History Main / LuckStat

* The relatively obscure ''TabletopGame/MagiNation'' played this one very uniquely: Luck would never increase with levels and would have to be modified with things like equipment. This was because luck was not necessarily beneficial; it would increase the disparity between your attacks' damage. In other words, having high luck could make your attacks do more or less damage than they would otherwise, while lower luck would cause damage to gather around the average. The game explains that luck represents both good and bad luck, and as such isn't necessarily beneficial.

* ''RPG Maker VX Ace'' has luck modify the chance of inflicting status ailments and debuffs by a small amount: one-tenth of a percentage point per point of luck the inflicter has minus one-tenth of a percentage point per percentage point of the target's luck. As a result, the effects of this stat require high base chances of inflicting a negative effect or high disparities in luck to actually notice. The effects of the stat can be modified by scripting, thankfully.

* Appears in the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series. In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' it seems to affect little more than the odds of dealing high-end damage with spells (which dealt fixed amounts of damage rather than damage based on intellect), as well as of receiving low-end damage when hit by them.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' Servants have a luck stat, which seems to be ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Luck also seems include one's ability to ScrewDestiny, as the one time it becomes relevant in the story is when Lancer tries to kill Saber with Gae Bolg, a weapon which has the pre-defined result of striking the target's heart and manipulates causality to make it happen. Saber is only able to survive because her Luck is high enough to avoid a fatal hit.

* In ''RPG Maker VX'', the "Odds" stat is hidden. The purpose of the stat is to determine which party member the monsters will [[AIRoulette randomly pick to attack]], using the simple formula of Odds divided by Party Odds (Your characters have 3/4/4/5 as their stats in a 4 party member group so your first character has 3 out of 3+4+4+5 (16) chances of getting picked to get smashed in the face). Ironically, your position in the party (Front, Back, Middle) modifies your Odds stat, which is why it remains hidden most probably. You'll want your [[DrawAggro front characters]] to have a high Odds stat and your [[SquishyWizard mages]] to be on the lower end. An Odds stat of 0 will effectively [[GameBreakingBug crash the game]] or render the target [[GameBreaker untargettable]].

* In addition to the usual Luck stat, later ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games also include a Style/Charm stat, which covers how nice your character looks. You can get bonuses for it by properly coordinating your equipment. While mostly used for optional matters like ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestVII VII]]'''s [[VideoGame/DragonQuestVII Style contests]], ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' lets monsters react to incredibly stylish adventurers with shock and confusion.

* Although luck is unlisted, it exists in every ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' game to date, or as Nell puts it: "Luck is a skill!" How it works is, in addition to base damage, a unit will do anywhere between 0% and 9% more damage , though the highest range is also capped by their max HP (a 5HP unit can only get as lucky as 5% more, etc). Certain [=COs=] also have tweaked values such as Nell who ranges between 0 and +20% luck, Sonja who ranges between -19% and +9% luck (she was buffed up to -9% in Black Hole Rising and -4% in Dual Strike), Flak who ranges -9% and +14% (buffed up to +24% in Dual Strike), and Jugger who ranges from -14% to +29%.[[note]]Units actually seem to have two HP values, one "true" HP which is an integer from 0 to 10, and an invisible one which is calculated and stored to at least one decimal point. With each attack, the invisible one is decremented by the damage, then if the "true" one is greater than the invisible one, it is set equal to the invisible one then rounded randomly, where (for example) if the CO has neutral luck, then 4.2 has a 20% chance of being rounded to 5 and an 80% chance of being rounded to 4. If the "true" HP ever hits 0, the unit is destroyed even if the invisible HP is still, say, 0.9.[[/note]] Nell, Flak, and Jugger also have CO Powers that make their luck even more obscene when popped, with Nell getting an utterly broken potential to do as high as ''+99%'' while Flak and Jugger are balanced by being able to drop even lower than normal during their powers. ''Dual Strike'' also introduced the "Luck" equipable skill that adds +10% to that [=CO's=] existing luck range.

