Added 23 minutes later
The main thing is to avoid cutscenes and allow the player to do something if they see that an NPC has aggressive (or not so aggressive) intentions.
As for ceilings and kicks, it's probably easier to implement a check based on the character's stats. So that a fighter has a higher chance of performing a strong/successful kick than a weak character. And perhaps add such an action as an additional one (along with attack and movement).