Substitute Skill
A downloadable tool
This plugin is supported on both RPG Maker MV and MZ.
This plugin provides more control over the substitute effect. The engine default allows only for a substitute character to cover for all its allies at the same time for all types of attacks, and only when they are at low health. With TAA_SubstituteSkill you can create more specific and flexible substitutions, like covering for a single ally with no health limitations, having different substitutes for each skill type, or even covering for an enemy unit.
Main Features
- Create substitute skills for each skill types independently;
- Allow substitution skills to work on as many targets as you want, from one to all allies at the same time, or even covering for enemies;
- Supports multiple substitutes at the same time, one for each skill type (so you can have a Knight cover for normal and special skills, and a Mage cover for magic attacks);
- Allow for substitutions to cover (or not) from ally skills as well;
- Create skills that ignores substitutes and force its way to the original target;
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Terms of use
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Any plugins developed by taaspider are free for use for both commercial and noncommercial RPG Maker games, unless specified otherwise. Just remember to credit "taaspider".
Redistribution of parts or the whole of taaspider plugins is forbidden (which also includes reposting), unless it comes from this page. You are allowed to edit and change the plugin code for your own use (as long as I'm credited for the original), but you're definitely not allowed to sell or reuse any part of the code as your own. Although not required to use my plugins, a free copy of your game would be nice!
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Changelog: Version 1.0.1Apr 04, 2026
- Changelog: Version 1.0.0Dec 02, 2020
Comments
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This is a great plugin that serves my purposes, though I seem to have discovered a bug. It triggers whenever I use my substitute skill (which is set to only last 1 turn, with Remove at Battle End and Remove by Restriction checked on its substitute state) on a target that has a state with a restriction (Attack anyone, Cannot move, etc.) The user of the skill will continue to substitute for the target on following turns, and even in following battles, as long the user is still able to freely act, without me selecting the substitute skill again. But if I use the substitute skill on the same target again when they don't have a state with a restriction, then the user stops substituting for the target when the turn ends and everything goes back to normal.
I am using RPG Maker MZ, and I tested this with all other plugins off.
Hello!
I did find a bug that would cause the substitution to go on forever unless reapplied. I just released a fix with version 1.0.1... I was able to reproduce this behavior, and based on my tests I'm pretty sure it is fixed. But please let me know if the issue persists!
And I should say... thank you for the detailed error report! It was such a specific scenario, and your description really helped me quickly identify the issue!
I tried out the new version, and while the substitution no longer goes on forever, instead it no longer applies at all when the skill is used on a target that has a state with a restriction on it. It still applies normally to any target that doesn't have any states with restrictions.
I double checked here, and I see it is working as intended. I think the issue now is just a minor misunderstanding of how the plugin works.
The substitution state is not applied in the actor doing the substitution, it's applied in the one being covered. So if you setup the substitution state to be removed by restrictions, the substitution will be canceled if the actor being covered gets restricted, or has a restriction when you try to apply the substitution.
If I'm getting it right, I think what you intended to do was ensure that the actor doing the substitution cannot do so if he himself has a restriction. Correct?
Whenever the character doing the substitution cannot move, the substitution state in the covered actor is not removed, but the restriction will prevent the substitution to happen. If the substitution state lasts more turns than the "tank" restrictions, he will resume substitutions when the restrictions are lifted, until the state expires.
However, there is no clear battle message being displayed right now to let the player know the substitution did not occur due to a tanker restriction. I could add one and release a new version right away if you deem it necessary. If not, I'll let it rest in my backlog to be released in the future along other bug fixes or new features. =]
D'oh...you are 100% right. I never needed to have Remove by Restriction checked on the substitute state. I believe everything is now working the way I wanted it to. Thanks!
I personally am not in need of a battle message to let the player know a substitution did not happen, but thanks for asking.
Ok, after some more testing it seems I've found one more situation in which the substitute state does not get removed, and that's when the target dies. To explain specifically what's happening in my game:
1. Actor 1 gets poisoned (a state with a negative HP Regeneration trait).
2. On the next turn, Actor 2 uses the substitute skill on Actor 1, which has an auto removal after 1 turn.
3. At the end of that turn, Actor 1 takes poison damage and dies from it.
4. Actor 1 gets revived on a following turn.
5. Actor 1 gets attacked by an enemy, but Actor 2 tanks the hit even though the substitute skill has not been used since before Actor 1 died.
Again, this is with RPG Maker MZ (version 1.10.0), and I turned off all other plugins.
What if I want to cover for Actor 1 only? Thank you
The plugin works by applying a state to the party member you want to cover. So, you could create a skill that targets a single ally, and the player can then use it on Actor 1 to cover for him only.
However, if you mean to create a skill that covers only a specific actor, not allowing it to cover anyone else, then I think you won't be able to do that with just my plugin, at least with the current version.
I tried the demo and I don't see the substitute animation. It looks more like the provoke type of skill similar to an increased hit rate. Is the substitute animation not used for this?
The plugin current version does not included the substitute animation (which moves the substitute to the front of whom he is substituting). But I agree that not having it makes it harder to convey the player the substitution. I'm adding this to my backlog... I have a lot of fixes and enhancements piled up, so it might take some time though
Thanks for the quick reply. There's a Japanese plugin for substitute as well, and I will have to see if that shows the substitution. Not sure if that would help you in any way. I do think your plugin does a lot that the other one doesn't, which is appreciated.
The Japanese one also allows you to make an actor use a skill after each substitute, which could be interesting, and I'm not sure if yours does that.
My plugin does not have an option to trigger a skill after a successful substitution. I do like this idea though, so I'll add it to my backlog as well!
I haven't figured out how to do it right with the Japanese plugin, but I think a substitute counter-attack is generally impossible, and I like the idea as well.