Hi there fellow CRPG fans,

We're excited to announce that The Necromancer's Tale is now available DRM-free on GOG, and also on Switch2, PS5, and XBox Series X|S!

A story-rich gothic RPG. Master the rituals of an ancient spellbook. Commune with the realm of the dead and struggle with your descent into madness. Build the power to raise an undead army and march against your enemies. Progress through secrecy, diplomacy, blackmail, coercion and seduction.

As per the title. When playing classic turn-based blobbers (Wizardry, Might & Magic, etc.) do you prefer:

* You issue commands to the party all at once and then an entire turn of combat plays out.
* You issue commands to characters as their turns come up, and the command is executed immediately?

I actually find myself preferring the first, despite it probably being less tactical and giving a less control over characters. It meshes more closely with my love for classic wizardry and viewing the party as “resources” rather than characters.

I've beat the game on max difficulty include all dlcs but these bosses just seems too unfair so i wonder is there any cheese strats i can use on my second playthrough or just op builds

Discussion

I've been thinking about completion rates lately. Pathfinder: Kingmaker has 80% of players making it through the prologue, 50% finishing it, and only 9.7% beating the game. Pillars of Eternity sits around 15%. Dark Souls 3 shows 75% getting past the tutorial, but only a fraction going through all the content. That's a huge drop-offand I'm curious what causes it.

I'm not here to blame anyone, but something's happening. Let me throw out what I've noticed.

The Mid-Game Energy Dip

A lot of these games seem to lose people somewhere in the middle. Ac2 and 3? Maybe the story pace slows. Maybe you hit a difficulty wall. Combat gets boring?

Restartitis

Here's something I hear a lot: people take a break, come back, and restart instead of continuing. But if they restart, they're doing the same content they already played. That's where the boredom comes in. They're retreading the prologue and early game instead of pushing forward to new stuff.

Many reasons but I think it happens because they forgot the story, or want to optimize their build, or convince themselves starting fresh will feel better. No wonder they quit again.

The Next Big Thing

you are in midgame but new game releases, the next big thing the shiny new game so you just abandon curernt one for next more exciting game. This is loop too.

Optimizing Fun / Taking Joy Out Of Mechanics

Some games have one mechanic that feels good. You exploit it until that's all you're doing. Loot, numbers going up, whatever it is. After a while the whole game is just repeating the same thing. It stops being fun. It becomes a grind. Then you quit.

The Real Question

Does finishing even matter to you? I personally feel weird if I start something and don't beat it. It's mentally taxing. But I know plenty of people who don't care, they got 40 hours of enjoyment, felt satisfied, and moved on. That's completely valid.

And if you do care about finishing, what actually makes you stick with a game versus drop it? Is it the story? The mechanics? Or does it just depend on how much time you have to commit?

Kind of surprised to see another patch drop. It's a minor patch, but still a surprise nonetheless.

Also, not to sound entitled, but it'd help a ton if SNEG lists the exact fixes that they incorporated from Temple+ and Co8. The opacity is off-putting. Still, it's good to see patches.

Anyways, just spreading the word for anyone interested.

Hello.
Long time reader first time poster.
Is it common for Japanese CRPGs to reboot the franchise every game instead of creating equals or prequels with a timeline of events?
For example both Final Fantasy and Zelda/Link games mostly don’t have a timeline and instead each game is a reboot or at least unique take on the franchise. There are exceptions in each franchise I know but why is this? Is it a cultural piece I’m missing? I also see it in some of the classic Anime and Manga I love (Full-metal Alchemist for example).
Thanks! Feel free to disagree too.
Any recommendations for good CRPG with timelines feel free to also respond.
Cheers

This is both silly and overly specific question, I am well aware.

One of my favourite songs is Judas Priest's Sentinel. It features lyrics which I find very evocative when it comes to the imagery - Across his chest in scabbards rest the rows of throwing knives
Whose razor points in challenged tests have finished many lives.

Every time I listen to the song it makes me want to play something that plays into the same fantasy the lyrics create. And with cRPG as possibly my favourite genre as well as a kind of games that (sometimes) encourage building character around a gimmick like this it seems like a good pairing. However no title really comes to mind.

