Check out My site (http://www.xepher.net/~kschnee/combatdemo_beta1.zip) (approx. 2.5 MB) for a simple, text-based combat system I started yesterday. It's a playable little game in itself, and could serve as the basis for a new game's battle system. It emphasizes making the enemies give up rather than killing them or knocking them out. It's got the beginnings of a furry theme, too, with racial stats. (No racial special moves yet.)
Edit: The link now points to the Alpha 2 version, which is substantially better. Size = about 2.5 MB. Racial specials, better interface, MIDI music (could use MP3 just as easily), saving of characters (though I haven't enabled loading), etc. Back to studying!
Edit: Link now leads to Beta 1 version. Known bugs: Don't use "Sixth Sense." Features: Better AI, more moves including secret combo moves.