Now that I think about it, those seem to be all command skills besides Magic Realignment/Certificate of Tankability. Are there equipment that give passives (I'm not talking about element resist)?

I take it a one-time auto-revive accessory would be too powerful?

Yep, passives such as auto-regen, start the battle by auto-casting a buff on self, immunity to a status, increased critical hit chance, endure (survive with 1 HP once per battle), chance to counterattack when struck, drain (restore a percentage of HP based on the damage your attacks do), attacks gain a status property (chance to stun/inflict status effect/debuff), skills/spells do extra damage but cost more, etc.

I'd also be interested in an accessory that reduces your max HP/reduces your defenses for greatly improved damage proficiency. Basically, a "squishy mage" build though it doesn't necessarily have to lean towards magic. I'm quite fond of high-risk, high-reward. There could also be an accessory that halves the effectiveness of healing on the equipped character and compensates with... something.

As for command skills, a blood spell would be cool. Instead of MP, it would cost HP.

When characters level up, do you get to pick where their stat points go or do you have them predetermined?

Sword users get a base skill called Parry that makes them counter all phys. attacks for the turn, and works great along with the shield skill Clatter, which makes enemies more likely to attack you. So abilities playing off of each other are really fun for me.

Ah, I didn't mean a state that nullifies all physical attacks directed at a certain target and then smacks the opposition for daring to get physical with them.

I meant along the lines of retaliate/revenge, where you have to get smacked and take damage before you counter. Rather than a "I'm prepared for your attacks", it's a "you hit me but I managed to hit you back because you're vulnerable after attacking".

In the same vein, I remembered that an opponent whose physical attack misses--perhaps due to overextending--is also open to a counter. Don't know what it would be called though. Opportunity? I suppose it wouldn't be as good as counter since it's harder to make your opponent miss an attack--even with evasion buff/accuracy nerf--than to get targeted/hit by one. Less chance of triggering. A boss that specializes in blinding/evasion buff would certainly appreciate it though. You would have to cure that status or debuff him or risk missing and getting countered.

I like those passive ideas and I'll see what I can do with 'em. I'll have to post a chart and some info soon of different skill ideas and concepts I have implemented, and you'll have to let me know what you think!

You bet I will!

Here are some nasty status effects:

Cursed: A status that prevents the afflicted from healing HP/MP until they're cured.

Lost: A condition where the target has been removed from the battle, probably via being sucked into a portal and teleported somewhere else. The character is Lost until the current battle ends. This isn't as bad for SMT (where it originates) since you should have replacement demons in reserve to summon in case of situations like this. But in this game, you only have 4 party members. I still think it can work like Seth's Desert Wind (Digital Devil Saga) attack which blows away one character. On the following turn, the character will return.

Polymorphed: The target has been turned into some other species, usually a weak one that has low stats, no skills, and likely to have a elemental weakness that the caster can now capitalize on.

Karma: The afflicted will take a percentage of the damage they dealt unless they're cured. This is particularly dangerous for high-damage dealers, especially ones that attack multiple targets. You too will suffer the pain you've inflicted on others.

However, this can also be one of those statuses that have a beneficial effect you can take advantage of. Karma isn't necessarily bad after all. Rather it's 'what you do to others will also be done to you'. So if a character with Karma heals a teammate, they too will be healed. Likewise for buffs/cures. While a clever mechanic, it does have the issue of being very tricky to code dual-wise though...

Life Link: A variant of Karma. Two targets have been linked together, whether it be an ally and enemy, two allies, or two enemies. It's not likely to be that last one though. Characters that are Linked, are essentially two people with a rope tied around and connecting them to each other. If either one falls, the other will get taken down with them. What this means RPG mechanic-wise is that if one character takes damage the other will take damage as well. If one is statused/cured/healed/buffed/debuffed/or KO-ed, the other is as well.

A boss that has linked with one of your party members is a dangerous one. Everything you do to the boss will also be done to the linked. If somehow you manage to acquire a method of inflicting a Life Link, you can apply it on your enemies to kill them easier. Like Karma though, this is a nightmare to code.