Umm, I did something like this for a game based on the Avatar (A request from a younger cousin who watches the tv series) I just added a common event to every skill. That common event added 1 point on different variables. For my game, I had EARTH WIND WATER and FIRE. Then, when they used a water skill over... say... 40 times, they leveled up in it and learned a new skill. However; without a script, it's tough to show the player what the variable is at the moment.
Also, to get a separate bar for mp, you'd need a script most definitely. But there are eventing ways around this. For instance, you could use an energy bar that controlled both of them. Or, I once made a game that used pictures to show hp and energy bars. I made 20 different pictures. 10 were the health bar, each with a little less health, and 10 were the energy bar. Then I used variables to count as hp and en points. if hp == 5 the picture of the health bar with half health showed up. And so on.
This would work, but making 4000 pictures for a player who has 4000 mp points would be just a bit more work than you'd want, I reckon. So for that, I suggest looking for or requesting a script in the script analysys/script request forum.
One more thing: If you DID use the leveling system for your skills, what I would do, is make a trainer npc that would tell you ABOUT how many skill points you needed to level... such as... If you needed 10 points to level, then I'd do this.
IF points >= 3
Text: You're well on your way.
IF points >= 5
Text: You're halfway there.
IF points >= 7
Text: You're nearly there.
IF points >= 9
Text: Very close.
Obviously this would be unlikely if it only took 10 points to level. But it might work nice if you need like 300. Good luck though.
