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{{trope}}
[[File:dragon-warrioralt3.png|link=Dragon Quest I
{{quote|'''Durkon''': "Izzit just me, or does this boat seem ta get attacked by monsters WAY too often?"''
'''Vaarsuvius''': "I believe this is why they have been dubbed 'Random Encounters', rather than 'Statistically Probable Encounters'."
|'''''[[The Order of the Stick]]'''''}}
Monster battles that spontaneously occur at random intervals while the player travels across an RPG. They are the same thing to video game [[RPG
They were invented for [[
The spontaneous generation of enemies is old hat in games in general, but RPGs are a special case: In the tabletop games, not every random encounter was automatically a ''combat'' encounter, as players could choose to interact with their encounter non-violently, depending on the individual encounter and the choices of the player and GM (sometimes, that NPC or monster really does [[Violence Is the Only Option|just attack on sight]]). These aspects are only tenuously connected in many Western games, and wholly separate in most eastern ones, to the point that there are different screens for combat and everything else.
Typically,
Having to [[Fetch Quest]] little Timmy from the forest is a common sidequest, and while Timmy is generally menaced by the monster of the hour, he presumably went unnoticed by the scores of flesh-eating slugs and mobile venomous plants that harassed the player characters every thirty seconds as they went in to fetch him. (Clearly, little Timmy [[Took a Shortcut]].)
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Often, there will be an item, ability, or mode of transportation that affects the encounter rate. [[Encounter Bait|Upping this rate]] can be good for [[Level Grinding]], while abilities that shut off random encounters entirely may save the player some annoyance in the short term, but can also deprive the player of much-needed experience points to strengthen their party for the next plot-motivated battle.
Often the breeding ground of both [[Goddamn Bats]] and [[Demonic Spiders]], The former moreso (and, if you're lucky, [[Money Spider
The video game version is becoming something of a [[Discredited Trope]] nowadays, with fewer series playing it straight, and many of the big series dropping it in recent installments.
Subtrope of [[Random Event]]. Contrast [[Preexisting Encounters]], a specific aversion where enemies can be seen (and avoided) on the field. See also [[Encounter Bait]] and [[Encounter Repellant]] for the mechanics of adjusting the rate of encounters. Not to be confused with the Youtube Channel, [[Random Encounters (Web Video)|Random Encounters]], which makes one song musicals.
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Platform Game ==▼
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
* In ''[[Purple (Video Game)|Purple]]'', walking on blank nodes on the world map may randomly pit you in a battle with a demon.▼
* The [[Ur Example]] of the Random Encounters trope is, of course, the Wandering Monsters tables of ''[[Dungeons
** ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' Magazine had a legendary [[April Fools' Day|April Fools]] Edition with an innovative alternative to
** Also parodied in the ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' adventure ''Orcbusters'', in which there was a literal Wandering Monsters Table - the monsters sat at it playing poker to pass the time until it was their turn to wander.▼
** These are the ''only'' gameplay besides [[Unwinnable Boss Battle]]s in the module version of ''[[The Avatars Trilogy]]'' and is the main reason why it is considered the worst module ever published by TSR.
== [[Video Games]] ==
▲=== Platform Game ===
▲* In ''[[
=== Role Playing Game ===
* ''[[Drakkhen]]'', an extremely old SNES game that was originally released in the late 1980's, was notorious for this. Moving around ''anywhere'' in the overworld, every few seconds you would get random encounters with exceedingly deadly monsters, which made navigating it and traveling between dungeons a royal pain in the ass. Hell, even if you were just standing still and minding your own beeswax, something might decide to jump out of nowhere and annihilate you.
* In [[Monster Rancher Evo]] you have stray monsters with tainted anima that wander around the map and will attack you if you have your back turned. You can purify these monsters and turn their purified anima into skill points for your own monsters by [[Defeat Means Friendship|beating the monsters into unconsciousness.]]
* In the ''[[Pokémon]]'' games, outdoor areas generally limit encounters to areas of tall grass, giving the player some ability to limit how often they have to fight a wild Pokemon; on the other hand, wild Pokemon can show up at any time when exploring underground caverns or surfing across bodies of water. It is also standard practice for shops to sell "Repel" items that will temporarily prevent encounters with lower-level Pokemon.
