History JustForFun / ConsoleRPGClichesTheTVTropesVersion

# '''{{When All You Have is a Hammer}} Principle:''' Fighting an opponent in the underground waste of Mytheria and fighting an opponent in the air kingdom of Kingdomia and fighting an opponent in the mechanized paradise of Mechanolai are interchangeable. There are no tactics besides "[[AttackItsWeakPoint Hit him with what hurts him]]," and [[GeoEffects environments]] are strangely useless during combat.
# '''[[VideoGame/{{Thief}} Garrett's]] Observation:''' Stealth is as simple as staying out of the line of sight.
# '''City Watch Equal Opportunity Employment Act:''' Speaking of stealth, sight and hearing ranges tend to be much, much, ''much'' shorter in [=RPGs=] than in real life. Your team can be 15 feet away, with a guard looking right at them, with your characters not even bothering to whisper when they talk, and the guard [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy will have absolutely no idea that you're there]].
# '''City Watch Equal Opportunity Discrimination Act:''' All guards are required to have the exact same detection range. No new guard will be hired if they can detect intruders any better or worse then any other guard.

# '''That Which We Don't Kill Doesn't Make Us Stronger:''' No one ever gets ExperiencePoints for avoiding enemies or having them run away. Might as well just kill everything.

# '''Beelzebombed:''' Summoning dark forces (Demons, Devils, [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]], etc) never works. Despite this, the evil wizards keep trying, lured by promises of fame, wealth and power, and generally [[EvilIsNotAToy wind up dead instead]].

# '''Reality Is A Shonen Series Theorem:''' The protagonist will always be a clean-shaven, brown-haired or blond lad who spends most of his time looking determinedly ahead and smiling a big stupid grin. All of his reactions will be bizarrely exaggerated.

** '''Addendum:'''If there are schools, expect them to be delivering lessons either so boring the protagonist completely fails to absorb anything from them, or that are still tangentially related to the heroic quest somehow. They will also have a very repetitive syllabus.
** '''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} The Trainer School Isn't For Trainers]]:''' In-universe institutions established to teach adventurers will actually tell the player very little about how to adventure. Certainly less than trial and error (or, indeed, checking out the enclosed instruction book) will do.

** If there are schools, expect them to be delivering lessons either so boring the protagonist completely fails to absorb anything from them, or that are still tangentially related to the heroic quest somehow. They will also have a very repetitive syllabus.

This is the Wiki/TVTropes version of TheGrandListOfConsoleRolePlayingGameCliches. Sanity optional.

** '''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} The Problem With Power Points]] (We Are Using Struggle Together):''' If any technique, other than the InfinityPlusOneSword, has a cap on how many times it can be used, ''every'' technique will have a cap on how many times it can be used no matter how basic or undemanding. This cap will not change with experience - your mage can cast Scorch exactly thirty times before recharging whether they are Lv. 20 or Lv. 100.

** '''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} The Problem With Power Points]] (We Are Using Struggle Together):''' If any technique, other than the InfinityPlusOneSword, has a cap how many times it can be used, ''every'' technique will have a cap on how many times it can be used no matter how basic or undemanding. This cap will not change with experience - your mage can cast Scorch exactly thirty times before recharging whether they are Lv. 20 or Lv. 100.

#'''Chefs Are Useless:''' There's no such actual thing as cooking. You just put the ingredients into the pot in roughly correct proportions, mix it a bit and out comes the Rare Steak Dinner.
** '''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestIX Krakpot's]] Corollary:''' Alchemy is exactly the same, just that some of the ingredients have a supernatural theme. Makes you wonder what those Middle Ages people were complaining about.

** '''[[Franchise/{{Pokémon}} The Problem With Power Points]] (We Are Using Struggle Together):''' If any technique, other than the InfinityPlusOneSword, has a cap how many times it can be used, ''every'' technique will have a cap on how many times it can be used no matter how basic or undemanding. This cap will not change with experience - your mage can cast Scorch exactly thirty times before recharging whether they are Lv. 20 or Lv. 100.

# '''Psychic Magic Points:''' Even if you are [[PsychicPowers Psychic]], you'll always used [[{{Mana}} Magic Points]], Even if it isn't FunctionalMagic.

#'''Origin of Magic ([[{{VideoGame/WorldOfMana}} Mana Rule]])''': If the setting heavily relies on Magic or magical entities, chances are that the protagonist will find the source of it to either protect or destroy it to prevent it's abuse

This is the TVTropes version of TheGrandListOfConsoleRolePlayingGameCliches. Sanity optional.

# '''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics The Calculator Theorem]]''': By the time you get the necessary pieces in place to get a GameBreaker setup for your team, you've either a) almost reached the end of the game or b) deliberately ignored about twenty other, easier methods for domination.

# '''The Rule of Rightful [[RandomNumberGod RNG]] Paranoia: (Or the VideoGame/FireEmblem Rule)''' The Random Number Generator IS AGAINST YOU! 95% means 16%, 50% means 1%, and 1% means either 5% or 99% for you. For the enemy/negative effects 50% means 99%, 1% means 50%, and 100% means 100%.

