skill in RPGs

[unwashedmendicant]

true, we rely on the character skills when we play a traditional RPG (character's stats), but we still make their tactical decisions for them. it's the players skill that oversees that. that's where i think most games fail to take advantage of full potential. in your standard encounter you can just have all your characters do regular attacks (including your wimpy mages--gotta save that MP for the boss) until they're all dead. no real threat. in dungeons these meaningless encounters against enemy mooks are really just supposed to use up your resources (potions, escape ropes): dungeons become about resource management. but not really! that's where the grinding comes in and breaks it.

honestly, i rarely use items in RPGs. i hoard them. dunno why. i grind on the first floor of the dungeon until i can easily mop the floor with any baddie i meet before even hitting the staircase. player skill becomes irrelevant. tactical RPGs like valkyrie profile tend to avoid this.

in what ways can we eliminate grinding while also making battles more meaningful?

one idea i had was that instead of random encounters just be against enemy troops ie battles, there could be a slew of different possible scenarios that might pop up. here's a list of random NPC encounters i stole!

1. High level wizard in full regalia, torn, blood-spattered, black-feathered arrows in back, out of spells, dazed and desperate, clutches still-smoking wand of fireballs with single charge remaining
2. Mystic levitating in lotus position, zooms through dungeon in search of (presumed dead) acolyte charmed into joining band of upstart scoundrels, issues brief but trenchant verbal dressing-down to any adventurers
3. Furious pirate captain w/squad of the vilest sea-dogs conducts brutal search for pick-pocket who slithered below with enchanted sextant, cutlasses drip with vital fluids of the last one to refuse questioning
4. Ogre with new found culinary passion has no interest in dispatching surface dwellers despite extremely ferocious appearance, will trade notched war axe for wine/spices/cooking equipment, found dead body of acolyte (see entry 2) and wants to do something really special with it
5. Impaled warrior still on feet despite near-total blood loss thinks he remembers where he dropped a sack of huge gems
6. Junior thieves hide in shadows while moving silently having stolen the kobold czar's silver circlet as part of an initiation ritual, unfortunately for them the relic glows powerfully through any wrapping
7. Mayor of nearby town in false mustache and cloak w/giant bodyguard (hairless and mute but just rippling with bone-cracking muscles), dismissed from latest mandatory secret meeting with dungeon overlord, human sacrifice demands doubled
8. Barbarian w/gore-smeared bastard sword goes to great lengths to get adventurers to indicate direction of exit while concealing total bewilderment, suggestions that he might be lost illicit foaming over-reaction
9. Quite powerful witch from across the way (accompanied by pair of towering headless kung-fu zombies) awaits arrival of local celebrity witch, irritation increases with each passing minute
10. Knight with crumpled helm and caved-in cuirass crawls toward the exit muttering about the "fist from below"
11. Thief concealing enchanted sextant (see entry 3) rushes to lower levels to meet underworld connections, knows secret way through the Corridor of Twenty Traps
12. Swarm of dark elf children tethered together by neck-harnesses scamper about snake-like having escaped their keeper, a ghastly troll hag now desperate enough to ask surface folk for assistance

this emulates tabletop RPGs penchant for >scenarios< rather than just endless battles.
not that it isn't fun to squish mooks.