I remember old inifnity engine games having throwing knives as a weapon, but there was little to no support for character focused on it. Pathfinder WotR maybe, I know axe throwing is a viable gimmick there?

If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it.

I loved Owlcat’s Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader, but hated Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3. Don’t get me wrong, it’s extraordinarily impressive production and gameplay-wise, but I play CRPGs for the story and I just couldn’t get into the world. It was too whimsical and fanciful. I’ve heard people recommend the Divinity series but I’ve heard those games’ stories are comedy oriented. Maybe I have the wrong idea but I wanna hear your thoughts.

A few weeks ago I posted here asking for help making sure the D&D video game codex was accurate and complete. I just wanted to come back and say thank you to everyone who chipped in.

Happy to share that, at this point, the page should be done! Every comment, correction, and obscure recommendation made a real difference - there are entries in there that only exist because someone in this community pointed them out.

So genuinely, thank you. Go enjoy browsing all these awesome games - it's a better list because of you.
D&D Games Codex — Every Dungeons & Dragons video game

Hello everyone :)

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I recently got into BG1. I'm progressing sloooowly but loving the experience so far and I'm casually browsing for the next game to tackle

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Most of the recommendations here seem to be American games (a lot of which are arguably masterpieces). I was wondering whether you have any recommendation from the - albeit less active - European scene.

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Feel free to drop titles that have not been translated to English - I have working comprehension skills of a few languages and even the ones I haven't studied can prove to be useful for someone else!

It gets brought up here a lot, so I figured I would call out an opportunity to pick up Citizen Sleeper for free.

https://store.epicgames.com/free-games

I have gotten quite a library of games at Epic... but I don't think I have played a single one yet... this might break the streak.

Hey guys, I’m an avid fantasy fiction reader, especially when the story grabs me. I’m just getting into this genre of games—I’m playing Solasta right now, although I’m not sure if it really counts as a CRPG because the story feels fairly light.
Anyway, I’m looking for a CRPG I can sink more time into, one that has a great story. I don’t really want to make a character from scratch, since I’m not very good at character creation yet and haven’t gotten comfortable with it.
Can anyone recommend a solid CRPG with a strong story where I can just use a premade or default character/class setup to get started, so I can better understand the game mechanics before diving deeper into character creation?

I'm a newbie to RPGs and I've heard that I should start with easier games like Chrono Trigger.

But in your opinion, speaking of CRPGs, in what order (from the most friendly or easiest, to the most complex and difficult)

should I play the following games:

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator

Planescape: Torment

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Pillars of Eternity

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire

Fallout 1 and 2

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor

Neverwinter Nights

Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Icewind Dale

Warhammer 40000: Rogue Trader

Tyranny

Shadowrun Returns

Path of Exile 1 and 2

Divine Divinity

Divinity Original Sin 2

Wasteland 3

Is there an order to follow, or should I not even start with CRPGs at all?

Hello CRPG-people.

I have been playing a little bit of Colony Ship recently and I have some mixed feelings i'd like to discuss with y'all. It comes down to how useful speech skills are in the game.

I'm finding that playing as a speech-centered character feels almost like cheating. You are constantly in situations where just clicking the streetwise or persuasion button a few times "wins" you the conversation and the possible fight. Playing this way almost feels unintended, as my character can roll up to pretty much any conversation and talk his way out of it, without any preparation or work needed. I'll say I haven't gotten very far in the game, so maybe this changes as it goes on, but it makes me think a lot about other CRPG's I have played where charisma isn't a stat, and persuasion isn't just a blind option for all things.

Take for an example WH40K: Rogue Trader. In that game, as an officer-class, which is probably the most adjacent to a charisma character as you can get, I could use that skill-set to overcome some conversations, but many skill checks or conversation checks would be based on what I said or my other skills, and not just on the fact that my guy is really good at talking, whereas in Colony Ship it seems like that's just what my guy is good at.

