RPG's without random chances

[Duck Sandwich]

It seems pretty much every RPG is centred around random chances in combat. Critical hits, spells with random chances to insta-kill you/your enemies, it seems like either luck and/or massive amounts of grinding are essential to not getting your ass handed to you. Either that, or the game's too easy.

So the question I pose is, what RPG's, if any, defy this rule? The only thing I can think of is Grandia, and to a lesser extent, Paper Mario (there's a bit of random chance for things like the roulette that occasionally restores or halves your HP and FP, but not so much that it becomes a major annoyance).

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I don't really know but Mass Effect seems to ignore chance quite a lot.

But chance plays a large part in most RPG games.

 

[Vhite]

Well, outcome of the battle would be pretty much predictable without them.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I don't really know but Mass Effect seems to ignore chance quite a lot.

But chance plays a large part in most RPG games.

I think you do occasionally get criticals in ME2. Seem to recall an upgrade to that effect, anyway.

 

[Duck Sandwich]

Well, outcome of the battle would be pretty much predictable without them.

Any game worth its salt relies on some kind of skill on the part of the player, whether it's strategy, or quick reflexes. In your average random chance RPG, if an enemy chooses to attack one of my guys, whether he hits or misses solely depends on how lucky I am. In Paper Mario, when you get hit, you can defend against attacks with timed button presses. In Grandia, if an enemy runs up to you to attack you, and your turn comes up before he hits, you can run away from the enemy, or if your character is quick enough, attack the enemy and interrupt or even completely cancel their attack.

Spoiler: Grandia's combat system

In Grandia (or at least Grandia 2, which is the only one I've played, characters' turns are determined by a bar at the bottom of the screen that your characters and enemies are represented on by portraits. When a character's portrait reaches "COM" (command), they can make their move. There's a short delay between choosing one's next move and actually doing it, dictated by the portrait moving from "COM" to "ACT." Different commands will have different delays. Moving your character to a different spot on the battlefield, or running up to an enemy and using a standard attack will have a shorter delay than say, using some super powerful special attack or spell.

In terms of normal attacks, there's combo (your character will do a short combo on an enemy) and critical attacks, which knock an enemy's portrait back, but do less damage than combos. If you time a critical to hit an enemy when their portrait is between "COM" and "ACT," the enemy portrait will be knocked far back behind "COM," and their attack will be cancelled. So even a boss' obligatory "uber powerful hit everyone no matter where they are" attack can be avoided.

 

[Knight Templar]

I think you do occasionally get criticals in ME2. Seem to recall an upgrade to that effect, anyway.

I think thats based on headshots however.

 

[dpc3]

Just because there's chance involved doesn't mean there isn't skill involved as well. Does poker ring any bells?

Dragon age has lots of tactics and strategy. Skill also plays a huge part in WoW. There are tons more examples, but if those didn't convince you, I can't be bothered.

 

[Hassao]

Demon soul's is more hack and slash with rpg eliments(still more than ME2).

 

[Lucane]

Demon soul's is more hack and slash with rpg eliments(still more than ME2).

There goes my answer.
Though I don't see why the OP seems to have an issue with chance and luck.

 

[spacecowboy86]

elder scrolls IV: Oblivion, i'm pretty sure that the combat at least was based on math formulas that were repeated each strike, so they were only changed when you increased skill or got better equipment, enemy drops were the only really random thing, even things like the arena used you luck stat to determine the character you bet on's health, after that it was just about AI behavior, the only things random were things like what npcs and containers held, or which of the oblivion enviroments you enter. the only thing random in the gambling was the weapons the combatants used and how the character decides to fight.

 

[Tallim]

Demon soul's is more hack and slash with rpg eliments(still more than ME2).

There goes my answer.
Though I don't see why the OP seems to have an issue with chance and luck.

Got burned by a random number generator I imagine. Happens to everyone sometime.

Without randomness an RPG essentially becomes a rather complex puzzle game with a plot.

 

[Zaik]

In borderlands, critical hits are caused by headshots(or whatever happens to be the weak spot, skag's mouth or whatever), rather than a random chance.

 

[octafish]

In borderlands, critical hits are caused by headshots(or whatever happens to be the weak spot, skag's mouth or whatever), rather than a random chance.

Boredlands is hardly a RPG though, if it is then so is Gauntlet.

OT: What would an RPG be without dice, or the computer equivalent?* It'd be a brawler or a shooter, not an RPG. I'd say the ME games are as close as you'll get.


* I guess the answer would be Live action Role Playing [shudders].

 

[Omikron009]

I don't really know but Mass Effect seems to ignore chance quite a lot.

But chance plays a large part in most RPG games.

I think you do occasionally get criticals in ME2. Seem to recall an upgrade to that effect, anyway.

There's one upgrade for heavy pistols and makes some shots critical, and one upgrade that occasionally fully restores your shields when they're downed. That's it, as far as I know.

 

[Zaik]

In borderlands, critical hits are caused by headshots(or whatever happens to be the weak spot, skag's mouth or whatever), rather than a random chance.

Boredlands is hardly a RPG though, if it is then so is Gauntlet.

OT: What would an RPG be without dice, or the computer equivalent?* It'd be a brawler or a shooter, not an RPG. I'd say the ME games are as close as you'll get.


* I guess the answer would be Live action Role Playing [shudders].

You can't really recommend ME 2 if you're saying Borderlands isn't, as it's even less of an RPG, though ME 1 works.

 

[Miumaru]

They cannot exist. Atleast not how you want. These games exist, the ones you describe, but they are not RPGs. Off the top of my head, many platformers seem to fall into this. Think Mario 64, Rachet and Clank, things like those.
If you want one with swords, play Zelda.

 

[Choppaduel]

Well, outcome of the battle would be pretty much predictable without them.

Only with a turn based style combat system, where each player knows the strategy there opponents will use.

Also, I have only being playing Deus Ex for about an hour, but I haven't come in contact with any random chance yet.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

I like how in Mario RPG you control the crits. It's not random, it's timed so it requires skill. Every RPG should do this, don't know why they don't.

 

[Amnestic]

Fire Emblem. olololololololololololol

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I don't really know but Mass Effect seems to ignore chance quite a lot.

But chance plays a large part in most RPG games.

To be fair, most games have a "random element" thrown in. That said, I suspect that the chance referred to here is probably more specifically an attempt to resolve the problem of an action that is seemingly successful failing because of a behind the scenes dice roll.

Morrowind for example was based almost entirely around the element of chance. One could fire an arrow directly into an enemy and if the dice roll was failed the shot "missed". Oblivion on the other hand allowed the arrow to hit and the skill instead affected the damage of the shot.

Mass Effect (and it's sequel) do more or less the same thing. Fallout 3 comes to mind as well. Generally speaking, the more focused upon action the less likely that chance will be a significant aspect of the game. Deus Ex and Alpha Protocol would fall into this list as well.

Any RPG built upon a pen and paper system (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights) is assured to be based on a random chance thanks to it's heritage. Most RPG's with a significant loot element will tend to focus upon chance a great deal (including MMO's, Diablo and it's clones and so forth).