Chrono sequel - Let's cross the dimensions for a sec

[Dark Serge]

*Holds up Astral Amulet*

Let's cross the dimensions for a second.

Let's say there's a parallel world out there where Square Enix loves their Chrono fans and made a new Chrono game.

How would you like it to be?

Main questions:
- New location? If yes, what kind of setting would it have to be?
- New cast of characters?  If yes, what kind of characters would you like to see?
- New Lavos creature or a new version of Lavos? Or an entirely new enemy? Who should be the antagonist in this game?
- Time travel and / or dimension crossing? Yes or no? Or something completely new? If yes, what?
- New gameplay or not? New battle system? New magic? Also let's hear any good gameplay ideas you have.
- Who would have to draw the characters? Do you want Mr. Toriyama back, or Nobuteru? Or someone else?
- Name the characters who would definitely, no matter what, have to make a cameo appearance. Can be anything, from playable characters to NPC's to Nu's.
- Which time period has to be in it no matter what?


I'd like you all to answer these questions seriously. Also, if you know any other good questions, tell me and I'll add them to the main post.

Here's my own quick list of answers, I'll go into detail later when discussion gets heated up.

- New location? If yes, what kind of setting would it have to be?
Yes, a new location. I'd like to think that the planet is bigger then the Zenan mainland and El Nido. But, it would also be good to visit old locations again. But definitely a new location on top of it. As for the setting: Winter. The only snow we ever see is in 12,000 BC and Death Peak, and snow towns would be pretty awesome imo.
- New cast of characters?  If yes, what kind of characters would you like to see?
Yeah, a new cast. Just like Cross did. Not so many playable characters though. While there are new characters I would like them to resemble the previous characters. Like a possible love interest between two main characters for example. (Chrono-Marle, Serge-Kid, you know).
- New Lavos creature or a new version of Lavos? Or an entirely new enemy? Who should be the antagonist in this game?
New antagonist. We've seen Lavos by now. I'm really not sure what kind of antagonist it would have to be though. Need to think more about this.
- Time travel and / or dimension crossing? Yes or no? Or something completely new? If yes, what?
I say time travel still in there, but no dimension crossing. Also something new would be good, but I'm not quite sure what.
- New gameplay or not? New battle system? New magic? Also let's hear any good gameplay ideas you have.
I'd like the traditional Trigger battles, no elements stuff, but I wouldn't mind off-screen battles.
- Who would have to draw the characters? Do you want Mr. Toriyama back, or Nobuteru? Or someone else?
Much as I love Toriyama, Nobuteru's portrayal of Serge and Kid has attracted me even more. I say Nobuteru.
- Name the characters who would definitely, no matter what, have to make a cameo appearance. Can be anything, from playable characters to NPC's to Nu's.
Belthasar, Toma, Nu's obviously, Johnny, Gaspar, Melchior maybe, Chrono Marle & Lucca (big maybe though)
- Which time period has to be in it no matter what?
1999 AD, 2400 AD

Now let's hear your answers.

The point of this topic? Well, I'm trying to get the spirits up. While it's unlikely Square Enix will ever make a new Chrono game, we can still dream about how it would be like if they did. This is also a good topic for potential fan projects out there, now you can get to know what the fans want.

[Katie Skyye]

I'll bite.

^{- New location? If yes, what kind of setting would it have to be?}

Yeah, somewhere more technologically-advanced than the Zenan of CT, but less so than, say, Chronopolis. Someplace with actual roads...

^{- New cast of characters?  If yes, what kind of characters would you like to see?}

I'd have to say at least one new character. A betrayer--someone who starts out as an ally and ends up being a bad guy, OR, someone who starts out as an ally, turns out to be working for

^{- New Lavos creature or a new version of Lavos? Or an entirely new enemy? Who should be the antagonist in this game?}

New baddie! Definitely! And since this is a sequel, let's have Dalton as one of them!

^{- Time travel and / or dimension crossing? Yes or no? Or something completely new? If yes, what?}

TIME TRAVEL. This is a Trigger sequel, not a Cross sequel. However, I think there should be time periods within eras--like, a week or a month--that you can travel to the start of and play through (like Majora's Mask, sort of)

^{- New gameplay or not? New battle system? New magic? Also let's hear any good gameplay ideas you have.}

Hm...I'd really love a slash-n-bash like Kingdom Hearts! Turn-based annoys me, and so do wait times!

