History Main / MoraleMechanic

Related to DespairEventHorizon and LosingTheTeamSpirit. Opposite of AttackAttackAttack. MookCommander may have a play on the troops' morale. See also SanityMeter, which similarly simulates the game characters' fear of the supernatural (as opposed to fear of simple death), BreakMeter, which simulates the enemy's defenses wearing down (rather than their will to fight), and ArtificialInsolence, a more general trope for disobedient units. For a ''morality'' mechanic, see KarmaMeter.

* ''TabletopGames/KillDrLucky'' has Spite tokens, which represent the character's frustration at their failure to, well, kill Doctor Lucky. They add one to each weapon's score, and can be spent to stop an assassination attempt from succeeding.

** ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'' has a unique morale mechanic for each faction. The Dwarfs never suffer civil wars inside their own borders due to racial UndyingLoyalty, but they note all the wrongs against them as [[ThisIsUnforgivable "Grudges"]] which have to be fulfilled otherwise the Dwarfholds begin to feel discontentment and shame, leading to decreased economic efficiency and diplomatic penalties with the minor Dwarfholds. The [[BloodKnight Greenskins]] have a "fightiness" meter which fills as armies enter battles and drains due to losing battles repeatedly or just inactivity; a full bar will give free units and hefty bonuses to existing units while an empty one will lead to attrition losses as the frustrated and fight-deprived Orcs begin turning on each other. The undead {{Mooks}} of the Vampire Counts are immune to morale damage and never run away from losing battles or units that cause Terror, but being in battle too far from a Hero will cause it to "crumble" as the magic bindings animating them begin to fall apart: Vampire Counts also have a strategic mechanic in the form of [[TheCorruption Vampire Corruption]]; high Corruption in an enemy living province causes armies of undead to spontaneously rise up, and low Corruption in Vampire-dominated provinces causes revolts as the surviving peasantry grow a spine and grab their TorchesAndPitchforks. Generally, the standard ''Total War'' morale mechanic stays, but this time killing [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking the enemy commander]] [[OneManArmy is often easier said than done]].

* Morale appears again in ''VideoGame/MetalGearsolidVThePhantomPain'', though it isn't as important as it was in ''Peace Walker''. Returning to Mother Base and standing close enough to a soldier (or using the "knock" command to get their attention) will cause them to turn and salute you, increasing their morale. This morale drops over time, and while staff members won't leave due to low morale, they'll lose the stat boost morale gives them as time passes.

** [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles The first game]] has Tension, that improves party's combat performance when high, and hampers it when low. It can be increased by several means, but the biggest Tension increases come from [[ScrewDestiny preventing the enemy]] from using a powerful attack that Shulk [[CombatClairvoyance sees in a vision]]. However, when a party member dies, it's all but guaranteed to put the rest to very low tension, where most attacks flat-out miss. Party members can [[ComebackMechanic cheer up each other]], but if there's only member left, you're screwed.

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', when a humanoid enemy (usually bandits or civilians) reach a certain health threshold, they drop to the ground while crying out for mercy or declaring their surrender. Sometimes subverted when they run away, only to heal and attack again.

* ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'' has a "Style" mechanic. If a party member's Style percentage is high enough, they will survive a fatal blow with their HP dropping into the negatives. This acts like a LastChanceHitPoint: that character will die in their next turn unless the player can finish the battle or recover their HP so that it's above zero.
* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' essentially treats the detective's morale as an alternate HitPoint pool, with a skill (Volition) used to increase it. If he suffers too many humiliating defeats in a row, he'll quit the case and the game ends.

Related to DespairEventHorizon and LosingTheTeamSpirit. Opposite of AttackAttackAttack. MookCommander may have a play on the troops' morale. See also SanityMeter, which similarly simulates the game characters' fear of supernatural (as opposed to fear of simple death), and BreakMeter, which simulates the enemy's defenses wearing down (rather than their will to fight). For a ''morality'' mechanic, see KarmaMeter.

* In ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden 3'', using the fire dragon Ninpo will cause the weakest enemies around to drop their weapons, cower and beg for their lives. If you so chose, you can finish them off regardless.

** It's taken even farther in Samurai Warriors, where individual troops have their own morale. Killing a troop's leader or flag bearer causes him to flee in fear. Defeating an officer has the potential of making everyone cower away. The battlefield usually contains "high enemy morale zones", indicated by red spots on the mini-map. Enemies in these zones have more health, are more resistant to knockback, deal more damage, and are overall harder to kill. Several characters even have the ability to manipulate the morale of either their own troops or the morale of the enemy through their own special skills.

[[folder: In-Universe Examples]]

* During the RTS section of ''VideoGame/KingArthurTheRoleplayingWargame'', there's an overall morale bar which diminishes as your forces take damage and goes up as you take important sites. How much morale your army starts off before the battle, depends on how well your forces mesh. If they have differing alignments, this will reduce your maximum morale per every conflicting unit. As such, your morale could be so low that getting hit once - fatality or not - will cause your army to lose instantly.

* ''VideoGame/{{Frostpunk}}'' has two meters: Hope and Discontent. Your job is to keep the citizens' Hope high and Discontent low. If either go to the extremes, your citizens will threaten to overthrow you until you get it to acceptable levels. Good living conditions will keep them at good levels, but passing laws can help with managing either, [[spoiler:and the final extreme law in the Purpose branch permanently replaces Hope with [[TheEmpire Obedience]] or [[TheTheocracy Devotion]].]]
** "The Last Autumn" replaces Hope with Motivation, which is a straighter example. If Motivation is high, it greatly boosts the efficiency of all your workplaces. If it's too low, it tanks productivity, you'll never be overthrown for having Motivation drop to zero. Discontent does the same except higher levels will increase the chance of your workers going on strike.

