Recommend me story-driven PC RPGs for diplomatic characters

[genci88]

Especially pre-1997 ones, since I'm not very familiar with that era.

I tend to always max out the charisma/speech/diplomacy modifiers, because I find talking my way out of battles a lot more satisfying than fighting. However, very few games properly support diplomats. Fallout 1, 2, Arcanum, and PS:T are good, but what about other games?

It seems to me that all older RPGs tend to focus on the action. They have plenty of stats, but I can't talk my way out of battles. I also absolutely hate action-RPGs like Diablo or Titan Quest.

So, can you recommend me some RPGs that have plenty of story, but little action (and are friendly to diplomats)?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I can tell you that even if all the games ever made that fit your criteria were listed, it would still be a short list. And you've already mentioned the best titles on it.

 

[Jools]

Curious, how there is no "new shit" fitting those criteria. What about FNV and the pacifist playthrough? Does it make it count then?

In fact it's fucking annoying how most RPG's nowaday feature some diplomatic/charisma skill that allegedly lets the player talk your way through quests and out of hairy situations, but in the end the player is only allowed to do so for one quest every 20 or so...

Anyway, I have a major memory leak: I remember playing a recent game like that, but can't really recall which.

There's a live action game which is pretty much like that tho, it's called "girlfriend". It's real hardcore: permadeath, no savegames, any casualty and the game is over, every little word counts and can lead to disastrous results, and a gameover will also uninstall the game and prevent you from installing it on your system again.

 

[genci88]

Thanks for the responses.

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

I keep reading a lot of good things about FNV here at the Codex. I am planning to give it a try (and skip Fallout 3). But really, graphics are unimportant to me, so older games are fine.

How is Betrayal at Krondor BTW (story and dialogue wise)? I haven't played it, but I have seen it on GoG and am not sure what to make of it.

 

[hanssolo]

BaK is absolutely amazing, easily one of the greatest RPGs to come out of the golden age, and well worth playing, but not really what you're looking for, it's pretty much on-the-rails story-wise (you can more or less go where you please, but as far as story-progression goes, you don't have a lot of options). Sit tight waiting for Age of Decadence, I guess, because the 4 you've listed are more or less the only games to take the diplomatic rpg idea seriously (RIP Black Isle.)

 

[Bromancer]

Zybourne Clock.

 

[Xor]

SimCity 2000

 

[baronjohn]

Curious, how there is no "new shit" fitting those criteria. What about FNV and the pacifist playthrough? Does it make it count then?

In fact it's fucking annoying how most RPG's nowaday feature some diplomatic/charisma skill that allegedly lets the player talk your way through quests and out of hairy situations, but in the end the player is only allowed to do so for one quest every 20 or so...

IIRC you don't have to kill anyone except House on the independent path.

 

[made]

Re: Recommend me story-driven PC RPGs for diplomatic charact

Especially pre-1997 ones

They were called adventures back then.

 

[The Ninth Circle]

Curious, how there is no "new shit" fitting those criteria. What about FNV and the pacifist playthrough? Does it make it count then?

In fact it's fucking annoying how most RPG's nowaday feature some diplomatic/charisma skill that allegedly lets the player talk your way through quests and out of hairy situations, but in the end the player is only allowed to do so for one quest every 20 or so...

IIRC you don't have to kill anyone except House on the independent path.

Not sure,

Spoiler

but even House is killed outside of combat.

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

Because people like to shoot shit. That, and it's much easier to fill the world with combat than it is to fill it with dialog paths for quests.

 

[Yeesh]

Thanks for the responses.

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

Because choosing dialog options isn't very thrilling. Take the combat out of CRPGs, and you've got an adventure game with a lot of extraneous stats. Plus, while there are a lot of games where combat tends to get samey (and that's certainly something devs should avoid), a CRPG in which you just pump your speaking skills features gameplay which is the ultimate in sameness. You get all the right dialog options, every time. Where's the room for even a little variation between encounters? Sure, maybe there can be a few different paths you could talk your way to, but where's the skill? How are you going to screw up, unless the options are random or arbitrary? Which comes back to the gameplay being not so thrilling.

How could you even put in a level of challenge? All you can introduce to the talk-your-way-through-things game is randomness. Unless you want to put in quicktime events or something.

 

[mondblut]

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

Because RPGs are a fucking subgenre of WARGAMES.

 

[CrimHead]

Pre-1997? There are no such games. Fallout was probably the first RPG to incorporate such heavy dialouge and reactivity, but other can tell you more about that.

