Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-25353464-20141223015814/@comment-25555436-20141226224643

Wait, wouldn't that make mages like Weiss even weaker?

Mages usually have a veeery small amount of health. Here, their spells would actually be semblance, which is the active use or Aura, and as such are "Aura attacks" or abilities.

This means, every mage would be wasting their little health to actually do something, useful or not, which means they will kill themselves faster than the enemy does. Especially characters like Weiss, who rely 95% on Aura and Semblance, and without it she's doomed.

And just in case, don't try to mention Blood Mages from Dragon Age. That's an Spec, one that is clearly risky, can be deactivated, and gives you methods to heal inmediately. And usually require a more specialized build in order to be truly effective, focusing on constitution (health) instead of willpower (mana).

How about this:

-Aura is separate from health. You can use it to improve your attacks a bit, or perform Aura Attacks, or use your Semblance. When receiving damage, some of it is absorbed by the Aura, reducing to a point the amount of damage received to one's health.

-If one runs out of Aura, they rely solely on their health, and can't use Semblance, Aura Attacks, or improve their attacks even a bit. Maybe even add a penalty in the meantime. Aura regenerates slowly every turn, but after one's Aura is completely wasted, they must wait until it reaches at least 50% of their total Aura before being able of using it again.

Just like in the show.