A „supporting” character focused on making a fool of themselves/the enemy. Debuffing and making enemies go insane with just your presence?

I really like the CONCEPT of the baldurs gate 2 jester bard kit but reading that its actual abilities are mid and get replaced with the generic bard song at high levels anyway was a bummer. Even with a mod that addresses this somewhat- I’m still looking at what’s basically a worse bard. I want to play a character where this works and is valid.

The only game where I can come close is pf: wotr with different skald and arcanist archetypes kinda+the trickster path (sort of) but it’s not exactly that.

EDIT: corrected title - "Looking for games where you can play as a spellcaster using holy flames/light/lightning to deal damage

I'm looking for games where you can play as some kind of holy (preferrably ranged) spellcaster (priest, monk, cleric etc.) where you can spec mainly into damage and smite your foes with holy magic. I want pillars of light, radiant fireballs, lightning spears - this kind of "divine" stuff. Healing is not required but is a nice bonus. Some examples I enjoyed a lot:

1. Light Domain Cleric - BG3/DnD
2. Smiting Prayers Monk - Guild Wars
3. Guardian (especially Firebrand) - Guild Wars 2
4. Priest (damage specced) - Pillars of Eternity
5. Paladin with a Holy Bolt + Fist of the Heavens build - Diablo 2
6. Faith builds - Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring (especially Elden Ring - very nice variety)
7. Cleric from Neverwinter (MMO)

Here’s mine:

Combat: Dragon’s Dogma 2

Level design, exploration, and enemy targeting: Elden Ring

Puzzles: CrossCode

Quests and characters: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Opening and introduction: Hogwarts Legacy

Graphics: Demon’s Souls Remake

Cutscenes and cinematic presentation: Final Fantasy XVI

Optimization: Crimson Desert (just kidding)

I currently have Dell latitude 3440 with these specs-

• i3 processor 12th gen
• RAM 8GB
• SSD 512GB
• graphic card - Intel(R) UHD Graphics (128 MB)
• 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Tell me RPG games that are good quality and can run on these specs

It's a class I love to hate and right now, kinda hate how much I love. I hate it and love it (both) because of WoW, because of the griefing I received and came close to inflicting. That class, in that game specifically truly awakens something terrible in some people and I can't explain it why. They're the stereotypical backstabbing douchebags, that's their image. But as for how the class works? Literally has everything you want out of a rogue, so much utility, so many fun situational and RP skills, it's just so plain fun. In Classic, it's the most fun melee class for me handsdown. I love the warrior more, but rogue always just felt more dynamic because of the squishiness.

In other games I really like, I do try rogues but idk, I just never get the hang of them, or almost never. Even in my alltime favorite Diablo 2, the closest that game has to a rogue (Assassin) always felt clunky to use and I was horrendous with traps. In some others they're more alright, like the Bladedancer and Falconer (debatably rogue-y) from Last Epoch, very fun and Bladedancer especially - very powerful. But it's not my favorite class there either, not by a long stretch.

In turn based games they're invaluable of course, like you gotta have them for that sweet lockpicking or whatever but they're never my main character. I mained a rogue only once in Pathfinder, it was alright. It was knife master technically for those big crits. But nothing too impressive.

So for an otherwise rogue hating person like myself, side question in addition to the main point of my post: what game that isn't WoW should I play to fall in love with playing a rogue? Although I'm thinking it's just not a class fantasy that appeals to me and in WoW it was the gameplay that did it

I loved Fables XP system but only beat the second game. The combat was really fun, as well as the exploration. Dark Alliance was great for being relatively simple but not without a bit of thought, loved the second games fist fighting build with elemental stones giving you enchanted punches. Skyrim was fun but the game was already over a decade old by the time I got it. I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for, but I know it's got the choice between magic, melee and ranged, has some activety in the controls (not like osrs or menu choice clicking.) I don't care about any 4k graphics but if it looks worse than Dark Alliance I probably won't keep much interest. Really hoping someone knows of a perfect game for this fit.

I used to play ALOT of warframe as I found it so easy to sink so much time into it however i was recently banned due to a rather unfair interection between me and another player. Ive never really cared too much about destiny 2 as that has been mentioned a few times. I absolutely love games where the power progression is noticeable, both in numbers and in a visual. Ive played games like path of exile 1 and 2, diablo 3 and 4, monster hunter world, wilds, and rise and games along them lines. Pretty much anything where theres a progression for power and gear. One thing I struggle to stick with is when the game resets for a season like diablo 4, I spent alot of time perfecting my build just to lose it, and I feel like all my time was kinda wasted due to having to restart.