# '''Evil Comes with Age:''' Your average band of heroes will range from 13 to 35, and even then it's very rare. Your average villain is usually several times the age of the ages of your party combined, ranging from 5 to 17 times. Even so, they always appear to be younger than the resident old-but-not-really hero.
# '''[[SquishyWizard Mages are Weak]]:''' No mage, in any game whatsoever, can equip any armor aside from hats and robes and can't use any weapons aside from staffs, especially white mages. As a result, they are always the first to die in any fight and couldn't kill something with physical attacks to save their lives, but they must be used due to usefulness of their spells.

# '''[[TheLoad Mandatory Useless Party Member]]:''' In any game where party members are selectable, 100% of the time there will be at least one party member too weak to ever use, thus most of the time you will not, and 100% of the time the game will force you to use them.

** '''The [[VideoGame/MonsterHunter Desire Sensor]] Addendum:''' It is proven that a human mind has an effect on random number generators. Your thoughts directly affect the RNG, and this is proven. This means that your mindset affects the RNG. Any thought you have affects the RNG, [[RuleOfThree any thought at all will have an effect.]] This also means that once you start thinking the RNG is after you, it is. You now have nobody to blame but yourself.

** '''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter The Desire Sensor Addendum]]''' It is proven that a human mind has an effect on random number generators. Your thoughts directly affect the RNG, and this is proven. This means that your mindset affects the RNG. Any thought you have affects the RNG, [[RuleOfThree any thought at all will have an effect.]] This also means that once you start thinking the RNG is after you, it is. You now have nobody to blame but yourself.

** '''Added rule of real-life WTF effect''' It is proven that a human mind has an effect on random number generators. Your thoughts directly affect the RNG, and this is proven. This means that your mindset affects the RNG. Any thought you have affects the RNG, [[RuleOfThree any thought at all will have an effect.]] This also means that once you start thinking the RNG is after you, it is. You now have nobody to blame but yourself.

# '''Something To Not Aim For ([[{{VideoGame/Xenogears}} Nisan Rule]])''': If you see [[TeaserEquipment a shop sell an item, you can't possibly afford at this point of the game]], better instantly forget about it. By the time you have enough cash on hand to buy it, you'll either have equipment that's better anyway, or [[LostForever it won't be available anymore]].

This is the TVTropes version of TheGrandListOfConsoleRolePlayingGameCliches. Have fun.

NOTE: This is the one that the tropers can edit. Sanity optional.

* '''New Kids On The Block Rule''': In any spinoff material, all the new characters introduced will either know each other personally or be related, even if there's little reason for them ''to'' know each other.

# '''Babysitter's nightmare''': Any character that looks like a little girl will behave like an annoying brat, [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld no matter how old she actually is]].
# '''Impartial Dreaming''': Wheever your character is dreaming, it's either a 100% accurate memory of his (or another person's) past, or a 100% accurate prediction of the future.

** '''Zoology corollary''': Random encounters not only nearly fail to exist in the "real world" but the creatures who mock the very laws of nature will also fail to show up in any sort of study that could help humanity, while only rare and obscure creatures that never get fought will have any sort of benefit for mankind in general.

NOTE: this is the one that the tropers can edit. Sanity optional.

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# '''[[SignificantGreenEyedRedhead The First Rule of Red]]''': There will be at least one [[NominalImportance nominally important]] person with red hair. This is usually the case for [[RedHeadedHero the hero]], but can also be true for the [[HeroesWantRedheads love]] [[RedheadsWantTheHero interest]], the [[FieryRedhead fiery]] [[TheLancer Lancer]], or really any HotBlooded person with a name.

# '''The Rule of Rightful [[RandomNumberGod RNG]] Paranoia: (Or the Franchise/FireEmblem Rule)''' The Random Number Generator IS AGAINST YOU! 95% means 16%, 50% means 1%, and 1% means either 5% or 99% for you. For the enemy/negative effects 50% means 99%, 1% means 50%, and 100% means 100%.

# '''Medina Law''': A city where the people hate you will invariably sell goods for exorbitant prices, fair trade be damned. However, even if you are the one ruler of a city you will still have to pay for everything with your money.

# '''Rules of Romance ([[VideoGame/DragonQuestV Bianca's]] Lament):''' If the game has a romantic subplot, the protagonist will end up with his blonde [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend childhood friend]] (who probably is also a WhiteMagicianGirl, and very meek, which is how [[StayInTheKitchen women apparently should be]]). If the game lets you choose between various characters, one of them will be your blonde childhood friend, but [[WhatTheHellPlayer the game will tell you you're a bad person]] if you [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend don't choose her]], no matter how [[NotBloodSiblings incestuous]] you may feel in doing so. The other options will be the BlackMagicianGirl and maybe a LadyOfWar. But there will always be three, and very seldom a GayOption.