* This is the most important game mechanic in ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant''. When your ally morale is at blue, then you can deal more damage to the enemy; however, if the enemy gauge is at red instead, then enemies will have severe advantages against you. In addition, there's also the Union Morale which has a small yellow gauge at the leader of the union's stats. If it's full, then the union leader may unleash a LimitBreak.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' had a Morale score for each monster or NPC (enemy or ally), as well as Resist Fear saving throws. Failing the latter caused the monster to panic and run away. There were, however, fearless monsters, such as the basic undead that lack self-preservation instinct. It also had spells like Fear, which caused the same effects as regular panic attacks and could be resisted in the same way (albeit at a penalty)--"had" being the operative term. While magical fear effects and such things as "morale" bonuses and penalties to e.g. attacks and saving throws were retained, the morale ''mechanic'' was dropped from the game with the advent of its third edition... presumably leading to an [[AttackAttackAttack overall increase in NPC casualty rates]] at gaming tables across the globe.

Depending on the implementation, the game may either run a randomized morale check whenever these conditions occur, or slowly chip away at each unit's morale until it flees. Either way, advanced units will typically be more resistant to morale loss than more basic ones. Occasionally, enemy morale may be broken artificially via StandardStatusEffects like "Fear" and "Confuse".

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has a Status indicator separate from StandardStatusEffects that determine how well a party member can fight: "Good" is the default status; "Great" can be achieved by sleeping early or napping in class and grant bonus accuracy and critical rates; "Tired" results from fighting in Tartarus for too long and will penalize defense, accuracy, and recovery from being knocked down; and "Sick" results from overexerting oneself when tired and results in sharp stat penalties and taking ever longer to recover from being knocked down.

* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series features enemy morale as a staple mechanic. Grunts and Jackals are prone to panicking if you deal heavy casualties to their squads, either by taking out their Elite or Brute leaders, or by killing a portion of lesser enemies in quick succession.

* ''VideoGame/{{Frostpunk}}'' has two meters: Hope and Discontent. Your job is to keep the citizens' Hope high and Discontent low. If either go to the extremes, your citizens will threaten to overthrow you until you get it to acceptable levels. Good living conditions will keep them at good levels, but passing laws can help with managing either, [[spoiler:and the final extreme law in the Purpose branch replaces Hope with permanent Obedience or Devotion.]]
** "The Last Autumn" replaces Hope with Motivation, which is a straighter example. If Motivation is high, it greatly boosts the efficiency of all your workplaces. If it's too low, it tanks productivity, although it never results in you being kicked out if you let it empty.

Related to DespairEventHorizon and LosingTheTeamSpirit. Opposite of AttackAttackAttack. MookCommander may have a play on the troops' morale. See also SanityMeter, which similarly simulates the game characters' fear of supernatural (as opposed to fear of simple death), and BreakMeter, which simulates the enemy's defenses wearing down (rather than their will to fight). For a morale mechanic, see KarmaMeter.

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/DynastyWarriors https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/campaign_battleb.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:In the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' games, morale is indicated with a blue and red bar, each representing an opposing side]]

In games featuring tactical combat (particularly strategy games), players expects their units/characters to fulfill every order to the best of their capacity, e.g. by performing a heroic LastStand when ordered. Some games, however, feature an improved AI that starts to ignore player's (human or computer) orders when faced with overwhelming odds and instead attempts to [[CowardlyMooks flee]] or to yield.

Related to DespairEventHorizon and LosingTheTeamSpirit. Opposite of AttackAttackAttack. MookCommander may have a play on the troops' morale. See also SanityMeter, which similarly simulates the game characters' fear of supernatural (as opposed to fear of simple death), and BreakMeter, which simulates the enemy's defenses wearing down (rather than their will to fight). For a moral mechanic, see KarmaMeter.

* ''Lords Of The Realm 3'' (being somewhat of a FollowTheLeader of ''Total War'') uses morale for each of your units, the base of which is modified by several factors such as your chivalry rating, unit type, and whether the opponent is showing No Quarter (a morale ''increase''; your soldiers are aware that fleeing is more dangerous than fighting). Then, once the fighting starts, morale can increase on victory, or decrease on bad situations or excessive losses, until the unit eventually routs. Some unit types, such as Scottish Highlanders, start with such high morale that they will almost always fight to the death.

* ''VideoGame/WarhammerDarkOmen'' and its predecessor Shadow Of The Horned Rat has its units given a Leadership rating (companies with a captain will use the captain's Leadership). Events that cause a morale check (such as getting charged, getting flanked, facing a terrifying enemy and etc.) that will roll against the Leadership rating. If it fails, then the unit will turn and run without any attempt to protect themselves.

* Every hero in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' has a Stress meter which measures how well a character is holding up against the horrors of the battles that they must face. Getting critted, suffering various attacks, seeing comrades die, going hungry, and suffering the effects of various curios and such will all add stress. Gaining too much Stress during a quest will run the risk of a character getting Afflicted, and gaining entirely too much will have the hero suffer a heart attack and be sent immediately to Death's Door (and outright die if they're already at Death's Door). You can heal stress in a variety of ways - through having heroes visit the Tavern or the Chapel, through use of various curios, and through using various campfire skills, and some characters have the ability to heal stress in battle.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/campaign_battleb.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:In the Dynasty Warriors games, morale is indicated with a blue and red bar, each representing an opposing side]]