 

[Turisas]

IIRC you don't have to kill anyone except House on the independent path.

Naw, you don't need to kill him either.

Spoiler

Well, not actively anyway. By opening his cocoon thingie you pretty much write his death sentence since he has no immunity whatsoever against... anything, but you don't have to shoot him - you can just leave him there, disconnected from the control system. It's what I did in my evil playthrough, slow agonizing death is much more fun than a bullet to the head.

 

[ironyuri]

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

Because RPGs are a fucking subgenre of WARGAMES.

What the fuck is this I don't even

 

[Brotherman Bill]

Vampire bloodlines perhaps? Well, at least the first two thirds of it.

 

[CrimHead]

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

Because RPGs are a fucking subgenre of WARGAMES.

What the fuck is this I don't even

 

[314159]

Re: Recommend me story-driven PC RPGs for diplomatic charact

Especially pre-1997 ones, since I'm not very familiar with that era.

I tend to always max out the charisma/speech/diplomacy modifiers, because I find talking my way out of battles a lot more satisfying than fighting. However, very few games properly support diplomats. Fallout 1, 2, Arcanum, and PS:T are good, but what about other games?

Why do you need RPGs for that crap? Try to play Monkey Island or something, for fuck's sake.

 

[oscar]

Darklands had bluff/persuade/plead your way out of many encounters. Damn, it seems more and more my answer to rpg questions on this site it "Darklands".

 

[SkeleTony]

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

Because RPGs are a fucking subgenre of WARGAMES.

What the fuck is this I don't even

It is 100% accurate. RPGs came from wargames. Do a Google search for "Chainmail" + E. Gary Gygax + Dave Arneson + "Dungeons and Dragons".

RPGs differed from traditional squad-based tactical wargames only in that the "characters" were more developed, statistically and could improve with experience.

 

[Relay]

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

Because RPGs are a fucking subgenre of WARGAMES.

What the fuck is this I don't even

It is 100% accurate. RPGs came from wargames. Do a Google search for "Chainmail" + E. Gary Gygax + Dave Arneson + "Dungeons and Dragons".

RPGs differed from traditional squad-based tactical wargames only in that the "characters" were more developed, statistically and could improve with experience.

That, and you stuck with the same few characters for many campaigns until they were too high level and unfun and you start over again.
There is a reason why all the first classes in RPGs were all about hacking at dungeons. The fighter (kill teh monsters in the dungeon), the cleric (to heal the fighter), the wizard (portable nuke), the rogue (fuck traps and open locks in dungeons)... it's not about storyfaggotry.

And this :

The wargames from which Dungeons & Dragons evolved used miniature figures to represent combatants. D&D initially continued the use of miniatures in a fashion similar to its direct precursors. The original D&D set of 1974 required the use of the Chainmail miniatures game for combat resolution.

Even P&P at the time didn't let you play the kind of character you could play in Fallout, the "pure diplomat" motherfucker who can do a full campaign with only his charisma and speech skills.

 

[Nickless]

You could avoid a lot of combat in Storm of Zehir with the right skills. You can almost complete the end sequence without any combat whatsoever if you handle yourself appropriately, although there still will be a boss fight (However you're far more likely to have used less spells if this is the case, meaning you'll be better prepared for the final showdown)

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Zybourne Clock.

 

[Ruprekt]

A "diplomatic" RPG is going to end up looking something like The Guild games.

If you excel at deal making and social interaction it isnt' going to be the best use of your talents to try them on the denizens of the goblin mines.

 

[ironyuri]

Why are non-violent paths so scarce in RPGs?

Because RPGs are a fucking subgenre of WARGAMES.

What the fuck is this I don't even

It is 100% accurate. RPGs came from wargames. Do a Google search for "Chainmail" + E. Gary Gygax + Dave Arneson + "Dungeons and Dragons".

RPGs differed from traditional squad-based tactical wargames only in that the "characters" were more developed, statistically and could improve with experience.

Yeh, that's fine. But what about the fucking Dungeon Master crafting a setting for your party using the rulebooks and setting books? Telling the story about what your party is doing.

They might have broken away from wargames but RPGs are not a fucking sub-genre. That's like saying that realist literature is a subgenre of classicism just because it broke from it and became a new form in itself.

Why the fuck are mechanic-fags such idiots? RPGs involve a huge degree of story telling and setting construction as the backdrop for your mechanics. Otherwise they are just wargames which are purely mechanical.

Get the fuck out of here Stalker!