I love writing game docs, and design ideas. While I realise that i will never be able to create or use every single idea I come up with, at least I can share them with everyone. Promoting the free trade of ideas and encouragement of innovation.
Re-writing the ideas of Accuracy and Agility;
While I think that Accuracy and Agility are great, they can be so much then simply hit/miss then they are now. The higher the accuracy the greater chance of increased damage, the higher the agility the greater chance of reducing the damage. The reason I would suggest something like this is because across different games there is usually a separate stat or ability that increases the chance of a crit per attack. While there is usually nothing to reduce the incoming damage (armour aside) that does not involve dodging the attack and nullifying all damage that would be dealt.
Example of Agility and Accuracy in Action
Agility +20 over Accuracy = 0 Damage
Agility +10 over Accuracy = 50% Damage
Agility +5 over Accuracy = 75% Damage
Agility = Accuracy = 100% Damage
Accuracy +5 over Agility = 125% Damage
Accuracy +10 over Agility = 150% Damage
Accuracy +20 over Agility = 2x Damage
This is just the basic concept of how it could work, in practice the numbers would have to be refined.
Having the ability to crit and dodge with every character that does not require additional abilities is a huge game changer. This also makes Accuracy and Agility viable stats, so players can no longer easily dump points into a few stats and sweep the game.
To make it less predictable (no guaranteed crit every attack) there should be a slight variation applied to it. With every consecutive crit and dodge, the chances of performing another would be diminished. So while someone would definitely have an advantage it would never truly be a 1 sided fight.
Struggling is the greatest Experience
In Pokemon it is possible to create a pocket monster with a perfect and maxed out stat that can only be acquired by both randomly encountering something with a high stat to begin with, and then having it fight opponents that have an advantage over it. Its a wonderful mechanic that is often overlooked, as so many people are more interested in the rock-paper-scissor aspect to fully utilize this method of perfecting their pokemon. But the idea remains, fighting something your naturally weak against will make you stronger.
But we are not pokemon and we have multiple stats that need to be perfected. We will see what are lacking in and that's what we will try to overcome the most. By creating conditions that can be met during each battle and then averaging how many battles were fought to gain a level while those conditions were being met, we will create a unique character with different stats for every play through.
Of course the player may learn what the conditions are and attempt to meet them with every battle, giving them a harder experience then just winning. It also creates a kind of competition between characters you would be using, as not everyone would be able to receive every stat bonus with every level earned.
As an example we will use several stats that are commonly seen across games in one for or another, as well as a few that I like to implement.
HP - How much health you have
MP - How much mana you have
Strength - How much damage your normal attacks deal
Intelligence - How much damage your items deal
Wisdom - How much you can heal with an item and magic
Mgk Attack - How much magic damage you deal
Mgk Defense - How much magic damage is reduced when dealt to you
Speed - Who attacks first
Accuracy - How often you hit / how sever the hit is
Agility - How often you dodge / dodge success rate
Lets say that for simplicity's sake a character would gain +1 to each of these stats when leveling up. If a condition is met they gain an additional +1 to that stat. Now to make it more interesting on the player we need to set up some interesting parameters for the player to gain the bonuses they so desperately crave.
Some examples of these could be;
If a character has 30% or less health for 75% of their fights, they gain +1 to HP
If a character has 30% or less mana for 75% of their fights, they gain +1 to MP
If a character kills over 40% of the enemies they encounter with a regular attack they gain +1 Strength
If a character kills over 40% of the enemies they encounter with an item they gain +1 Intelligence
If they recover 250% worth of their HP they gain +1 Wisdom
If a character kills over 40% of the enemies they encounter with a magic attack they gain +1 Mgk Attack
If they suffer 150% worth of their HP from magic they gain +1 Mgk Defense
If an enemy attacks them before they can attack 30% of the time they gain +1 Speed
If you miss 10% or more of your attacks you gain +1 Accuracy
If you are hit more then 90% of the time you gain +1 Agility
As you can see some of these can be controlled by the player, while others are entirely based on the enemy AI and how they act. Similarly some of these go together while attempting to gain all of them at the same time would be suicidal. If a player has the ability to put additional points into their characters stats, this can be used to help balance a character, ensuring some neglected stats would not drop below a point were they could be considered useless.
Short Term Gain vs Long Term Planning
So, once again id like to call on pokemon generation I for a great example of the beginnings of great AI but with limited capabilities. So most pokemon have a simple idea of fighting, attack the opponent with whatever attack you have that has an advantage over the opponent. This is great for simple short battles, but not so great for longer drawn out fights. That's why I'm fighting Brock with a lvl 8 Pidgey and a lvl 12 Charmander, and I know I'm going to win every time (potions used will vary). Lowering their accuracy and then attacking their low Spc. Defense with an attack that can generate guaranteed dmg per turn, I set up a long term victory plan.
The question becomes, why should every battle be based on the idea that the enemy is just going to hit you as hard as they can in the hopes you collapse before they do. I'm not saying this is bad for short simple encounters, but you most likely don't want every encounter to be over in 3 attacks. Long battles or dungeons, the lesser enemies can afflict you with status ailments, setting you up for the fall from the final encounter. It makes more sense, it actually gives a purpose to all the items you find, actually using them and learning from them instead of bartering them for a quick buck.
One problem with this, is it may feel cheap. People being cheated out of their victories by enemies using underhand tactics. Tactics they would want to use themselves to make them feel smart and tactical. You'll need to give your player other abilities and tactics to stay one step ahead and give them the empowerment they seek.
I hope some of these ideas are helpful and that maybe they inspire you, I appreciate all feedback.