^{- Who would have to draw the characters? Do you want Mr. Toriyama back, or Nobuteru? Or someone else?}

Yasuyuki Honne. He did stuff for the Chrono series and also for one of my other favorite games, Baten Kaitos.

^{- Name the characters who would definitely, no matter what, have to make a cameo appearance. Can be anything, from playable characters to NPC's to Nu's.}

Nus, of course. Gaspar, Melchior, Belthasar. NORSTEIN BEKKLER! And those frogs from 2300 AD.

^{- Which time period has to be in it no matter what?}

The Middle Ages. No matter what.

I'd also love for 12000 BC to be in there, but, meh...

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

We could've had this with Crimson Echoes... But...

[Belaith]

We could've had this with Crimson Echoes... But...

Bah, just don't post if ye have nothing relevant to say, Boo.

In all seriousness... dumb thread. Any questions?

[IAmSerge]

Main questions:
- New location? If yes, what kind of setting would it have to be?

IMO it would occur in a combination of old places, including the Zenan Mainland.   But due to the war with Porre the Guardia and Porre sides of the continent have both changed drastically... My intention is to have part of it occur in 1020 post CC, another part of it in the year 1999/2000, non-apocalypto.

- New cast of characters?  If yes, what kind of characters would you like to see?

Yes, new (small) cast of characters, from 4 to 7 people, please.  Or have some old characters, but not all of em.

- New Lavos creature or a new version of Lavos? Or an entirely new enemy? Who should be the antagonist in this game?

The Dark Executioner would be the first antagonist. Half-way to 2/3 of the way through, he would reveal that he was sent from the future Chronopolis.  As the future chronopolis itself was being DBT'd due to the destruction of fate, which would eventually end up turning chronopolis into a paradoxical existant to nonexistant loop through time, FATE sent him through time with a mission to stop this through any means necessary.  Eventually the party either kills him or does something to stop him from killing them, because they are a group of people from El Nido looking to travel, help, or do something positive to the outside world, now that FATE can't stop em.

- Time travel and / or dimension crossing? Yes or no? Or something completely new? If yes, what?

Yes.  Between disfigured 1020 mainland and nonapocolyptic 1999.

- New gameplay or not? New battle system? New magic? Also let's hear any good gameplay ideas you have.

pssh, let the battle dept handle this.  Im just the story guy.

- Who would have to draw the characters? Do you want Mr. Toriyama back, or Nobuteru? Or someone else?

Kato comes back.  And Mitsuda.  I don't give a s*** bout the rest of em =D.

- Name the characters who would definitely, no matter what, have to make a cameo appearance. Can be anything, from playable characters to NPC's to Nu's.

Chrono, Marle, Lucca, Serge, Belthasar, etc (Robo, Magus, Lynx and Harle maybe?).
Magus and Schala would most def make a storyline appearance.  100%.  No other options on this.

- Which time period has to be in it no matter what?

I think i've been through this one.

[Mr Bekkler]

We could've had this with Crimson Echoes... But...

Bah, just don't post if ye have nothing relevant to say, Boo.

In all seriousness... dumb thread. Any questions?

Pish posh. Listen to your own advice! I think this thread is a great idea, somebody had to do it! 

I'll bite.

^{- Name the characters who would definitely, no matter what, have to make a cameo appearance. Can be anything, from playable characters to NPC's to Nu's.}

Nus, of course. Gaspar, Melchior, Belthasar. NORSTEIN BEKKLER! And those frogs from 2300 AD.

Awesome.

Now, my answers, I guess.

- New location? If yes, what kind of setting would it have to be?

Yeah, a different time periods would be great. Gaspar mentions "travelers" like he's seen more than Crono&co. So why would they ever have to meet? Two separate groups saving the world simultaneously from two separate evils is quite doable, and if they ever did meet, it would be big news for the player.

- New cast of characters?  If yes, what kind of characters would you like to see?

