What about torchlight? I think might fit into your description as well, or?
Although might be a bit more action.

Trying to think of another one, but that is hiding in the moment, so I failed my WIS-check :D

EDIT: What about Elder scrolls?

Thanks for the answer.

ES i like Daggerfall & Morrowind. Oblivion is very bad, mainly at high level since your damage cap and enemy HP have no cap, so even with 100 str and max sword skill, you will need 20~30 hits to kill an enemy and Skyrim, should not be considered an RPG to be honest.

About torchlight is more action focused but have a great problem. Gear dependency. I personally don't like when even your summons "%weapon damage", this makes impossible to play in high difficulty if you have a bad loot lucky and make one stat(weapon damage) the mostly important stat, this makes in D3 your character be 100% gear dependent and your weapon be more important than the rest of your gear. In D2, have an armor that gives more defense and elemental resist is more important and is possible to beat D2 'naked'.

PS : You can check your WIS again.

Oblivion haven't played yet, so thanks for the warning ;)

Agreed in Torchlight with the gear dependency, but one way around it, buying those extra map cards and just doing some slaughterfests for looting and upgrading with how are they called again...not the skulls....the but I think you know what I mean....the loot does really help a lot there :D

My new WIS-check did bring a slightly different result, I send a message to a user who knows RPGs inside out, let's hope dtgreene will show up 'shortly'.

What about Fallout-series?
Sacred I don't remember if party or not.......but IIRC not really like D&D anyway...

Your boundaries don't make it easy :D

EDIT: Deus Ex? maybe?

Probably too actiony for you but this is one of the reasons I liked the Mass Effect series (especially Mass Effect 2, which is my favorite game of all time, though NWN is in the top 5). You control one character and feel like you ARE that character, even though you have squadmates that you can give general orders to. It is sci-fi rather than fantasy and the ruleset isn't as complex as D&D.

Thanks everybody for the answers. I've searched a lot of "nwn1 similar games" but found zero games like the best rpg that i've played.

Mass effect is a amazing game(1 & 2), i personally don't like futuristic games(this doesn't means that is a bad game) mainly because weapons fell too "toy and unrealistic" for futuristic weapons. Deus Ex is an exception. Same for fallout an metro, the weapons look more "plausible". About sacred, i've played long time ago. Thanks for the suggestion.

Yeah, it's tough to find a complex tactical RPG that has you control only one hero and isn't too much like a hack and slash or other action game. The description probably fits none of the following perfectly (most are simpler and/or action-oriented), and they aren't necessarily great games, but here are some more suggestions to check out:

- Arcanum (I think - don't quite remember how companions are handled)
- The Witcher series
- Eschalon series
- Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader
- Soulbringer (I think - can't get it to run on Win 8)
- Inquisitor
- Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition
- Nox
- Divine Divinity
- Avencast: Rise of the Mage
- Evil Islands
- Dungeon Siege 3
- Dragon Age 2
- Divinity 2: Director's Cut
- Dragon's Dogma
- Demonicon
- Kingdoms of Amalur
- Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines (modern setting though)

Btw, quite a few of the modern party-based RPGs feature the option to have the other party members be controlled by the computer. So if you can stand the horrible henchman AI in NWN, you might also be able to play e.g. Dragon Age: Origins, Sword Coast Legends or Pillars of Eternity pretending you only ever have control of your main hero and let the game handle the rest of the party. I could never play it like that, but apparantly other players do.

Here's one game you might want to look into: Dragon Warrior 4 on the NES.

The game starts with you choosing the name and gender of the legendary hero, but then immediately puts you into Chapter 1, where you actually control someone else. Chapters 1 through 4 play like typical JRPGs of that era, with turn based battles where you choose commands for every party member. (Actually, the game does give you some temporary characters who you don't control, can't level up, and who don't count as alive for purposes of determining if the party has perished.) With that said, the game still does some interesting things; Chapter 2 does interesting things with gender roles, while Chapter 3 has you playing as a merchant. These chapters serve to introduce you to the Chosen Ones, who will be your companions in Chapter 5.

Then comes Chapter 5, where the bulk of the game is. The interesting thing here is that you *don't* get control over your companions during battle; instead, you choose a tactic and the companions will act according to the tactic you select. This creates a feeling that you are the leader of the party, rather than being the entire party. (With that said, if the Hero is dead or not in the party, the game doesn't end, you can still select tactics, change members (if the wagon is present), and try to run away.)

Note that remakes of the game exist, and there are 2 changes of note in said remakes:
* You can select separate tactics for each non-Hero permanent party member.
* One of the tactics, Follow Orders, allows you to control the characters directly. However, using this option is not mandatory, and it isn't even always the best option (you have to choose your commands at the beginning of the round, but the companion AI is not bound to that rule). In fact, when I played the DS version, I found myself not using the Follow Orders tactic much, if at all, probably because I was used to the original.

