental, Doublespell, and Spellmix. That's all… really! For now, anyway. I'm sorry to have taken up so many pages writing this. This is the first RPG project that I've started that seems as though it might actually be completed, so PLEASE send comments on my concepts and such if you have any opinion at all. This thread is being created with the intention of getting opinions, but I expect that some people will get angry at me for having created such a long and detailed post. Unfortunately for them, I don't really care and don't have anything to say to such people, so feel free to complain if that's your thing. On the other hand, if you really think that some of my ideas stink, please feel free to let me know so that I can look into changing them. Productively detrimental posts are welcome. P.S. I didn't want to try typing all of this again, so this was pasted straight into here from another forum. If there are any errors in this document resulting from that hasty transpositioning, please let me know. [edited by - DuranStrife on September 7, 2002 3:47:03 PM]

Well, you have the outline of a skill and magic system (but not concrete examples of how it will work) which seems to be fairly standard except for a few points (why use two sets of values for magic for example?).
What would be more interesting is how your game will work as a whole, what it will be about and what the player will ultimately do.
Try and put together a brief treatment of the game if you want opinions on that, if you want feedback on your attribute and combat system you should spend some time expanding and clarifying the individual sections, including dependencies (attributes, levels and such) and skill checks, and of course detailled examples for each value.