A couple favorites from CT and Cross, and maybe some kind of dimension ripper that pulls people from the RD timeline to help, so Schala Kid meets Kid Schala, and Magil meets Magus meets Guile  Not necessarily playable, but definitely a lot of throwbacks. Playable Toma and/or Johnny.

- New Lavos creature or a new version of Lavos? Or an entirely new enemy? Who should be the antagonist in this game?

New creature. We beat that porcupine horse to death. But maybe it's just people in the end, who have destroyed the world worse than Lavos ever could. Eh? Vague, I know, but I'm trying not to conflict with my fan project.


- Time travel and / or dimension crossing? Yes or no? Or something completely new? If yes, what?

Time travel. Unless there's more than two dimensions. Or several planets and warps to each one. Cover the other half of the time/space idea.

- New gameplay or not? New battle system? New magic? Also let's hear any good gameplay ideas you have.

New system. Keep it on the same screen like in CT, and keep combo techs available, but add rhythmic button prompts for higher accuracy/damage/skill points. The music has always been important. Why not emphasize that with the gameplay?

- Who would have to draw the characters? Do you want Mr. Toriyama back, or Nobuteru? Or someone else?

I'd like to see Alex Ross do it. Personally, I'm not an anime fan. Just a Chrono fan.

- Name the characters who would definitely, no matter what, have to make a cameo appearance. Can be anything, from playable characters to NPC's to Nu's.

Dalton, Serge, Gurus, Spekkio, Norstein Bekkler, Toma, Harle, Kid, playable Schala (complete with magic and blue hair)

- Which time period has to be in it no matter what?

Saved 1999, zeal before the fall, both way more explorable.

[IAmSerge]

I like how you introduced it with the astral amulet and dimension crossing...

GIMME BACK MAH AMMAHLET!

[Mr Bekkler]

I sense a comedy-fueled bitter rivalry brewing...


I'll get the fruit punch!

[utunnels]

 Lavos was a bio-weapon built by Skynet(Mother Brain's early form) and was sent back in time to kill John Connor's ancestors.
That is the truth.

[IAmSerge]

Lavos was a bio-weapon built by Skynet(Mother Brain's early form) and was sent back in time to kill John Connor's ancestors.
That is the truth.

This post was not inspired by T4S in anyway.

[Enigma Outlaw]

In all seriousness... dumb thread. Any questions?

Heh.....so says the guy saying not to post if you don't have anything relevant to say.... 

Nice idea Serge. While I'm still holding out hope that CE will somehow see the light of day in a playable form at this point in time it's time to put that whole mess behind us. My ideal game would be a sequel set about 5-10 years after CC that would finally patch up a few unanswered questions (some of which have been on our minds for almost 15 years mind you ^_~)

Be warned.....my brain is full of ideas and lots of detailed infomation so this is going to be LOOOOONNNNGGGG

-New location? If yes, what kind of setting would it have to be?
While it's still unclear where El Nido is in relation to the world map of CC (My money is on the middle of the ocean between Porre and Choras) I do have to go ahead and say the world is pretty well established at this point. What can be done however is expand the known locations to make the world feel bigger. Let's face it: game mechanics may be the reason we see only four main towns from 600 AD to 1000 AD (bear in mind CT did have six main world maps) but there would be no way in hell the game world is really that small.