** The fact that Repel items only ward off Mons weaker than yours also makes them useful for locating certain legendary Pokemon who randomly roam across the map, because they are noticeably higher-level than the Mons that inhhabit the area.
*** Similar items exist in many other games, such as ''[[Star Ocean]]'', including items that increase the chance of an encounter. The ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' series of games all have an ability or item (sometimes multiple ones) that instantly summoned a random encounter; handy when looking for [[
** It's ''also'' worth mentioning that
*** That still doesn't excuse the fact that they're very, very annoying.
* In the ''[[
** While random encounters may have been toned down on the overmap, enemies in each area pretty much teleported in wherever the [[Fog of War]] covered them. This meant that if you stood around doing nothing, you wouldn't run into anyone, but if you walked back and forth (even into a sealed cul-de-sac) you would end up fighting infinite amounts of enemies (and generating truly absurd heaps of corpses).
* ''[[
** It should be noted the ''[[
*** The Black Map had a special ability that prevented any enemies in battle from running away. Needless to say, this was essential if you wanted to fight Loopers. Other then that though....
** However, it's somewhat averted later, once you get a special upgrade for your [[Cool Ship]] you can fly above or below the clouds, thus ''completely'' eliminating random encounters.
** And on the Gamecube version you get the White Map shortly before you can skip encounters completely. Whee. On the Dreamcast version you get the White Map for finding all the discoveries, which means that you're probably near 100% completion of the game and [[Bragging Rights Reward|you don't really need it anymore]].
* The original ''[[Lunar:
* The ''[[
** There are also Special Encounters, where something out-of-the-ordinary occurs (often not involving any battle at all). These are unavoidable, and will occur whenever triggered regardless of your outdoorsman skill. This exists in the original Fallout games, including the tactical simulator ''Fallout: Tactics''. In addition to using your Outdoorsman skill to give the fight or ignore choice, your Luck stat indicates how often you'll get a Special Encounter over a random one.
*** Some players just roam the landscape for weeks until they have a specific Special Encounter that grants them uniqe items like the alien gun, one of the best energy weapons in the game.
** ''[[
** ''[[Fallout
* ''[[Wasteland (
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games are pretty well-known for this. Several of the titles provide an ability which [[Encounter Repellant|reduces the frequency of random encounters]], or stops them altogether, to save the player's sanity.
** While ''[[
** ''[[
** There are some who feel that the Final Fantasy games increase the random encounter rate right next to save points.
** While ''[[
** [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/169933 Behold], [[
* ''[[Breath of Fire II]]'' was so bad about this that it even had a little dancing imp in its pause screen to indicate the level of "monster activity" in the area (and a "smoke" item that supposedly reduced it).
* In ''[[
** Most ''Tales'' games offer items that allow you to increase or decrease the encounter rate.
** ''[[
* ''[[Sigma Star Saga]]'' for the GBA justifies this trope. Your allies have unmanned ships flying around above, and when they see something they don't like, they get spooked and summon up the nearest available pilot to help.
* ''Superhero League of Hoboken'' has random encounters in every map, but if you win a fixed amount of battles in a map, you'll be informed that it's cleared (and you won't meet any more random encounters there).
* Generally averted in ''[[
* ''[[Wizardry]] VI'' and ''Wizardry VII'' did this in a rather annoying way - monsters didn't exist on the map, but when you make any move could be picked from the table associated with the current tile. You will not see them coming because they appear out of nowhere. And "any move" here means ''any'' - you could literally fight one battle, turn ninety degrees, and find yourself facing more monsters. Conversely, to "farm" for [[Random Drop|loot]]/[[Level Grinding|XP]]/[[Stat Grinding|skills]] you only need to arrive at some place where you met the specific critters once and hit turn button - e.g. in New Town (where a low level party is going to be for a while) it's fairly easy to find some aggressive Rattkin, Gorn, Umpani, TRang, Munks or Danes, depending on what sort of loot you desire and how tough you are.
** ''Wizardry VIII'' is 3D and real-time so it uses monster generators instead - random monsters from the list regularly spawn at a given place, and proceed to patrol the nearby waypoints. By the time you meet them, they already exist on the map and almost impossible to discern from the [[Preexisting Encounters|set encounters]] except by not having certain weird behaviour. Also, they are level-adjusted on spawn.