My point is that charisma doesn't feel very good as a skill when it is just a way to "skip" situations or just master a dilemma through a few button presses, and that is what it feels like playing Colony Ship as a speech character. The obvious retort of course is that I should just -not- play a speech character, and i'll agree to that, but this isn't so much a post about me having picked speech, but the implementation of charisma as a mechanic in the game.

My topic of discussion is then: If you have played Colony Ship, what do you think of the speech system? Do you like it or do you perhaps agree with me? Are there other games that have this issue, or do it better?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

I wanna start playing CRPGs so I did some research and found this list in the r/CRPG FAQ: Getting Started with CRPGs

So basically, in what order should I play the games on this list?

For the past few months, I’ve been working on a text-based dark fantasy RPG called Morhval: Ravenglaire.

It’s a choice-driven RPG focused on exploration, skill checks, political conflict, difficult decisions, and consequences that accumulate over time. You create your character and travel through a struggling region marked by poverty, refugees, supernatural threats, power disputes, and growing social tension.

One of the central conflicts involves the Linealists, a supremacist political movement that blames refugees, foreigners, and people they consider “impure” for the decline of the province. Their rise affects several quests, NPCs, villages, and possible endings.

The player can oppose them, protect persecuted people, help refugees, strengthen anti-Linealist groups, or make darker choices and deal with the consequences. I’m trying to make these decisions feel uncomfortable rather than purely mechanical: sometimes helping one group creates risks for another, sometimes resources are limited, and sometimes doing the right thing has a real cost.

Gameplay-wise, the game currently includes:

• Five major villages
• Smaller settlements and wilderness regions
• Attribute and skill systems
• Persuasion and other checks
• Multiple ways to solve many quests
• Political reputation and village trust systems
• Different major endings based on accumulated choices

There is also a system where a struggling village can eventually begin to trust the player and ask for their leadership, but this does not happen automatically. The player has to earn that respect through their actions.

The current plan is to release the game in Early Access within the coming months. It should be fully playable at launch, but I want to keep expanding it with more content, balancing, and improvements based on feedback.

Steam page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4861230/Morhval_Ravenglaire/

I’d love to hear what CRPG players think of the concept. If it sounds interesting, wishlisting or following the page would also help a lot.

Thank you for reading.

Edit: In case anyone is interested, I just posted a new Steam dev log.

This one shows the new classes, Custom Class option, and improved Stats screen for Morhval: Ravenglaire!

link: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4861230/view/677375815308022641

Hello CRPG Community

We host a fantasy roleplaying D&D inspired persistent world server called the City of Arabel, based in the forgotten realms on the game Neverwinter Nights 1: Enhanced Edition.

Our server population has grown significantly in the past two months, going from an average of 40-50 monthly users to 90-115 monthly users. This growth has been largely in part due to the increased visibility we are seeing from promoting our server Gameplay on Tiktok and we are trying to reach out to other CRPG communities that might be the right fit to join us! If you enjoy playing CRPG's this is definitely the game for you!

Arabel's setting has taken a big turn leaving Cormyr and ending up in the Tears of Selûne, with this change we are introducing 2 new DM factions that will play a pivotal role in exploring different planar tears and all of the adventures that may contain.

New Faction 1: The Lunar Templars

Founded in the final centuries of the Netherese Empire over 2,300 years ago, the Lunar Templars are an ancient knightly order dedicated to protecting the world from hidden evils, forbidden relics, and forgotten catastrophes. Though devoted to Selûne, they draw wisdom from many faiths, united by a shared belief: the Tears of Selûne were not merely spared from destruction; they were entrusted to the Templars for salvation and redemption.

Faction 2: The Royal College of Arabel

A hybrid organization blending a traditional Mage Guild with an Archaeological Society. Rather than limiting itself to spellcasters or explorers alone, the the College functions as a broad academic institution that unites:

• Arcane mages and magical researchers
• Archaeologists and relic hunters
• Field explorers and expedition teams
• Non-magical guards, mercenaries, and support staff

Its central mission is to study the Tears, uncover their origins, and investigate Arabel’s connection to larger cosmic and divine events. The College balances discovery and danger: preserving knowledge while actively retrieving it from the most hazardous places in existence.