-New cast of characters?  If yes, what kind of characters would you like to see?
I'd say a nice balanced mix of CT/CC characters and new party members. If they keep the max roster down to 12 I'd say eight returning characters from the first two games and four new faces. For a gameplay idea I'll also say like in Cross certain choices will keep certain characters from joining the first go around with the inital new game resulting in only 6-7 characters. The following NG+ would unlock the other story/characters. Also if they go with the four element system from Trigger I'll say one person per group of four will cover that element. My proposed list of returning playable party members would include:
Returning from Chrono Trigger:
   Schala: Not counting Kid she would be playable for the first time ever in the series. The battle with TD/Lavos in 1020 AD freed her into the world and in those five years she has aged to her proper age (early to mid 20's). Schala's main goal would be trying to find her brother. I'll say her element is Shadow for one big reason. While it would be natural to think of her of being her brother's opposite the fact that her sadness and deep down desire to see everything destroyed doesn't seem like something someone with an affinity to Light would do and feel. Like Magus/Janus she'd be able to cast a little bit of everything but her skills would lean more towards a support magic role (perhaps spells to mimic the effects of the elemental plates/vests from Trigger). Her theme music will remain unchanged from Trigger.
   Marle: Revealed to have survived the Fall of Guardia but is currently "captive" in a way. She's still in power but being used as a puppet by Porre to do their bidding in Guardia. It's also revealed that during the fall she got seperated from Crono and was lead to believe he was their prisoner. The puppet part comes into play with threats against Truce, Crono and her life if she disobeys. Obviously she'll cover Water for the CT group. As for her theme I'd propose changing it. Instead of the shortened version of To My Dear Friends I'd say it would fit more to use To Far Away Times as her theme for two reasons. When I first heard it during CT I just got the sense that the future now held hope. This in turn could translate to the hope that Guardia will rise again. The second reason being the small part of Crono's theme near the end. This in turn can signify the fact that they are married at the end of CT.
   Crono: Also revealed to have survived the Fall. First and formost in borrowing a concept from Golden Sun 2 he will no longer be silent as he is not the main character this time. The new characters will initally meet him as a man claiming to be the former Knight Captain of Guardia. As Marle is the royal heir I feel it would make more sense for him to be in that role as opposed to the main ruler. Over time the new characters will learn who he really is. Given the current in game situation will be unable to show himself and will have no choice but to bide his time until the start of this game. His element would obviously be Light and his theme would of course be Chrono Trigger.
   Lucca: In a twist how about she starts the game dead as a result of what Lynx did in Chrono Cross? Lucca will be a hidden character and getting her will be somewhat like reviving Crono on Death Peak in the original game. In order to trigger the quest both Kid and Crono must be in the party since I feel they would be the two most likely to want to do this. Kid's reason would be to avoid seeing her die and Crono's reason would be to return the favor for saving him from Lavos. This sidequest results in a very tough boss fight against Lynx and Harle (in a cameo with a very nice remix of Brink of Death as the battle music). Losing the fight will not result in a game over but the party will sit helpless and watch Lynx murder her as the effects of the Chrono Trigger wear off sending them back to the present. If you win the fight Kid will try to kill Lynx but be stopped by Crono who will stress that his death will cause a bad time paradox. However since Lucca was obviously already dead then bringing her to the future will allow things to move along with disrupting the timeline. Lucca will at first be very confused upon arriving in the future since she'll now be much younger than both Crono and Kid. However upon learning the situation and of her original death she'll gladly join up with the party. Once again obvious element and theme music.
Returning from Chrono Cross:
   Kid: Kid's story could be a very intresting one in a new game. With the knowledge that she's a clone of Schala her primary goal could be the exact same thing. Despite not having Schala's memories she could want to be searching for Magus to learn more about the past of the person she was cloned from. Unknown to her however the real Schala is also in the world and doing the very same. Her other goal would be to find a way to travel back in time to save Lucca (see above). In addition I think it'll look cooler if this time around she duel wields daggers instead of using only one. Kid would cover Fire for the CC team. Her theme music would be Star Stealing Girl.
   Serge: Ok got to be honest here. I don't know of any halfway decent way to put Serge in this game. All things consided I feel that unlike Crono his part in the series as a whole was done at the end of Cross. However I feel he has to be in it somehow to represent Light so that we don't get some half assed CC character we don't give two shits about being the rep for CC. The best I can come up with is that obviously being friends following CC that Serge would be traveling with Kid since she would need a ship of some kind to get to Zenan. This in turn could lead him into talking another character into helping which you'll see below in a moment. Like Crono since he is no longer the main hero he too would have lines in this game. Serge's theme would be Scars of Time (with the slow opening part cut out ^_~).
   Fargo: Once again the only halfway decent reason I can come up with is Kid needs to travel to Zenan, ect and Serge is the one to ask. Fargo covers Water for CC. As for theme music the best I can do is the music that plays when your on his ship.
   Guile: Guile returns to finally show who he really is......the Magus/Janus from the new ending in CTDS of course! Upon learning who he really is he tries to search for both Kid and Schala. Also the brooding personality will be about 80% gone. He'd still have his moments but would be a better person overall since he knows both Kid and Schala are alive and Lavos is gone. Guile/Magus/Janus covers Shadow for the CC characters and upon regaining his memory would have his original theme music from Cross.

