Medieval RPG with no magic

[Doom972]

After playing Game of Thrones: The Role Playing Game (Thanks Humble Bundle), I was beginning to wonder about the existence of more medieval RPGs with no magic.

Spoiler: Minor spoilers for Game of Thrones: The Role Playing Game here

GoT has you playing two characters, each with his own story: A Night Watch ranger and a red priest. The red priest can perform some magical feats, and so does one more NPC, which results in half of the game (The Night Watch ranger half) being completely magic free.

Having to battle using only wit and steel made the battles feel very satisfying for me, and while I love playing mage characters in RPGs, this almost-no-magic experience was very refreshing and left me wanting more.

Can anyone suggest no-magic medieval RPGs? Mods would also be appreciated, especially mods for The Witcher, Dragon Age: Origins and Skyrim.

 

[The Madman]

Easy, Mount & Blade: Warband. It's not an rpg in the same sense as those you mention, but it is an rpg and it's got no magical fantasy stuff. It gives you the tools needed to create your own epic saga and lets you loose to have fun. Heck, I've even been playing with the 1257AD mod recently which has the game set it, go figure, 1257AD Europe.

 

[AntiChri5]

Seconding Mount and Blade: Warband.

Although it has a strong focus on recruiting and leading a warband, rather then solo combat, it's the best "medieval" game out there with strong melee combat and absolutely no magic.

Direct, controlled combat is still important, even if you usually have more then 50 guys with you at a time. Standing back, assessing the battlefield, and seeing where one extremely capable warrior could tip the balance can be a lot of fun by itself. Then there is tournaments and duels, assassinations and barfights.......

 

[Tom_green_day]

Could Dark Souls count? Apparently it has magic but I spent a whole playthough without finding any. I guess it isn't medieval strictly, but it's swords and armour type stuff.

 

[AntiChri5]

The weapons are magic, the armour is magic, the enemies are magic.

Hell, your character is an animated undead. Therefore you are magic.

Even if you don't use magic, there is magic, magic, magic.

Although grim and grounded, Dark Souls is very magical.

 

[shrekfan246]

After playing Game of Thrones: The Role Playing Game (Thanks Humble Bundle), I was beginning to wonder about the existence of more medieval RPGs with no magic.

A bit off-topic, but what was your experience with the game, from a "recommend" or "stay away at all costs" perspective? It seems to have garnered rather polarized responses and I'd like to hear from someone a bit more level-headed.

OT: Your best bet would probably be historical tactical RPGs or something. I can't really think of a Witcher/Dungeon Siege/Baldur's Gate-esque RPG that goes for the same sort of extreme low-magic world as A Song of Ice and Fire, but something less focused on telling a specific story with specific characters might be able to fit the bill in a pinch. Things like Crusader Kings II, for instance, if you can tolerate a learning curve that resembles the cliff face here -

Though it might not be "RPG" enough for what you're looking for, being a grand strategy game that requires you to build and manage your potential empire and all.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

Medieval RPG's without fantasy elements are pretty rare. Mount and Blade's the only one that really comes to mind. There actually is a pretty good Song of Ice and Fire mod for Mount and Blade Warband: http://www.moddb.com/mods/a-clash-of-kings

 

[Doom972]

After playing Game of Thrones: The Role Playing Game (Thanks Humble Bundle), I was beginning to wonder about the existence of more medieval RPGs with no magic.

A bit off-topic, but what was your experience with the game, from a "recommend" or "stay away at all costs" perspective? It seems to have garnered rather polarized responses and I'd like to hear from someone a bit more level-headed.

OT: Your best bet would probably be historical tactical RPGs or something. I can't really think of a Witcher/Dungeon Siege/Baldur's Gate-esque RPG that goes for the same sort of extreme low-magic world as A Song of Ice and Fire, but something less focused on telling a specific story with specific characters might be able to fit the bill in a pinch. Things like Crusader Kings II, for instance, if you can tolerate a learning curve that resembles the cliff face here -

Though it might not be "RPG" enough for what you're looking for, being a grand strategy game that requires you to build and manage your potential empire and all.

