Aaah ok. I assume there are items that you can carry with you inside dungeons to recharge the mana pool, though, right? I kinda hated how in FF1 you had to go all the way back to the Inn to restore your MP (or I think there were tents, but I'm not sure anymore)

IIRC I think FF3 for the NES also worked in a similar way, same for Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

aaah ok. Still should make the game balanced and not way too hard I think

Could you elaborate a bit further on this? I don't quite understand. Does this ability last the duration of a single battle until that battle ends? or is it truly permanent where I would  have to go grind my character again to regain lost stats?

It's permenant. Many of the game mechanics are based on D&D, where some creatures were truly fatal, and infirmities suffered by your characters were sometimes permenant alterations.

To be more specific, all undead enemies will (permenantly) drain a character's stamina when they successfully attack. This only occurs in effect with physical attacks performed by the creature. The enemy will have other abilities at its disposal. The loss is usually a couple of points, and stamina can't be decreased past a certain limit.

There is an item that curses a character with undeath, which makes them immune to status-drain. Consequently, it means they can't be affected by curative magic, either.

This really isn't a big deal, because even your own equipment will permenantly reduce statistics. For instance: If you equip something that neglects STR, then STR will eventually start to decrease on its own.

The only real consequence to having your stamina decreased is that your natural defense begins to fall, as well. (total defense is derived from both stamina and what you're wearing) What's probably more frightening is that undead creatures will rely on instant-death attacks a lot. The "Carrion Bird," for instance, not only has the ability to petrify your characters with its gaze, but death status is added directly to its physical attacks. They're fairly rare encounters, though.

I wanted to go a similar direction as Final Fantasy II. (NES) The problem there is that you have to beat your own characters to a pulp to see any significant growth; so the idea of increasing statistics as they are put into application doesn't work too well. Instead, that growth is tied directly to the items you equip. If you equip swords, your STR will gradually increase; if you equip staves, your WIS will gradually increase. It allows you to tailor a character to your desired needs merely by outfitting them with the items that are appropriate for the role you want them to play. For instance: If you want a spell-caster, then it seems obvious that equipping staves will benefit the character in that department. (since spell-casting archetypes generally use staves) On the other hand, statistics that are commonly neglected will be decreased. Equipping staves might mean your STR will decrease over time. You can keeo things balanced out by only equipping specific kinds of weapons when you really need them. If you need a little extra WIS, then equip a staff while you grind; then, go back to using a sword, or other weapon.

Every single item has its own set of stat-growth parameters. Much of the rare equipment found in the game will have special bonuses or penalties of its own. i.e., there are actually swords that might benefit WIS in addition to STR. The more powerful the item is, or the later it appears in the game, the more likely it is to grant larger bonuses.

Staves have fairly low attack power, but they substantially boost WIS. Ideally, any character who equips staves would be focused on spell-casting during battle. (and likely neglect to physically attack very often) There are a couple of staves with attack power comparable to that of swords, because they're more combat-oriented. Generally, you may only want to equip a staff for the substantial WIS boost you would get from it. It would greatly empower all your spells to be holding the weapon.

Bows are probably going to be the most neglected weapons. They mostly serve to boost AGI, and some of them have secondary WIS bonuses. (since I assume mages might opt to use bows every now and then) AGI is otherwise a bit difficult to raise, so bows can make that process a lot easier. Bows and axes also both have special damage bonuses versus certain enemy racial types. Bows have added effectivity against any creature that's airborn, and axes are effective against creatures with tentacles. I tried to make sure there was some incentive to use everything available.

As for axes, they have ridiculous attack power, but their accuracy is much lower than other weapons. (and they're two-handed) In fact, the highest attack power in the game comes from one of the axes. Swords are more balanced, but have nowhere near as much attack power. They're generally just a lot easier to hit with, and there is a wider variety of effects tied to them.

There's no row or rank order of any kind. You can't even change the default order that party members appear in. Enemies target party members entirely at random. It should be noted that you can only encounter as many as two enemies at one time, though. Considering it's a three-against-two setup, there isn't much need for ranks. Given the system is fairly dynamic with character growth, it's doubtful that any of your characters will be too weak to sustain damage often. In fact, equipping armor of any kind is going to result in HP and STA growth. Unless you run around naked, (which is actually an option) you should be fine.

Characters can opt not to equip any items. They'll have a natural defense and damage bonus, and bare-handed damage has the advantage of being independent of weapon proficiency defenses held by enemies. i.e., there are actually enemies that will resist damage from every weapon in the game. Attacking them bare-handed will bypass their defenses and enable you to dish out some damage.

This sounds really awesome!  Great job!

Is the battle system turn based, or does it depend on speed?