-New Lavos creature or a new version of Lavos? Or an entirely new enemy? Who should be the antagonist in this game?
Lavos is a case of been there/done that since with the release of CTDS he's been fought three times now (his original form, DD and TD). At this point even if he could be brought back in a believeable way it would be an eye rolling Jump the Shark moment for me. You need a new main villain but the whole mess with Dalton and Porre needs to be resolved. This could also possibly lead to someone like Norris from Cross being a boss character and lead to intresting moments between Crono and Serge if he was involved with the battle that toppled Guardia.

-Time travel and/or dimension crossing? Yes or no? Or something completely new? If yes, what?
Being a Chrono game time travel in some form is a must even if it's only limited to two or three eras. Crossing the dimensions shouldn't be done since everything was suppose to have merged into one ideal timeline at the end of Cross.

-New gameplay or not? New battle system? New magic? Also let's hear any good gameplay ideas you have.
First and foremost the battle system needs to go back to Trigger or something close to it. I felt many battles in Cross copped out by letting you run away to start from scratch. Sure you couldn't leave the room when you did this but you could heal up to full, change equipment, ect. I could never see Lynx or anyone else for that matter get the upper hand and then turn around and say "Yeah that's enough for now. I'll back off so you can have a sporting chance in this!" Same with the elements. To make things a little more simple it should go back to Trigger's four element system. Magic and tech wise anyone returning needs new attacks mixed in with the old. Also to be more in line with Final Fantasy I think perhaps going to their spell naming system wouldn't be bad because IMO Cure, Cura, Curaga, ect. sounds better than Cure, Cure 2, Double Cure. And while I wouldn't mind Flare being renamed Firaga certain iconic spells such as Luminaire should be off limits and keep their names.
As for Techs some of these aren't quite new and are only replacing one of the characters needed. Others would be totally new:
Returning Techs with new characters:
   X-Strike and Triple Attack (Crono, Serge. new main hero)
Same as in the first two games. As for the triple tech version instead of a Robo Tackle added onto X-Stike it'll be the third character coming up the middle and slashing as well.
   Sword Stream (Crono and Schala)
While I said Schala would be more defensive in nature for her spells I would imagine she'd have one or two offensive spells. As a result in further being the opposite of her brother she'd have Water 2 instead of Ice 2. This in turn would let her replace Frog for this tech.
   Ice Water and Glacial Freeze (Marle and Schala)
See above ^_~
   Twin Charm (Marle and Kid)
In the new version of this tech Marle would distract the target while Kid helps herself to whatever they may be carrying.
   Double Bomb (Lucca and Kid)
Kid takes Robo's place for this one as both Lucca and Kid toss a Magaton Bomb at the same time.
   Delta Force (Crono/Serge, Marle/Magus, Lucca/Kid)
The original team of Crono, Marle and Lucca would still be able to cast this spell but you'd also have the option of using one of the other listed characters in the event someone wasn't avalible (such as Lucca's still DEAD! lol)
   Delta Storm (Crono/Serge, Lucca/Kid, Schala/Fargo)
See above only in this case a water user replaces Frog.

Just so I'm not at this all day let me just say this. In the new game all Doubles and Triples should be expanded so that as long as the party members knew the right spells then it would be possible to cast. Hell with that as an option you could do Antipode Bomb with Kid and Magus if you want instead of Marle and Lucca. Just think of any combo from Trigger and let the imagination run wild! ^_~

