ANYWAY... My idea (if I knew what I was doing I'd do it myself) is to introduce mercenaries/pets. Pets could range from snake, rat, ferret, bird, cat, dog, fish (for the hell of it), goats, and horses. Of course lesser 'baby's and greater 'elder's could be found for pets.
Introducing a capture system of submission. Yes, for those who love to beat their soon-to-be-owned slaves into submission comes the capture system. The trick is getting the opponent's HP so low that you force them to trigger a submissive state where you then capture them and eventually use them as your pet. Yes, just like Pokemon. But let's hope a lot less electric rodents. Pets will be able to wear two rings a necklace and a cloak. (Yes, i'm well aware that horses and goats have no way to wear them, so we'll just assume you force feed them the rings.)
As for mercenaries, maybe certain towns will hold some taverns for you to pick and choose? Zig could have anti-mag mercenaries for sale, of course, and so on. Level dependant, race dependant, and town race dependant. Just because you want to hire an elf to guard your back doesn't mean he wants to look at your dwarven face.
Pets/mercs will level up as you do but won't be as strong as the main character because let's face it, you're the chosen one.
EDIT: Side note, I can't do it because I have no idea what I'm doing.
But if someone could, I'd appreciate the hard work.