* In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'', Flak and Jugger increase the dispersion of their units' weapons (which is separate from luck); it basically means their units may do less damage than normal or more damage than normal. Their CO powers can increase this level of dispersion. However, it isn't as much of a GameBreaker as Nell's high luck, which is kind of like dispersion except that it never does less than normal damage.

** In older games where the Devil Axe was available, it also reduced the backfire rate. To clarify, the Devil Axe is a risky weapon with immense attack power but chances of a CriticalFailure. Seeing the Luck stat merely subtracts points from the backfire rate and its {{cap}} is usually lower than the latter, it's impossible to render the Devil Axe entirely safe.

* Although luck is unlisted, it exists in every ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' game to date, or as Nell puts it: "Luck is a skill!" How it works is, in addition to base damage, a unit will do anywhere between 0% and 9% more damage than they "should" have done, though the highest range is also capped by their max HP (a 5HP unit can only get as lucky as 5% more, etc). Certain [=COs=] also have tweaked values such as Nell who ranges between 0 and +20% luck, Sonja who ranges between -19% and +9% luck (she was buffed up to -9% in Black Hole Rising and -4% in Dual Strike), Flak who ranges -9% and +14% (buffed up to +24% in Dual Strike), and Jugger who ranges from -14% to +29%.[[note]]Units actually seem to have two HP values, one "true" HP which is an integer from 0 to 10, and an invisible one which is calculated and stored to at least one decimal point. With each attack, the invisible one is decremented by the damage, then if the "true" one is greater than the invisible one, it is set equal to the invisible one then rounded randomly, where (for example) if the CO has neutral luck, then 4.2 has a 20% chance of being rounded to 5 and an 80% chance of being rounded to 4. If the "true" HP ever hits 0, the unit is destroyed even if the invisible HP is still, say, 0.9.[[/note]] Nell, Flak, and Jugger also have CO Powers that make their luck even more obscene when popped, with Nell getting an utterly broken potential to do as high as ''+99%'' while Flak and Jugger are balanced by being able to drop even lower than normal during their powers. ''Dual Strike'' also introduced the "Luck" equipable skill that adds +10% to that [=CO's=] existing luck range.

* In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'', Flak and Jugger increase the dispersion of their units' weapons (which is separate from luck); it basically means their units may do less damage than normal or more damage than normal. Their CO powers can increase this level of dispersion. However, it isn't as much of a GameBreaker as Nell's high luck, which is kind of like dispersion except that it never does less than normal damage.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' franchise:
** Luck is the last stat in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'''s SPECIAL system, and vital if you want to get a lot of critical hits or beneficial random encounters. A character with maximum Luck and the Sniper perk will have a 100% CriticalHit chance with ranged weapons. A character with ''low'' luck gets to experience a variety of harmful random encounters in the world map such as Pariah dogs, toxic waste dumps, and general nastiness. Nothing game-breakingly horrible, but generally unpleasant. Luck also has other miscellaneous effects, such as allowing you to randomly [[ThePassWordIsAlwaysSwordfish guess a password]], making a band of raiders think you're a ghost or determining the amount of loot you get from a crashed truck.
** Luck is less prominent in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', but each point of Luck is worth an extra multiplier chance of critical hits and provides bonuses to all starting skill levels. You also need about an average Luck score to get the perks that increase the caps and ammo you'll find lying around.

** Luck returns in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', where it again governs {{Critical Hit}}s (namely [[LimitBreak how fast the meter to use them in VATS charges]]). Perks unlocked by Luck are usually based on giving bonuses at random, such as extra caps and ammo, fully recovering AP or crit gauge, a man in a trenchcoat occasionally showing up to blast your enemies with a HandCannon and disappear, and tripling your experience gain.

A statistic in a game that represents how lucky or fortunate the player is, and affects in-game events accordingly.

The Luck Stat is typically given a [[GuideDangIt rather vague description]] from almost all sources, even official ones -- possibly because describing precisely what it does would spoil the game's inner workings. Players seeking to master the game will scrutinize the stat to understand exactly what it does, and how to maximize it.