Possible new Techs
   Elemental Barrier (Schala)
A variant of the Barrier spell Magus uses. Unlike his spell which boosts magic defense her version would be for one element and have the same effect of Elemental Plate/Vests from CT. However in all fairness they cannot be stacked and casting a new version would cancel out the last one cast (unless that person is wearing an Elemental Plate of course. Then you could have up to two ^_~)
   Eternal Darkness (Schala and Magus)
Originally a Triple in CT with Marle and Lucca as the other members. Perhaps it can now be a Double Tech cast by the Zeal siblings. Plus if the game had voice acting I think it'd be awesome to hear them both say some very wicked/dark sounding lines as the cast the spell:
Magus-The Black Wind howls.....
Schala-The end of all is nigh.....
Both-Eternal Darkness!
   Lightning Sword 1&2 (Crono and Magus/Serge)
A new Light based version of Ice/Fire Sword.
   Holy Light (Crono and Serge)
One person casting Luminaire is bad enough if your on the wrong end of it.....just imagine the sheer power of two people duel casting it! This would be a Light based version of Eternal Darkness.
   Mighty Guard (Lucca, Magus, Schala)
A combination of Protect, Barrier and one Elemental Barrier on the whole party. All damage is reduced by 1/3 regardless of type and one element is absorbed. Hell as I think about it the only weakness a party of these three may have is if Schala was lacking some form of Cure!

Once again I could be here all night just thinking of new Techs so by all means jump in with ideas guys! Also as one more gameplay feature that borrows from Golden Sun 2 how about the main battle music changes based on who the party leader is? For example if Marle or Crono is leading it'll be CT's battle theme. If it's Serge or Kid it'll be the music from CC. Finally a new character would be whatever the new battle music is.


-Who would have to draw the characters? Do you want Mr. Toriyama back, or Nobuteru? Or someone else?
Given the nature of this game having characters from the first two games as well as new ones here's my idea. Have Toriyama do new updated designs of the original CT characters since most of them would have aged 10-30 years depending on what happened to them. Do the same with Nobuteru and his Cross characters. Perhaps since they will not have aged much perhaps something as simple as new outfits/hairstyles. Sole exception may be Kid. Perhaps make her look closer to being a blond haired "twin" of Schala and more in line with Toriyama's art style. For the new characters bring in a new guy but before all is said and done have him adapt the Toriyama and Nobuteru designs into his own art style so that is doesn't feel like they are clashing. While that may sound like it would be hard to do bear in mind Nobuteru's art for Belthasar in Cross was very close to the original Toriyama art from Trigger.

-Name the characters who would definitely, no matter what, have to make a cameo appearance. Can be anything, from playable characters to NPC's to Nu's.
Without a doubt Dalton. He wouldn't be the main villain but he'll play a big part since I'm sure Crono, Marle and Lucca have a bone to pick with him. Plus I could forsee Magus and Schala also wanting to see him go down. The three Gurus also need to appear. Finally it wouldn't be bad to see Doan in a nice suit and looking a little younger due to living a better life in a new future. Speaking of which......

-Which time period has to be in it no matter what?
1025-30 AD would be the present for this game. However as the main timelines I'd say that, 2330 AD in the new future and perhaps 11970 BC. We do need to see a bit of the recovery of the world following the Ocean Palace incident.


I think this'll cover everything I have in mind at this moment. As I see other people post I may pop back in with new ideas inspired by whatever you guys may think of ^_~

[IAmSerge]

what about crossing dimensions through different method with different purpose?

I mean, ToS managed to change the whole scheme of different dimensions in relation to how CC did it.  In ToS, they were 2 separate, different worlds that were merged and they had alot of interaction, especially in terms of Cruxis.

[V_Translanka]

This thread has been done before...Done in separate threads for most questions even...I won't say it's stupid, but mostly because it's already been said, but I will say this: Kato & Mitsuda...throw back in Toriyama to get back some of the original world & characters' flair though too. Everything else I leave in their capable hands.

...or, y'know, someone could just make a fangame sometime (someplace else, of course)...

[Enigma Outlaw]

Ok I came up with stuff to add about a battle system. However I'm doing this as a new post since this too is pretty detailed.

