Random Encounters: Difference between revisions

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.

 

 

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]].)

 

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.

 

* In ''[[Purple]]'', walking on blank nodes on the world map may randomly pit you in a battle with a demon.

 

 

* ''[[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.]]

 

 

* 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.

 

 

* ''[[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 (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' series played with this now and then, particularly in ''Wing Commander Privateer'', and in the [[Full Motion Video|FMV]]-based games.

 

 

* ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' has, in addition to guards with fixed positions or patrol routes, the occasional pickpocket or Borgia messenger who appears via [[Offscreen Teleportation]] and will disappear similarly if you fail to give chase. ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'' adds the Cento Occhi thieves.

 

 

* The ''[[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.

 

 

* ''[[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-Out]] to ''[[X-COM]]''.

* ''[[Serious Sam: The Random Encounter]]'' features random encounters.

 

 

* The [[Ur Example]] of the Random Encounters trope is, of course, the Wandering Monsters tables of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''.

** Which is parodied in ''[[Discworld/The Colour of Magic|The Colour of Magic]]''.

** 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.

* ''[[Trope Overdosed the Webcomic]]'': [http://tropeoverdosed.pcriot.com/?p=41 This is used to make the first story arc take longer.]