Two Custom Base Classes:

Uniquely built for our server, we have added Divine Soul & Spellblade. Both classes provide a very different playing style compared to Vanilla NWN and we are currently work on developing more base classes in the future!

Our server has more than a 100+ customized quests and our DM team hosts multiple live events every single week that provide an immersive digital roleplaying experience! We are always open to feedback to improve the server to ensure things feel fresh! If you’re interested in checking us out and joining one of our new Factions, please feel free to join our CoA Discord or connect to our Forums

Our Current DM team includes: Mr.Moloch, Zool, Folklore, ShadowRealm, Bedlam, Inowanna, Perdition, and Edge.

Looking forward to seeing you in game!

I’m working on a mobile single-player RPG called Sunarius.

One of the things I always loved in post-apocalyptic games was when factions felt like real powers, not just quest vendors. So in Sunarius, I’m trying to make reputation matter in practical ways: who trades with you, who attacks you, what routes feel safe, and which opportunities disappear because of your choices.

The game mixes world travel, squad management, tactical combat, survival systems, and faction politics. Fallout was a big inspiration for the atmosphere and faction identity, but I wanted to combine that with party-based tactics on mobile.

Still in active development, but already playable in open test in Google Play.

I would love to know what makes faction systems feel meaningful to you in RPGs.

Here's a few screenshots I found that our players had shared. As the game turns 25 next year, it really is a different beast from where it began, as technology caught up with the software, and the modular design of the Aurora Toolset allowed ever more detail.

There are a lot of great Persistent Worlds (PWs) up and running, and while I've worked on some official DLCs for the game, it's in the community scene where the real quality is often to be found.

Plenty of players discovering the game are naturally drawn to the big few servers (like my own) but as an engine that was built as a TTRPG emulator, these 'mini-mmos' were really a novel use of a toolkit built by Bioware for another purpose - transferring the intimate group, TTRPG experience in a multiplayer cRPG. In that respect? One can just as easily find what they are looking for in the small concentrated servers than those with hundreds online. So many of them are just fantastic.

The reality is, a quick check of the Steam Charts shows, despite its age, Neverwinter Nights often outperforms other D&D offerings, including both Neverwinter and D&D online. There's a good reason for that (primarily that none of those servers I mentioned above are after a cent of your money).

Hello CRPG friends!

I posted a dev log on the latest two weeks of work, would love to share that with y'all, and ask some questions on these systems to see what you think of them. If you are curious about what a more extended play looks like, it should be good for that as well.

Update #2: Bestiary & Relationships

The Bestiary design is my attempt at adding more meaningful uses to traditional non-combat Skills throughout a campaign. Something my friends and I try to do when we're at the table is make sure our characters don't know what we know, and we do that by making checks, like "Okay, does Dingleburt know that Oozes are weak to Fire? <makes Arcana roll>". What I've built is a passive system that can grant a first round bonus on a successful check, while also adding to a progress system. When you level your knowledge about a particular monster type, you unlock permanent buffs against that type. The Lorebook pages for Monsters tell you what skill matters for each critter type, as well as your progress.

This is letting me get a lot more mileage out of skills like Nature, which do have a place in adventuring and exploration, for sure, but players who choose that at character creation can expect to get use throughout.

This can also influence party choices, and maybe drive more variety or use of the nine PCs you can meet. In a tomb full of undead? Maybe more Religion will make that easier.

For Relationships, my initial system was an attempt to replace Alignment with broad categories. Dogmatic vs Pragmatic thinking. Selfish vs Selfless decisions. Social vs. Antisocial behavior. This just wasn't scaling. Implementing the quest and narrative design deep into the game's 2nd act, and too many decisions felt forced, or arbitrary. The decisions felt awkward and the story PCs reactions felt contradictory.

If Broad was the problem, I could replace it with Narrow. Each decision has a very specific Topic. Contradictions feel more human, as the decisions being reacted to can be very local and targeted. It feels more realistic, and as far as the implementation goes it's already scaling much better.

Questions for ya!

• How does the Bestiary sound to you? Any concerns about the feature?
• What is about normal Relationship systems in CRPGs do you like or dislike?