Random encounter
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A random encounter is a feature commonly used in hack and slash role-playing games and computer and video games to simulate the chaotic nature of a monster-infested wilderness, dungeon or other area.
[edit] Role-playing games
Random encounters were a feature of Dungeons & Dragons from its beginnings in the 1970s, and persist in that game and its offshoots to this day. Random encounters are usually determined by the gamemaster by rolling dice against a random encounter table. The tables are usually based on terrain (and/or time/weather), and have a percentage chance for differing encounters with different numbers or types of creatures. Further modified by character tables, or other types of tables, which will determine whether the encounter is friendly, neutral or hostile. GMs are often encouraged to make their own tables, or modify results as they see fit. Specific adventures often have specific tables for micro-locations, like a temple's hallways.
Modern, plot-driven storytelling role-playing games do not generally use random encounters; rather, the gamemaster is supposed to decide when and where the player characters will encounter other game-world inhabitants depending on the needs of the plot.
[edit] Live role-playing
Random Encounters have even taken on a life of their own in recent years, as the focus of live-action role-playing games. At anime and video game conventions, groups of people around the United States have started coordinating and participating in mock live action random encounters. Among them on the east coast is the show from the Random Battle Group and a live action game using D&D and computer software done by Cos-Arena.
[edit] Computer and video games
Computer and console RPGs have used random encounters since Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and The Bard's Tale in the mid-1980s, if not earlier. Random encounters happen when the player is traveling from one place in the game world to another (often through the use of a "world map" or overworld). Most often, the player encounters enemies (usually multiple) but sometimes also friendly or neutral characters, with whom the player might interact and possibly trade. Random encounters are, as the name implies, most often more or less random. But they can also vary in form and frequency depending on a number of factors, such as, for example, where the player is located in the game world and the statistics of the player character. As such, random encounters usually occur more frequently in caves, forests and swamps than in open plains. A simplified example of a random encounter algorithm (but similar to those used in many games) would be the following:
- Set X to a random number between 64 and 255.
- For each step in plains, decrement X by 4. For each step in forest, swamp, or desert, decrement X by 8.
- When X < 0, a fight ensues. Go to step 1.
A game with this type of system can sometimes be taken advantage of by initiating some action that will reset the counter (pausing, opening a menu, saving), especially when using an emulator. This is a popular trick in speedruns to skip time-consuming or dangerous battles, or it can be used conversely to ensure that each battle results in a rare or valuable encounter.
The alternative to random encounters is spawning, where monsters always (re)appear at the same location.