* ''[[Wild
** ''[[Wild
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls: Arena]]'' featured extensive dungeon random encounters, such that enemies could spawn right in your face. In ''[[The Elder Scrolls II
* There's a reason why ''[[
** The random encounter rate in ''MOTHER 1'' is ridiculous... when you didn't want to level up. You'd fight every two or three steps.
* ''[[Zelda II:
* In the Web RPG ''[[
* ''[[The 7th Saga]]'' has a variant: you can see random encounters in a crystal ball located in the upper left of the screen, allowing you to dodge them in theory. In practice, they're so fast and numerous that you can't avoid them, and [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|they move through walls to catch you]].
* ''[[
** The piece of equipment in question, however, is incredibly useful near the end of the second game, because you ''will'' need to [[Level Grinding]]-grind to beat the [[Bonus Boss
** To the dev's credit, they do usually turn off random encounters (or turn the rates down) in rooms with particularly difficult puzzles, which makes it a great deal less frustrating than it would have been. If the puzzle in question spans the entire dungeon *cough elemental rocks cough*, you're out of luck.
** Lampshaded by Amiti in ''[[Golden Sun
* ''Destiny of an Emperor'' has these in spades. There's an item called the Smoke Pot that prevents random encounters from happening, but it doesn't last very long, and you'll often have to cross vast expanses of overworld and dungeon between towns and fortresses.
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', random encounters are justified by having [[The Heartless]] drawn irresistibly towards keyblades and their wielders. They are then subverted entirely, because on any given world, [[The Heartless]] always appear in exactly the same place every time. What kinds of Heartless appear, however, changes as you progress.
* An interesting subversion, or at least unconventional take on this trope appears in ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins''. The random encounters are all hand-built, and trigger based on a semi-randomal script influenced mainly by your actions during the quest itself. However, it is usually difficult to anticipate which encounter will appear next time you travel, if any. Many of the encounters are as difficult, if not more difficult, than some of the main-plot battles. This is compounded by the fact that there's no chance to resupply after the encounter is over - you're automatically taken to your original intended destination, and may encounter a second tough battle straight away.
** While most random encounters in ''Origins'' are just annoying distractions/level grinding chances, some unique (in that they are never visited twice) ones serve as quest locations for party member's storylines. The problem with such approach is that although they are quest related, the encounters were still ''random'', meaning that you could go through the entire game (or, particularly, the expansion) and never finish a companion's personal assignment. Also, there was a single (recurring) encounter instance where you met a traveling dwarf merchant who had nice items to sell, moving this trope closer to its tabletop roots.
** ''[[
* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' games that have Random Encounters are pretty infamous by this - it's undeniable that, good or not, the rate is INSANELY high , to the point of physical pain. While this is "good" in terms that "adds to the games' [[Nintendo Hard
* ''[[Suikoden]]'' games are fairly reasonable with the Random Encounters in general, but the [[Suikoden IV|fourth game]] has rather high encounter rate to the point of frustrating. The encounter rate in ''[[Suikoden Tierkreis]]'' is nowhere as bad as the former, but it can be annoying as well.
* ''[[Infinite Space]]'' allows the player to set the encounter rate higher than usual, which really helps to farm money and Fame.
* ''[[
* ''[[Quest 64]]'' had a great many of these, to the point of a battle every few steps.
* Nearly the entirety of the ''[[
* [[Action RPG]] ''[[Metal Walker]]'' has these in ''spades''. This is mainly why it's [[Nintendo Hard]].
* ''[[Shining in
* ''[[Crisis Core]]'' has random battle hot spots - locations on the map where random battles occur. In narrow areas with defined rooms they usually trigger once per room assuming you enter and leave the area immediately. If you stay in one of these rooms, they don't stop. In locations without rooms (like outside), they can trigger as often as once every other step.
* ''[[Phantasy Star IV]]'' actually subverted the "Timmy gets missed by all the dangerous monsters" bit when you take a sidequest to find a lost child. One actually ''got'' him, but you fortunately manage to beat the monster and rescue him before he gets digested.