How about taking the best of both systems and combining them? The main engine and tech system would run on good old fashioned ATB and have MP instead of those one time use elements. However like in Cross each character has a stamina bar. ATB and stamina combined would give a new element and feel to the battles. A battle menu may look like this mock up:

Fight   Name-HP/MP Stam ATB/Status
Combo   Crono-246/32 100% Ready
Guard   Marle-199/51 068% ---
Items   Serge-227/19 -13% Fatigued   

Instead of seven points it would be a pure 100% bar. Spells and attacks would drain various amounts of stamina. Whenever you do a physical attack all ATB bars will stop for the time being so you can issue attack commands to the active character. In keeping the tie with Cross you'd have three attack powers on your physicals. A quick attack that does low damage and is hard to dodge/block, the standard attack and a chance to go for a critical hit (with a high miss rate). However in a new twist if the critical hit misses or is blocked (or any of your attacks for that matter) your character cannot attack for the rest of their turn and may suffer a counter attack. This would work both ways and if an enemy misses their attack you can counter them and get a free round without waiting for the ATB gauge to fill all the way. As a result if both characters keep blocking and dodging this would kinda result in a small cinamatic battle of sorts (think of a sword fight or duel from LotR or Star Wars but on a much smaller scale). This little mini battle would go on until someone's stam hits the negative or they wait too long between attacks. Characters with ranged attacks cannot be counted if they are out of range. However a block or missed attack will instantly end their attack round. On the flip side if an enemy closes into melee range they can be countered. However in the case of someone like Lucca it may be best to just block and back away. After all that sledgehammer takes a moment to swing and would be very easy to counter compared to Crono's katana or Kid's daggers ^_~

As for recovering stam it would be somewhat like Cross but with additions. Each second of ATB time that passes will allow a character to recover 1% of their stamina. When a character guards they regain 25% of what their stamina stat is per second instead to a minimum of 2%. For example if Crono's stamina stat is 15 and he guards then he'll regain 3.75% per second of ATB time as opposed to 1%. In Schala's case if her stamina is 5 and she guards her rate would be 1.25% but since this is under 2% it would get rounded up. Guarding would also give the character a higher chance to counter an attack. Normal stamina recovery rates can also be doubled by the use of Haste. Not only would it boost the ATB bar by doubling speed but it would boost the recovery rates to the following:
2% per second normally
50% per second while guarding to a minimum of 4%

Techs would use both stam and MP. A low level tech such as Wind Slash may cost 2 MP and only 10% stamina. However something more high level such as Flare would cost 20 MP and 70% stamina. Also like the elements in Cross a Single Tech can be chained into a normal string of attacks as that character's final action that round. With enough MP/Stamina imagine launching into a 3-5 hit combo with Crono and then ending the round by using Confuse/Frenzy on the enemy. End result? A nice 23-25 hit combo! Characters can even use a more focused version of a powerful tech as the final blow. The focused version will hit only one enemy but do 1.5 times the normal damage. For example if Luminaire would normally hit a group for 1000 each then a Focused Luminaire can hit a single enemy for 1500!

Now the bad part about stamina.

Not paying attenion to the stamina costs of your actions in battle can cost you. Like in CC if you use an action that drops you into negative numbers you won't be able to take any actions until the character is no longer fatigued even if their ATB gauge is full. However it will be more dangerous in this game because for every 10% you lose your attack power, physical defense and chance to counter/dodge will drop by 2%. Sure.....go ahead and laugh at Dalton! Have Crono use Luminaire on him with it's 70% stamina cost when your sitting at only 20%! Now that Crono is at -50% you won't be laughing when Dalton's critial hit has an extra 30% chance to hit and does 30% more damage! Should Crono be lucky enough to survive that blow then it'll be up to Marle and Schala to keep him busy for the next 50 seconds as Crono recovers. Don't say you weren't warned!

[kid123]

^ Exactly what rate of idea come to your mind? 9999 kg per sec? Great stuff.

Unfortunatley, you forgot the Field Effect from CC. However in this case let i flesh out my idea for a moment.

I called it Manipulable Field Effect, instead of 3 slot a time, it feature 7 slot. The best thing it is not manipulated by Element/Magic completely, but any environmental event also effect the MFE. Let's say that a wind come blowing pass the screen, a slot of MFE is filled with green element. Or there is thunder strike, then a slot of MFE is filled with yellow element. The special feature of MFE is your party can use the slot to cast spell without need of MP. Let's say a Fireball need 3 slot of fire element, then 3 fire element is subtracted from MFE when casted . Using this way, both your party and enemy can completely manipulate the field effect to their liking. Other than that, the function still the same as CC.