However ive had my fun with them and id love to hear some recommendations from others about games along this line. Any and all help is massively appreciated.

It should also be noted that I do play on ps5 so im rather limited in comparison to pc.

Newly announced JRPG, Amphibian, shared new gameplay today during the MIX Fall Showcase.

Description: A countrywide drought forces Sapo and his frog allies into war against the invading toads. As dehydration and starvation grip the pond, they must hurry to find a solution to the crisis - and liberate their homeland.

Go for it ! lots of strong contenders out there. Which has the best overall in your opinion? think about skills, Depth, & the overall believability of being a Necromancer. Also just going to throw in here that I think an Open World Warhammer fantasy RPG would make Skyrim old news.

I like the idea of codices more than I usually like actually reading them.

A game will drop six new entries after one conversation, and apparently one of them explains the war everyone keeps talking about. Technically, the information is there. But if I have to leave the story and read an encyclopedia just to understand what’s happening, it feels like the writers moved part of the plot into a menu. Mass effect is the obvious counterexample. Its codex had its own atmosphere, and the narrated entries were easy to get sucked into. But most games aren’t mass effect, and unlocking a wall of lore doesn’t automatically make the world feel deeper. Codices work best for the stuff that would sound ridiculous in normal dialogue: rumors, field notes, biased history, little details about how people actually live. They should make the world more interesting, not explain why the current quest matters.

Was there an RPG where you actually looked forward to new codex entries? I can think of plenty that trained me to ignore the notification.

What do you believe a crafting system must have to classify as a top tier crafting system in an rpg?

My big things I always hope for are:

1. More than a button press. I want steps or minigames to the craft.

2. The risk of failure. Nothing more boring than instantly crapping out 999 iron daggers with no change.

3. Different qualities. If I use better materials or do better in the crafting minigames or whatever, having it go up in stats is a huge plus.

What games have your favorite crafting systems? For me, its probably the Fantasy Life series.

Since having kids I'm finding it hard to squeeze the necessary gaming time out for the heavier storydriven CRPG's. I just started reading Dungeon Crawler Carl, and now I'm really feeling the itch for levelling up, equipping gear, building characters and such.I love reading in video games, but when work is done and the kids are sleeping I just want to go relatively straight to tactical battles.

Where can you go to get the usual turn based RPG experience in a way that has less story and that demands shorter playtime (both overall and individual sessions) than maybe is the case for BG3 and similar games?

Thanks in advance!

After 3 intense months, I’ve just finished KCD and KCD2.

Like many others, I was completely blown away—it’s on par with other great games in the genre. What should I play next that offers a similar level of narrative quality and the same joy of getting lost in a game world?

To give you an idea, over the last year and a half, I’ve completed Expedition 33, played through The Witcher 3 for the fifth time, and Baldur’s Gate 3 for the second. So, I’ve really been on a roll with absolute masterclasses.

Is Blood of the Dawnwalker just as good within its genre ? I’m particularly intrigued by it

Thanks!

Yesterday I unveiled the Steam page and reveal trailer for Myths from the Maw, a dark fantasy tactical RPG where sin corrupts your heroes. Delve into an otherworldly abyss to battle rival warbands, eldritch horrors, and corruption itself.

• Battle rival warbands in brutally tactical, turn-based skirmishes.
• Sacrifice blood to alien gods for power that corrupts your soul.
• Resist sin or greedy mercenaries will steal and prideful ones disobey.
• Lose men to betrayal as sinners defect to the Cult of the Maw.

The corruption system is inspired by Darkest Dungeon’s stress system, but built around player choice, so it’s more about making tough decisions that have consequences. The combat plays like strategy RPGs Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, but with emphasis on chess-like move and attack patterns, and a Battle Clock that mimics real-time while staying turn-based.

The story draws from Dante’s Inferno and is meant to be an examination of sin and corruption from a non-religious perspective. The worldbuilding is influenced by barbaric sword-and-sorcery realms, like those of Dark Sun and Conan the Barbarian. And of course Lovecraftian horror, where eldritch terrors represent sin made manifest, for a creepier and more perilous Maw.

