The Combo Magic idea is great. If anyone has ever read the Wheel of Time series they should be nodding their heads in approval at such a suggestion. The only problem lies with the issue of game balancing. Such a powerful mage specific skill would cause resent and eventually lack of use (can anyone say druids in Diablo 2?). So there must be some sort of way for warriors to aid their party, (as this skill would seemingly be best added to a party system instead of having to all \'cast at the same time\' or whatever).
The simple solution is to give warriors various \'war crys\' to choose from, which give bonuses such as: fortify strength; fortify endurance; fortify luck; fortify armor; maybe even fortify inelligence; etc. etc.. These war crys could be stackable on characters (meaning that more than one bonus can apply at a time). Imagine two warriors use the same war cry on each other - if the mage spells are increased per person it would only be fair (and logical) that now the warriors have twice the bonues.
As for rogue type characters - I\'m not sure what party bonues they should get. From a RP standpoint most rogues are loners (I understand not all, but since there is no bard class in this game I\'m guessing these are true rogues). So they might not give bonuses to their party in combat. Their strength would lie in the cities. If they are within a certain range of a party member and a NPC, they should be able to (from a RP perspective since rogues are sly) aid their party member buy or sell goods at better rates (a negotiation bonus).
Again the best way to implement these \'combo skills/magics\' would probably be an extra option added to the characters skills when the join a party. The combo magic would need consent from the other party members obviously; war crys since they only take effort from the warrior using them would not. Since the rogue\'s negotiation bonus is activated when a party member and the NPC they are trading with are within a certain distance to the rogue it only takes the rogue\'s permission via a skill that would slowly drain the thiefs mana until the party member who is buying goods stops, or the thief leaves activation range.
The above balanceing techniques would give players a good reason to form diverse parties and work together, without leaving the warriors and rogues out on the street.