'''Common interpretations of the Luck stat:'''

* It determines how often a CriticalHit can happen (or, for that matter, how rarely a CriticalFailure strikes).

* It determines how often you get nicer things from [[RandomlyDrops Random Drops]] (which a RandomDropBooster may increase).

The Luck Stat is typically given a [[GuideDangIt rather vague description]] from almost all sources, even official ones -- possibly because describing exactly what it does would spoil a lot of the game's inner workings. Players seeking to master the game will scrutinize the stat to understand exactly what it does, and how to maximize it.

A statistic in a game that is given a [[GuideDangIt rather vague description]] from almost all sources, even official. Of course, this stat will go under scrutiny by the fan base for its purpose in the game.

'''Common interpretations of the Ever-so-Vague Stat:'''

* It bends the RandomNumberGod a bit more to your favour (especially in case of damage calculations).

In other words, it usually revolved around GameplayRandomization. In many games, it can be interpreted as "divine favor", especially if the good guys have lots of it. The fact that this is probably the hardest stat in the game to raise permanently ''and'' temporarily doesn't help to dispel the mysticism. Expect a [[GuideDangIt guide]] to arise explaining what the stat actually does (if the guide itself isn't vague about it either). If Luck Stat is implemented poorly, some of the sections of the game can be LuckBasedMission type.

Named after the ever-so-vague Luck Stat that appears in video games and gets paired with the aforementioned ever-so-vague description. Of course, this also applies to other kinds of stats.

* What the Luck stat does in ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' is still not fully understood but it's generally accepted that it influences the character's accuracy as well as the chances of landing hits and dodging attacks.

[[folder: General Examples]]

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** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' [[Main/GameplayAndStoryIntegration integrates]] L'Arachel and Joshua's in-game Luck stats into their support conversations. In particular, whenever they gamble it's shown that L'Arachelw was born so lucky, she wins the bets even when Joshua is cheating. Joshua's unluckiness can't begin to compare to that of Knoll (whose Luck value is zero). When you recruit him after conquering the castle he was imprisoned in, his first thought is that they moved his execution date up a few days after you let him out of his cell.

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

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[[folder: Wide-Open Sandbox]]

[[folder: General Examples]]

[[folder: Role-Playing Games]]

[[folder: Strategy Games]]

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'', there is a factor called Follow-Up Critical Coefficient (or FUCC) which multiplies the critical rate during a follow-up attack (if the unit is fast enough to attack again). In the first attack, the critical rate is capped by 25, but their follow-up will multiply depending on the character. Some, like Fergus and Mareeta, are as high as 5 (meaning that they'll critical if they have a killer weapon and since they are naturally fast, they'll always be able to reliably exploit Follow-Up), while some, like Lifis and Sara, have 0 so they'll never critical when using Follow-Up, even when they are fast. How do you know, [[GuideDangIt you don't]].

* The Felix Felicis potion in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' bestows exceptional luck upon the drinker, giving them for a short period of time a sort of reverse-FinaglesLaw wherein if anything could possibly go ''right'', it would. It also gives a kind of instinctive sense of how to be in the right place at ''just'' the right time.

* it determines or adjusts how frequently you hit and/or get hit.

* It determines your chances of getting a LastChanceHitPoint when taking an otherwise fatal hit.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'', there is a factor called Follow-Up Critical Coefficint (or FUCC) which multiplies the critical rate during a follow-up attack (if the unit is fast enough to attack again). In the first attack, the critical rate is capped by 25, but their follow-up will multiply depending on the character. Some, like Fergus and Mareeta, are as high as 5 (meaning that they'll critical if they have a killer weapon and since they are naturally fast, they'll always be able to reliably exploit Follow-Up), while some, like Lifis and Sara, have 0 so they'll never critical when using Follow-Up, even when they are fast. How do you know, [[GuideDangIt you don't]].