History Main / EncounterBait

Contrast EncounterRepellant, which makes the enemies stay away. Some games are known to have both.

* In ''RedDeadRedemption'', you may use bait to attract wild animals.

* "Enemy Welcome" and the higher-level "Enemy Challenge" in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''. However, they're sub-applications [[PowersAsPrograms installed]] on the [[PoweredArmor Demonica]], so they remain effective for as long as they're installed.

* In Zeboyd Games' ''BreathOfDeathVII'' and ''CthulhuSavesTheWorld'', the "Fight" command in the menu forces your party into a battle if you're outside a town. Since each zone has a finite number of RandomEncounters (20 for individual dungeons, and 200 for the OverworldNotToScale), this command can be used even if that cap has been used up, just in case you want to {{level grind|ing}} just before a tough boss battle. Alternatively, it can be used near a HealingCheckpoint to grind out all the Random Encounters at once with a handy recharge between battles, as well as making exploration easier once the cap has been reached.

Contrast EncounterRepellant.

* In ''{{Nethack}}'' you can use the Create Monster spell to create a hostile random monster to kill. However, only wizards who have the wizard quest artifact regenerate {{Mana}} quickly enough to make casting this spell over and over and over a viable tactic.

* Dark Bottles in the ''Franchise/TalesSeries''. Although the encounters are pretty frequent anyhow, they turn the fights from one every five steps to one every two steps in the games that utilize random encounters. In the games with visible monsters, they make defeated monsters respawn much faster.

* Glitching out the Sneak Run program in the ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' games turns it into this instead of it working as EncounterRepellent as it should. There are also some variations on the concept with the Lock Enemy item that forces you to encounter the last enemy formation you fought and a variety of programs that force viruses of a certain element to appear.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' has the Lure Cap, which increases the RandomEncounter chance. Problem is, it's nowhere near effective as armor at that point in the game.

* Near the beginning of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' Uryu uses a Hollow-summoning bait during a contest with Ichigo to determine who can destroy the most Hollows.

* ''SpaceRangers II'' has the Transfactor Beacon, an artifact that causes the star system to be attacked by [[ForScience Kelleroid]] dominators -- useful both for LevelGrinding (until a [[ObviousRulePatch certain patch]], at least) and for causing EnemyCivilWar.

* ''ZanZarah'' had the Ocean Conch, which you got fairly early in the game but worked only on the water fairies (who were considerably less aggressive than other types), and Fairy Horn, which worked on every wild fairy.

* ''{{Terraria}}'' has a few of these items. The most straight example is the water candle that increases spawning rate of monsters when you're currently wiedling it. Then there's the Worm Food which summons the Eater of Worlds boss and the Strange Eye which summons the Eye Of Cthulhu boss.
** As of the introduction of potions, there is now a potion which greatly increases the spawn rate as well.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has a materia that raised encounter rates.

** Traveling in a zig-zag pattern (e.g. up, right, up, left, repeat) is also noted to increase the encounter rate in all generations including the first, because the player character turns to face that direction before taking an actual step. In fact, it is possible to generate RandomEncounters on demand by repeatedly tapping different directions on the control pad to turn the player character without taking any steps at all.

* ''FireEmblemAwakening'' has the Reeking Box item, which causes a company of [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Risen]] to show up on the map.

* In Zeboyd Games' ''BreathOfDeathVII'' and ''CthulhuSavesTheWorld'', the "Fight" command in the menu forces your party into a battle if you're outside a town. Since each zone has a finite number of RandomEncounters (20 for individual dungeons, and 200 for the {{world map}}), this command can be used even if that cap has been used up, just in case you want to {{level grind|ing}} just before a tough boss battle. Alternatively, it can be used near a HealingCheckpoint to grind out all the Random Encounters at once with a handy recharge between battles, as well as making exploration easier once the cap has been reached.

* Dark Bottles in the ''TalesSeries''. Although the encounters are pretty frequent anyhow, they turn the fights from one every five steps to one every two steps in the games that utilize random encounters. In the games with visible monsters, they make defeated monsters respawn much faster.

* ''FinalFantasyIV'' has Sirens, consumable items which force an encounter right then. Highly valued by completionists, as the encounter forced is fixed and is generally the rarest encounter in the area--which generally have the best treasures available as [[RandomlyDrops random drops]]. They're basically the only way to encounter Flan Princesses/Pink Puffs with any kind of regularity--ridiculously rare critters with ridiculously rare and valuable treasure.

* Glitching out the Sneak Run program in the ''{{Mega Man Battle Network}}'' games turns it into this instead of it working as EncounterRepellent as it should. There are also some variations on the concept with the Lock Enemy item that forces you to encounter the last enemy formation you fought and a variety of programs that force viruses of a certain element to appear.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has a monster bait materia.
* The "Whistle" skill in ''DragonQuest'' games always starts a battle.

* In Zeboyd Games' ''BreathOfDeathVII'' and ''CthulhuSavesTheWorld'', the "Fight" command in the menu forces your party into a battle if you're outside a town. Since each zone has a finite number of RandomEncounters (20 for individual dungeons, and 200 for the {{world map}}), this command can be used even if that cap has been used up, just in case you want to {{level grind|ing}} just before a tough boss battle.

* ''{{Tradewinds}} Legends'' has an item that causes you to encounter fewer storms, but more pirates.