As a dev, I just like to make games that mash up what I like about other games, worlds, and stories. Hopefully, I’ve tempted you to join my warband, and descend with me into the Maw.

The game will release on Steam (Win, Mac, Lin) and Steam Deck in 2028.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4140680/Myths_from_the_Maw/

I'm trying to get back into gaming after a long hiatus and only have a Steam Deck to play games on. As a long-time RPG player, I'm hoping to find an RPG to get lost in for a long time, but which also plays smoothly on the Deck.

To give you an impression of my tastes, the (MMO)RPGs I've played the most are Guild Wars, WoW, TES, Dragon Age, all Souls games.

I also love CRPGs, but I find that most of them (like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Pillars of Eternity) are simply not playable on the Steam Deck, because the controls are too reliant on keyboard and mouse. RPGs that are tailored to a controller scheme are therefore a must for me.

Could you please throw some recommendations my way? I've not gamed for such a long time that I've undoubtedly missed a lot of great titles (indie or otherwise), and I find that Steam tends to show only the most recent/popular.

Required:

• Plays smoothly on the Steam Deck
• No tinkering or modding required to play
• Great story/lore
• No steep learning curve
• Fun combat (either action, or turn-based)

Preferred:

• Fantasy or medieval setting, though also open to dystopian
• Open to JRPGs, though I prefer Western titles

What I've already tried/played:

• Oblivion (already know it inside out)
• Skyrim (idem ditto)
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 (great game, but the writing was just a bit too childish for my taste)
• Dragon Age: Origins (probably one of my favorites ever, but couldn't get the controls to work on the Deck)
• Drova (I know it's inspired by Gothic, but the learning curve was just too steep for me and the combat too clunky)
• Path of Exile (same as Diablo, these ARPGs are just nothing but mindless killing and looting to me)
• Disco Elysium (despite being an avid reader, I was bored too quickly)
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance (loved the story and setting, but the 'realistic' combat made me give up on it)
• Sekiro (the only From Software game I've not been able to finish due to combat difficulty)
• Octopath Traveller 2 (started out great, but I thought it got a bit too repetitive and shallow after a while)

Any recommendations will be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Hello fellow RPG fans!

I'm the lead developer of The Lich Wars - a story-driven RPG where you live the life of a musket soldier over a period of 30 years, across two wars of the undead and a turbulent peacetime. The Lich Wars is the prequel to the CRPG The Necromancer's Tale which we released in 2025.

We have just opened the game's Steam Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2245710/The_Lich_Wars/

The Lich Wars unfolds through branching interactive fiction, with RPG skills and skillchecks, and a unique narrative-driven combat system. It will have 300,000 words (estimated) of hand-written narrative from our team of writers (the same team that wrote The Necromancer's Tale), with lots of side-content as well as three main career paths. We're augmenting this with maps and 3D 'tabletop' scenes as well as hundreds of hand-drawn illustrations and character portraits.

Expected release date: late 2028.

For more details please see the Steam page, and of course I'd be very happy to discuss the game here too.

Developed in Japan or not, sometimes people forget certain games also RPGs despite the other labels they're given. Even if it's majorly marketed as something else, it's an RPG if it has much of what defines one. Such as equipment, statistics, dmg numbers visible, etc. Anyway, here are some games series that come to mind when having this discussion. How about you?

Subjectively, but I hope this goes without saying.

For reasons of pure nostalgia, my choice has always been Diablo 2, the barb there is the quintessential brawny, barely clothed muscle-machine of pure frenzy and death. It's also the reason that in all subsequent ARPGs I play classes that even remotely remind me of the barbarian (in Last Epoch it's the shaman, which despite the name feels more like a sort of magical barbarian than anything else, at least how I built mine) and in Grim Dawn it's of course the new beserker class they added in Fangs of Asterkarn, and so on and so forth.

I also enjoyed the Barb in BG3, mainly because in tabletop my favorite in 5e is the throw Barb. It allows for so much toyboxing since you're activelly encouraged to use improvised stuff (running tavern brawler) and knocking everything you hit prone is just the icing on the top. Strong build and extremely fun to play. So it'd put it second or even first in all fairness, if I disregard the D2 barb because again, it is a nostalgia pick more than anything.

What about you? I know there's barb enjoyers lurking among you