History Main / RPGsEqualCombat

* Averted in ''{{Risus}}''. The majority of the rulebook describes the all-important combat rules, and the Risus RPG really does equal combat. However, combat doesn't necessarily equal violence - possible combats described include playing chess, getting an unreliable vending machine to work, beating rush-hour traffic to stop the BigBad…

* TellTaleGames tend to do this. They will feature the occasional fight but the game is mostly interactive story and roleplay.

* TellTaleGames tend to do this. They will feature the occasional fight but the game is mostly interactive story and roleplay.

*** 2nd Edition mentioned this as well, basically stating that if you could talk a dragon out of destroying the village, you probably deserve ''more'' XP than you would get for killing it.

** In reality, it's only because of console and computer gaming that the concept of experience-''only''-as-reward-for-monster-killing exists, as the limits of a computer program are still heavily trumped by human imagination and ingenuity.

-> ''Your experience with death has given me the ability to swing my sword harder.''

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' gives you XP for not just mowing down hordes of MechaMooks, but for talking to people, successfully picking locks and hacking computers, finding things, and even ''looking at points of interest''. Although most of the XP you get comes from mowing down the mooks, and actually advancing through the plot pretty much requires it. Though you can still gain 10+ levels on the Citadel, where the vast majority of missions are talking and diplomacy-based.
*** Not only do enemies give a far greater proportion of your EXP than anything else, and avoiding enemies with negotiation does not get you the same EXP as killing them (in one notable example, there was a base filled with fairly easily killed enemies. They were peaceful unless you couldn't come to an agreement with their leader or shot them… but you could still talk to the leader after shooting them (and get no Renegade points, which are supposed to be what you get for being impulsive and using violence over persuasion). So the most EXP was acquired by killing everybody in a base, and then convincing their leader that you didn't want to hurt anybody.

-> ''Your experience with death has given me the ability to swing my sword harder''

* ''MassEffect'' gives you XP for not just mowing down hordes of MechaMooks, but for talking to people, successfully picking locks and hacking computers, finding things, and even ''looking at points of interest''.
** Although most of the XP you get comes from mowing down the mooks, and actually advancing through the plot pretty much requires it. Though you can still gain 10+ levels on the Citadel, where the vast majority of missions are talking and diplomacy-based.

** ''MassEffect2'', on the other hand, doesn't give ''any'' [=XP=] for killing enemies; all experience is gained by completing quests. However, this doesn't make much of a difference in practice since, like the previous game, most quests involve killing large amounts of enemies.

** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' awards a lot more XP for sneaking around enemies unnoticed and peacefully solving the quests instead of rushing into combat all-out.
*** Which it more than "makes up for" with unavoidable, full face-to-face boss fights; a stealth or non-combat character can have a hell of a time with those.

* However, some RPGs creators avert this and state that putting a combat system distinct from the rest of the resolution system leads the players to rely mostly on fights (similarly, the presence of a magic system would hint the importance of supernatural forces in the verse). Most games with no focus on combat do solve conflicts of any nature the same way, be it a rough negotiation or a duel.Games like ''sweet agatha'' or ''breaking the ice'', focusing on investigation and romance respectively do not have such systems, since it is unlikely any physical confrontation will happen.

* ''TheDarkEye'' had experience gains for killing, but most points come from finishing the adventure (Not finishing it alive, but solving it). In the 3rd edition, most creatures had no experience rewards anymore, and in the 4th edition, players only get experience for seeing or dealing with a creature for the first time (like it's a new experience). The first edition was released in 1983.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games avert this trope by tying all EXP gain to the use of skills and rewarding levels after a certain number of player-chosen "primary" skills level up. What this means in practice is that a Warrior character who smashes everything that moves with an axe, a Mage who makes extensive use of charms to make others do his dirty work for him, and a Thief who sneaks around and robs people blind will all level up at roughly the same rate.

*** This is an easy pitfall for those [=RPGs=] that promise alternatives to fighting to solve problems. It's tough to balance the XP of fighting and not-fighting in a way that doesn't encourage people to double-dip and also doesn't come off as {{Railroading}}.
**** Such a problem is supposed to be dealt with through the imposition of practical skill and level-based character build requirements on both combat ''and'' non-combat, so that there's only enough XP around for the player character to be capable of fully exploiting one path through the game.

*** Not to mention the fact that enemies give a far greater proportion of your EXP than anything else, and avoiding enemies with negotiation does not get you the same EXP as killing them (in one notable example, there was a base filled with fairly easily killed enemies. They were peaceful unless you couldn't come to an agreement with their leader or shot them… but you could still talk to the leader after shooting them (and get no Renegade points, which are supposed to be what you get for being impulsive and using violence over persuasion). So the most EXP was acquired by killing everybody in a base, and then convincing their leader that you didn't want to hurt anybody.

** Bonus points for finishing climactic scenes of the main quests only through diplomacy.

*** Which it more than "makes up for" with unavoidable, full face-to-face boss fights; a stealth or non-combat character can have a hell of a time with those. To this Troper's understanding, it was the most common quoted fault of the game.

** Even in the games in the series which don't use this system, although you still need to fight to progress in the story, there's a huge emphasis on non-combat activities such as farming, raising monsters, crafting, and social interaction with townspeople. Given the series started as a HarvestMoon spinoff, this isn't terribly surprising.

* In TheRiddleOfSteel, characters have special stats called Spiritual Attributes. Five of these are selected at character creations, with the details filled out by the player (for instance, one Spiritual Attribute may be Drive: To rescue his daughter). Whenever an action contributes to the goal, temperament or ethics of a Spiritual Attribute, that Spiritual Attribute grows. They can be used to ways:

* However, some RPGs creators avert this and state that putting a combat system distinct from the rest of the resolution system leads the players to relie mostly on fights (similarly, the presence of a magic system would hint the imporetance of supernatural forces in the verse). Most games with no focus on combat do solve conflicts of any nature the same way, be it a rough negotiation or a duel.Games like sweet agatha or breaking the ice, focusing on investigation and romance respectively do not have such systems, since it is unlikely any physical confrontation will happen.

* Averted in Rifts, of all things. The experience tables list rewards for accomplishing goals or neutralizing threats, with no direct correlation between enemies killed and XP gained.

* However, some RPGs creators avert this and state that putting a combat system distinct from the rest of the resolution system leads the players to relie mostly on fights (similarly, the presence of a magic system would hint the imporetance of supernatural forces in the verse). Most games with no focus on combat do solve conflicts of any nature the same way, be it a rough negotiation or a duel.
Games like swwet agatha or breaking the ice, focusing on investigation and romance respectively do not have such systems, since it is unlikely any physical confrontation will happen.