Rance I:Game mechanics

This page discusses the game mechanics for Rance: The Quest for Hikari.

Learning Spells
You can learn a single magic spell at a time by "Assault"-ing Sill with a specific action/combination.

The mechanics of the spells are discussed in detail below.

Statistics
Rance 1's statistics are not explained in game, so this section will provide a quick explanation.
 * Health: The amount of damage you can take before dying. Increases by 5 on level-up.
 * Magic: The number of spells you can cast without returning to Sill for a recovery. Cannot be increased from its starting maximum.
 * Attack: Measures your accuracy with standard attacks. Increases by 2 on level-up.
 * Evasion: Also called "Speed." Measures your ability to avoid standard attacks.  Increases by 2 on level-up.
 * Weapon's Attack Value: A measure of your current weapon's ability to cause damage, alongside your level (not shown on the subscreen). Increase it by finding better weapons.
 * Defence: A measure of your body armor and shield's combined ability to resist damage. Increase it by upgrading either item of equipment.

Combat Mechanics
The Windows version uses two seperate code blocks for combat mechanics, one for most combats and another exclusively for the coliseum. Most of the differences between the two are stylistic or text-based, but any mechanical changes are noted below.

Enemy HP varies: base HP is increased by a value from 1 to a second statistic, which we can call Bonus HP. It is then increased by an additional, single point. So an enemy with 10 HP and up to 10 Bonus HP can have a final HP of 12-21.

Standard combats have a 50% chance of the enemy moving first ("attacked by surprise"). Coliseum fights always have Rance move first.

If a fight goes on for a very long time (which isn't particularly likely), enemy stats will change every ten turns. Speed and defence go down by 1, but strength and accuracy go up by 1 (although see below).

Attacking
To determine if an attack hits, the game rolls Rance's Attack stat plus a random value from 0 to Rance's Attack stat again (so if Rance's Attack is 10 his roll can be anything from 11-20). We'll call this an "Attack Roll." This is compared to a similar roll made against the enemy's Evasion. If Rance's roll is higher, he lands a hit.

Once a hit has landed, another roll is made using Rance's current weapon's Attack Value. This roll is boosted by the number of levels Rance has gained since the start of the game (so if Rance is level 15, he get +5). This is compared to a roll against enemy defence. If enemy defence is higher, Rance causes no damage, otherwise, he causes damage equal to the difference between the attack roll and the defence (capped at the monster's current HP, i.e. you won't appear to cause more damage than the enemy has health).

For example: Rance has an attack of 10 and is level 15. He can cause from 16-25 damage. The enemy has a defence of 10, meaning its defence roll can go from 11-20. Let's presume that they both roll the minimum result: 16 and 11. Rance would inflict 5 points of damage.

If enemy health is reduced the 0, Rance wins the fight.

Rance's Magic
All spells cost exactly 1 MP.
 * Healing: Restores HP to full.
 * Magic Missile: Deals damage equal to 1-50 points minus an enemy Defence Roll. Yulan Mirage will always dodge and take no damage.
 * Down: Enemy defence reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1.
 * Downlock: Enemy evasion reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1.
 * Reader: Produces a single line of text based on the enemy. All enemies outside the coliseum use "-I am going to kill you, I am going to kill you.-"

Items

 * Medicine: Restores HP and MP to full.
 * Seirogan: Restores HP to full.

Enemy Turn
Enemies have three separate attacks that they can use during their turn, and each attack has its own separate Attack (accuracy) and Attack Value (strength) stat. The enemy does not have Attack or Attack Value stats of its own, per se. In a possible oversight, only the first attack type benefits from the strength and accuracy boost that occurs every 10 turns.

Attacks are determined using a weighted system. At the start of each turn, a random number from 1-100 is rolled. If the roll is greater than a hidden statistic, the enemy will use their first attack and its associated stats; if it is smaller than the first hidden stat but greater than a second hidden stat, they will use their second attack. If both checks fail, they will use a third attack. Some enemies do not have a full set of three attacks, and instead set either attack 1 or 2 to succeed 100% of the time, leaving the remaining numbers dummied or blank.


 * Attack Types 0-4: Standard Attacks (details below)


 * Attack Type 5: Supervolt


 * Attack Type 6: Hanny Flash


 * Attack Type 7: Illusion Sword


 * Attack Type 8: Memory Killer (Windows exclusive?)

Standard Attacks
Similar to Rance's attacks. An Attack Roll is made using the chosen attack's Attack stat, and compared to an Evasion roll for Rance.

If the attack hits, an Attack Value Roll is made against a Defence Roll for Rance's combined body armour and shield defence ratings (Rance's level does not factor into this roll, nor do enemies have an equivalent). So if the attack has an Attack Value of 10, it can cause from 11-20 damage, and if Rance has a combined defence rating of 10, he can absorb 11-20 damage.

If an enemy has multiple physical attack types in its repertoire, these may use different flavour text to help you tell them apart, but this is not necessarily the case. As a result, an enemy's physical attacks may seem weak one turn and strong another, as they are actually using two seperate attacks.

The standard attacks' flavour texts are compared below. The Japanese version uses slightly more variety, but may mention a weapon even if the enemy doesn't have one. The English version circumvents this problem by only mentioning the weapon in the coliseum.


 * Attack Type 0 or 1: English - "X attacked." Japanese - "殴り掛かってきた. " ("X struck.")


 * Attack Type 2: English - "X counterattacked." Japanese - "蹴り掛かってきた. " ("X kicked.")


 * Attack Type 3: English (Standard Fight) - "X attacked." English (Coliseum) - "X swung its weapon." Japanese - "剣を振り回してきた. " ("X swung its weapon.)


 * Attack Type 4: English - "X attacked." Japanese - "体当りしてきた. " ("X tackled.")

If Rance's attack is reduced to 0, you get a Game Over. Some battles have unique Game Over messages from Alice.

Special Attacks
Supervolt and Memory Killer cannot miss. Hanny Flash will hit unless the player has the Haniwa Bronze Statue, in which case it will always miss. Mirage Attack will only miss if the player has solved the puzzle required to avoid it as part of the plot.
 * Supervolt and Mirage Attack deal damage as per a standard attack, using the selected attack's Attack Value.
 * Hanny Flash deals damage equal to an attack roll using the attack's Attack Value - it ignores Rance's Defence.
 * Memory Killer removes an amount of EXP equal to the attack's Attack Value (or whatever the player has left, if they have less than that).

Fleeing
The player can attempt to flee from standard battles, but not from: The player has a 50% chance of escaping successfully..
 * The thief who charges you 200 GOLD to pass, if you choose to fight him.
 * The head thief.
 * Any coliseum match.
 * Kanami.