* In the ''[[
* ''[[Parasite Eve (
* Parodied in [http://www.towerdefense.com/games/557/turn-based-battle.html Turn Based Battle], where you step out of your door into your first random battle...with what turns out to be the ''final boss''. He goes through [[Sequential Boss|more powerful forms]] while the rest of the party turns up on your side.
* ''[[Monster Girl Quest]]'' averted this, having preset encounters. On the other hand, ''[[Monster Girl Quest Paradox]]'' played this trope straight. In the latter game, enemies can be encountered in areas containing friendly NPCs and even while travelling the ocean on the ship.
=== Shoot Em Up ===
* The ''[[Star Control]]'' series uses these, liberally interspersed with predefined encounters for plot-relevant events.
** In ''[[Star Control]] 2'' there are generally only two kinds of ships you can encounter in most areas of Hyperspace ( {{spoiler|the native race and Slylandro Probes}}), sometimes more when two territories overlap. You generally know who you're about to meet.
=== Simulation Game ===
* ''[[Slave Maker]]'' has random encounters whenever your slave went for a walk. There are some determining factors, such as stats and time of day, but for the most part, who you encounter and what happens is pretty random.
* The ''[[Wing Commander (
=== Stealth Based Game ===
* ''[[
=== Turn Based Strategy ===
* The ''[[
▲* The ''[[Disgaea (Video Game)|Disgaea]]'' series has these in the form of the various pirate crews that show up in the Item World, their strength fluctuating between being the same as the other enemies on the floor, to that of [[Bonus Boss]] levels. They generally appear within the first few turns taken on a floor, and initially are rather rare, though after defeating a group, you get access to something that can be used to make them more common. Defeating them is a requirement for getting access to the toughest post-story content, which can be a pain, as you need to not only hope they show up in the first place, but hope that it's the right pirate crew.
* ''[[Makai Kingdom]]'' has a unique way of pulling these off: Each stage has a number of expansions that are triggered when you destroy an item or character with a stage "key", or when something is thrown or invited onto the new area's space. In random dungeons and some stages, this is a random selection of enemies and items. In addition, there's the chance that the new expansion will trigger an event that changes the enemies featured (such as a group of vampires or a [[Drill Tank]]), imposes a status effect on every character on the stage, or both, such as the "I've got NO Motivation" event, which fills the new area with a bunch of female enemies carrying cakes instead of weapons, but also hits everybody with a status effect that keeps them from gaining experience.
* ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' has the Unknown Menaces.
=== Turn Based Tactics ===
* ''[[Silent Storm]]'' has these on the map in real-time. The frequency and types of encounters are dependent on the current region. Some appear for up to a minute, while others show up for only a few seconds. Two of the rarer kind of encounters are of note. One pits you against an enemy squad, commanded by a Japanese officer (in Western Europe!). Killing him nets you his shurikens and [[Katanas Are Better|katana]]. Another encounter involves a UFO, surrounded by THO troops in [[Powered Armor|Panzerkleins]]. Additionally, an [[Game Breaker|energy rifle]] can be found near the craft that is the über version of the single-shot energy weapon carried by some THO troops, as it has [[More Dakka|full auto]] and a 50-shot power cell. That cell can then be taken back to the base and replicated for use by the said rifle, as well as energy cannon Panzerkleins. The energy rifle is an obvious [[Shout
* ''[[Serious Sam:
▲== Tabletop Games ==
▲* The [[Ur Example]] of the Random Encounters trope is, of course, the Wandering Monsters tables of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and Dragons]]''.
▲** Which is parodied in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Colour of Magic|The Colour of Magic]]''.
▲** Dragon Magazine had a legendary April Fools Edition with an innovative alternative to [[Random Encounters]]: the "Wandering Damage" table. Since the wandering monsters are the indirect means for a Dungeon Master to deal damage to the player party, [[You Fail Logic Forever|why not cut out the middleman]] and [[Killer Game Master|deal damage to them directly?]] ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' reproduces the rules [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0524.html here].
▲** Also parodied in the [[Paranoia]] adventure ''Orcbusters'', in which there was a literal Wandering Monsters Table - the monsters sat at it playing poker to pass the time until it was their turn to wander.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Discredited Trope]]
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