I liked GoT RPG - it's a good game, but not a great one. I don't know if I would've liked it as much if I didn't watch Game of Thrones, as the familiar setting and knowledge I had before playing definitely enriched the experience.
It has an intriguing plot that kept me motivated until the end, but I don't want to say much about it except that it definitely fits in that setting and what I came to expect of it. The main characters have interesting stories and are well written, but most of the NPCs aren't. The uninspired voice acting is a bit of a let down - other than the main characters and Varys and Mormont (who are voiced by their actors on the TV series). The character creation/level up system is pretty much the one from the classic Fallout games (which I like very much), and the combat system is very similar to the one from Dragon Age, except that there are no cooldowns. This game was made by Bioware fans (and probably for Bioware fans), because it has small references to Bioware games and one big reference (which I won't spoil).
If you like the TV show or the books, and you like Bioware's RPGs, you'd probably like it as much as I do.

I'm familiar with Crusader Kings, but I'm not really interested in a strategy game right now.

 

[CommanderL]

Mount and blade warband is amazing and you should play it and with a great ammount of mods you will never be lost for content

 

[Elfgore]

Medieval RPG's without fantasy elements are pretty rare. Mount and Blade's the only one that really comes to mind. There actually is a pretty good Song of Ice and Fire mod for Mount and Blade Warband: http://www.moddb.com/mods/a-clash-of-kings

Thank you for telling me about this. I thought I had picked up all of the good Warband mods. I guess I was wrong.

Anyway, another vote for Mount and Blade Warband. It truly is an RPG game. There is really no story and you can do anything you want. Be a merchant, bandit, Mercenary, Lord, even a King.

Some mods that are really amazing are:

Anno Domini 1257- medieval Europe with about 50+ factions
Floris mod pack- vanilla game a whole bunch of game improving mods
Prophecies of Pendor- new factions and units set in a fake world
Brytenwaldia- Takes place in Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire
RTK mod- Based of Romance of the Three kingdoms, very anime like mod with over the top weapons and armor
Shogun- in Japan with you wanting to become shogun.

 

[DementedSheep]

Mount and Blade, as many have already mentioned. It is the only RPG I can think of which doesn't have magic. Medieval without magic seems to be near nonexistent outside of strategy games.

 

[Ironshroom]

Seriously, try Mount and Blade Warband. I have spent probably too long in that game, becoming the most powerful empire in the continent. It's really fun and rewarding. Give it a shot

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

As a veteran of Mount & Blade: Warband, putting in well over 1,000 hours on both single and multi player, I have to wonder why people are mentioning it. It's hardly an RPG. It has a few RPG mechanics, but really, that does not make it an RPG, anymore than Mass Effect or GTA: San Andreas are RPGs. Let's be reasonable here.

Anyway, I really can't offer much assistance to the OP. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any medieval RPGs that do not have magic. The closest that comes to mind is some of those Russian Pirate RPGs, but they are obviously set after the middle ages. Hmm, it's something that needs to be done more, I think.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

As a veteran of Mount & Blade: Warband, putting in well over 1,000 hours on both single and multi player, I have to wonder why people are mentioning it. It's hardly an RPG. It has a few RPG mechanics, but really, that does not make it an RPG, anymore than Mass Effect or GTA: San Andreas are RPGs. Let's be reasonable here.

I haven't played Mount & Blade so I don't know if it's an RPG. GTA is definitely not.

However, the Mass Effect series is more of an RPG than 99% of RPGs out there, over half the fucking game is ROLE-PLAYING, how are the Mass Effects not RPGs? It doesn't make any sense. Most RPGs barely have any role-playing at all and Mass Effect is filled with it. People wouldn't know an RPG if they were playing it.

 

[Doom972]

I tried the M&B demo and I have to say that it's really not what I have in mind. It's not much of an RPG.

As a veteran of Mount & Blade: Warband, putting in well over 1,000 hours on both single and multi player, I have to wonder why people are mentioning it. It's hardly an RPG. It has a few RPG mechanics, but really, that does not make it an RPG, anymore than Mass Effect or GTA: San Andreas are RPGs. Let's be reasonable here.

