The protagonist seems to be mainly defending themselves, so maybe you could have the journal/spirits be able to protect them on their turn too? And maybe to show how weak they are, you could give them an action that does minimal damage when they're weak
hmm i might rework the Cobble Spirit to be able to protect a party member for a turn or two, i wouldnt want to add an ability like that to every spirit though
it wouldnt serve much gameplay purpose but i kinda like the idea of sam having an action where he tries to damage the monstrae, it does nothing, and he ends up losing resolve as a result
ill think about what i could give him for the early game but tbh i think it might be best to stick with the sort of pokemon-style simplicity where every mon just knows tackle. as he levels up and acquires new items though he is intended to get more abilities and variety, they just arent in the game yet since this is the very beginning of the story i have planned