I have been working a lot lately on trying to take the default RPG Maker battle system and make the skill use more interesting. My favorite thing I have come up with is a system that relies heavily on follow up skills.
As an example, I can set up a fighter type character with his own basic skill that replaces the default Attack, and when used, will allow him to select from possible follow-up skills he has learned.
Slash: Basic Attack, Allows Follow-Up Skills
-> Jagged Slash: Causes Bleeding (Only after Slash)
-> Stunning Blow: Stuns Target (Only after Slash)
-> Parry: Increases Defense, Allows Riposte Skill (Only after Slash)
-> Riposte: Ignores Defense (Only after Parry)
With this idea, on the player’s first turn, they only have access to their two basic skills. After using the Slash Skill, on their second turn the follow-up skills will be available to use. These skills will be available for only that turn, so are wasted if either of the basic skills are used.
To set this up, the character is set up with only the Basic Skills learned.
The follow up skills are enabled when appropriate by adding states to the player which will in turn add the skill to their action list. These states are set up with Action End after 1 turn so that they can only be used on the turn immediately following the turn that activated them. I forgot it in the below screenshot, but “Remove at Battle End” should also be set, to prevent ending one battle on a Slash Skill and being able to start the next battle with one of the follow-up skills.
When the Slash skill is used, these follow-up skill states can be added by a Common Event.
But now, I don’t want the player to have access to all of the follow up skills at the start of the game. I like the chance to develop the character as the game progresses, so I want the player to only have the Jagged Slash follow up at the start of the game, but be able to learn Stunning Blow and Parry later.
Planning for this is why I created a separate state for each follow-up skill originally, instead of having one state add all three skills.
To handle this, I can create a switch for each follow up skill that will be learned later in the game. When each skill is “learned”, the switch gets enabled. Then the Common Event when the Slash Skill is used can check those switches to see which states should be added based on which skills have been learned.
Everything here can be done with only the default MV Battle System and no Plugins installed. When using this, I do recommend either a plugin that lets you change each characters “Attack” skill to replace it with their Base skill that enables follow ups or else one that removes the “Attack” command completely. I prefer the second option, so I can give characters multiple base skills each with their own follow-up chains.
The one problem this system has is that the follow up skills are only available during battle when the state is on the player, so the follow up skills cannot be viewed in the Skills menu outside of combat.
If you use a Plugin that will hide un-usable skills during battle, then you can create a second copy of the follow-up skills that that can be learned so it shows up in the Skills menu for viewing, but not during battle. I personally like using the Plugin BOB_BattleCommandList which does allow me to use this option.
In my opinion, combining this system with a Skill Cooldown Plugin so certain skills like the Stun Follow-Up can’t be spammed every other turn results in a more interesting turn-based combat system that encourages using a variety of skills.
Zyph's Game Design 