Initializing an rpg battle

I have an idea on how to initialize an rpg but i would like some feedback an any ideas will be appreciated.
Ok, i would use a variable to hold what state the player is in, whether he is roaming the world or he is in a battle. I would use a 3d vector to store the players position in world coordinates and a next 3d vector to store his position on the battle. what i would do is when a random battle is iniated, i will position the player far off somewhere in the directx world on a battle ground that will be so far that the world that the player explores will not be able to be seen and when hes in battle mode, his world coordinates will not change but his battle position will change. And when the battle has ended i will position the player at his last world coordinates and his battle coordinates will get reset. So what do you'll think? Im sorry if i wasnt clear enough.

you definately have to have some sort of player state variable, yes..
but why not do the battle on the world playfield?
The other idea might be good to.. I guess it all depends on how you want to display the battle sequences..

The method I use (probably not the best, but one which works) is to have a battle field beneath the main map. When battle ensues:

1) The characters stay exactly where they are but are frozen.
2) Their 'combat' counterparts are unfrozen.
3) The opponents are added.
4) The world camera is hidden.
5) The main combat camera is unhidden (I have four cameras for combat).
6) Combat begins

When over:
1) View switches back to world map.
2) Character positions reset
3) Monsters removed.

Like I said, im sure there are better methods, but this one works well for me.

Thanks LarsG And Neo

Sounds like a FF style thing you're attempting.. I'd go with Neo's suggestion. Good luck :)