I haven't played Mount & Blade so I don't know if it's an RPG. GTA is definitely not.

However, the Mass Effect series is more of an RPG than 99% of RPGs out there, over half the fucking game is ROLE-PLAYING, how are the Mass Effects not RPGs? It doesn't make any sense. Most RPGs barely have any role-playing at all and Mass Effect is filled with it. People wouldn't know an RPG if they were playing it.

He was referring to GTA: San Andreas, which had RPG elements. Namely the developing of skills through repetition: The longer you drive - your driving skill increases, the more you shoot - that particular weapon skill increases, etc.

More than 99% of the games out there? Really? I get it when someone exaggerates to emphasize his point, but come on. Do I really have to name every RPG that's more of an RPG than Mass Effect? I don't really have the time for that.

The Mass Effect games (2&3 in particular) are considered shooters with RPG elements, because player skill matters more than character skill. In a pure RPG, you build a character, and use that character's abilities to win a battle. For example, in KOTOR when you want to shoot an enemy with your blaster rifle, you click on the enemy and your character shoots, with its damage/accuracy/rate of fire depending purely on stats until the enemy is dead or a new order is given - you don't aim and you don't click to shoot.

 

[Qvar]

The Mass Effect games (2&3 in particular) are considered shooters with RPG elements, because player skill matters more than character skill. In a pure RPG, you build a character, and use that character's abilities to win a battle. For example, in KOTOR when you want to shoot an enemy with your blaster rifle, you click on the enemy and your character shoots, with its damage/accuracy/rate of fire depending purely on stats until the enemy is dead or a new order is given - you don't aim and you don't click to shoot.

So EVE online is a MMORPG?

 

[Doom972]

The Mass Effect games (2&3 in particular) are considered shooters with RPG elements, because player skill matters more than character skill. In a pure RPG, you build a character, and use that character's abilities to win a battle. For example, in KOTOR when you want to shoot an enemy with your blaster rifle, you click on the enemy and your character shoots, with its damage/accuracy/rate of fire depending purely on stats until the enemy is dead or a new order is given - you don't aim and you don't click to shoot.

So EVE online is a MMORPG?

I haven't played it and don't know much about it, but if I recall correctly, it uses stats to determine the success of actions performed by the character (or in this case, the ship). So in that regard at least, it is. I don't know much else about it so it's hard to say.

 

[Slycne]

As a veteran of Mount & Blade: Warband, putting in well over 1,000 hours on both single and multi player, I have to wonder why people are mentioning it. It's hardly an RPG. It has a few RPG mechanics, but really, that does not make it an RPG, anymore than Mass Effect or GTA: San Andreas are RPGs. Let's be reasonable here.

Depends on how you define or prioritize features in an RPG. I'd actually defend Mount & Blade as being more RPG than most games that come from the genre. More so than stats, skill based vs skill-less combat and such - Mount & Blade gives player agency - which I value highly. It might not have deeply compelling story lines, but you're free to explore the world and let the stories be about how the game reacts to you. Do you sack the city for money or fight in tournaments, raise your banner for one of several kings or attempt to become king yourself? The world lets you do what you want and responds in kind.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

I haven't played Mount & Blade so I don't know if it's an RPG. GTA is definitely not.

However, the Mass Effect series is more of an RPG than 99% of RPGs out there, over half the fucking game is ROLE-PLAYING, how are the Mass Effects not RPGs? It doesn't make any sense. Most RPGs barely have any role-playing at all and Mass Effect is filled with it. People wouldn't know an RPG if they were playing it.

So pretty much every game out there is an RPG then? You play roles in them, after all! No, contrary to popular belief, RPGs aren't defined by playing a role, as you can play a role in almost any game. It comes down to how the game actually plays and the ability to craft your character, and in this Mass Effect is very limited. You are generally shoe-horned into one of two morality paths (mixing it up is punished by locking you out of important choices) and the gameplay is pretty stripped-down 3rd person shooter. Don't get me wrong, like San Andreas, Mass Effect has RPG elements, but to call it primarily an RPG? No way.

And this is coming from someone who loved the trilogy, including the ending. However, I'm just calling it how it is.