Need Help !!!
I’m reworking a manga-style power system and trying to tighten the logic before I go any further. The basic idea I have right now is that Gloom is a cursed or demonic pressure source, and Blood Seals are inherited marks on the body that let witches process and use that Gloom. Powers are tied to bloodlines and something I’m calling a Law, meaning the specific rule or principle that a character’s Blood Seal expresses in combat. The problem is that even though that sounds organized on paper, I still feel like it can drift into random powers being explained by lore afterward instead of feeling like a truly solid power system.
What I’m trying to build is something with clear rules, a logical connection between the source of power and how it gets used, enough flexibility for creative fights, and enough restriction that abilities don’t just feel random. I also want the combat to make sense in real time, because if I lean too hard into blood, seals, and rituals, it starts feeling clunky in a fight. If I simplify it too much, then it starts feeling generic. So I’m trying to figure out what usually makes a power system feel coherent instead of just well-labeled, how people make blood- or seal-based systems work in fast-paced fights, and what the missing piece usually is when a system has lore and terminology but still doesn’t feel mechanically satisfying. I’m not asking anybody to build the whole thing for me, I’m more trying to figure out where the weakness is so I can rebuild it better.