Another game to try, if you dare, is Wizardry 4 (but play 1 first), but I should warn you that the game has a reputation for being difficult and not always fair. In Wizardry 4, you control the evil mage Werdna, but you have to summon monsters to fight off do-gooders. (Basically, you are what would normally be the "enemy side" during encounters.) There's no way to give orders to those summons, however.

Thanks for the big list Leroux...

- Arcanun is on my wishlist, i will probably buy soon. Vampire: The Masquerade(same developer - Troika) is on my top 5 RPG of all time.
- Witcher, i personally don't like melee combat in video games(explain below), but Witcher is a amazing game and i have the first 2 games. The third i will probably play after i upgrade my GPU.
- Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader : Wishlisted. I will check some reviews soon
- Soulbringer - Added to Wishlist
- Inquisitor - Wishlisted
- Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition : Wishlisted
- Divine Divinity : Already have and is in my "to play" list
- Avencast: Rise of the Mage - same as above
- Evil Islands : Wishlisted
- Dungeon Siege 3 : Din't liked, is too boring compared to DS1 & DS2.
- Dragon Age 2 : Din't liked, but liked DA:O
- Divinity 2: Director's Cut :Already have and in my "to play" list
- Dragon's Dogma : Very cool combat, the unique flaw is the gear dependency. I've purified more than 30 items, played 20 hours in BI and... No magick bow, so to fight the second form daimon, i was forced to use specific items to boost my stats.
- Demonicon - Wishlisted
- Kingdoms of Amalur : Already played, IMHO is a "average game", becomes too easy with meteor
- vtmb: Nice suggestion. Is on my top 5 RPGs

Now why i play mostly as an "caster" in RPG. I play RPG's to do things that i can't do in real life. I can pratice with my katana, can go in a firing range to practice with firearms, can practice archery, but i can't animate armor, stop time, conjure a rain of meteors and etc. This is why have a cool magical system(mainly if is based in ancient myths) is essential IMHO.

I have played more NWN 1, than any other game. >1000 hours. There is nothing else quite like it.

But IMO the Witcher Games are better RPGs.

I don't like action elements either, but the story, the characters and the immersion is all better.

Non Players Characters move around more independently.

NPCs that hang out in pubs at night, don't just materialize there at night, you can see them walking to the pub.

I still remember walking through town the first time a rain storm broke out, and all the townsfolk ran to stand under eves or or in doorways to avoid the rain, and muttered about the weather.

Witcher 1 uses a modified NWN game engine. Mouse driven. It has an annoying timing based attack mechanic. I just played on easy so I wouldn't have to get too into this. It didnt' bother me that much after an adjustment.

Witcher 2: New Game engine, Mouse or Gamepad. Gamepad is better. I actually enjoyed the combat action elements here.

Witcher 3: My computer can't handle it. But it will be the first game I purchase after I upgrade.

Since you like playing with magic, you might consider checking out Morrowind and Oblivion. Both those games allow you to create your own magic by combining effects with magnitude and duration that you specify.

Morrowind looks like an action game, but doesn't actually play like one; when you (or an enemy) attack, the game rolls dice to determine whether the attack hits. In terms of magic, Morrowind gives you more freedom on how you construct your spells, and has a few effects not found in Oblivion, like Levitate (which lets you fly).

Oblivion actually plays like an action game, unlike Morrowind. Magic is more restrictive, but unlike in Morrowind, it regenerates over time.

I should point out that, in the TES games, a few magic schools are more broad than you would expect. Restoration includes spells that boost your stats, while Destruction contains stat lowering magic. Illusion contains mind-affecting spells that allow you to manipulate the behavior of NPCs and creatures (like calming an attacker so you can talk to them). Regarding Oblivion, there are a few ways to deal with high HP enemies at high levels. I am going to assume a magic character here, as such characters have an easier time dealing with this than physical characters.

One option is to use destruction spells with weakness effects. Put an elemental damage effect first, then a weakness to element effect, then a weakness to magic effect, in that order. If you can repeatedly hit an enemy with this spell before the previous cast wears off, each cast will do significantly more damage than the previous cast. This also works with weapon enchantments, especially if you place them on a dagger (since daggers attack faster than other weapon types).

Another option is to sidestep damage entirely. Destruction characters can use damage fatigue + weakness to magic to knock enemies unconscious for long periods of time (though be aware that the game might fail to end combat properly if you don't kill the enemy). Alternatively, if you forego armor (perhaps using spells or enchantments for protection), Illusion can be really good. A spell capable of affecting level 25 targets will work regardless of the target's level. Who needs to fight when you can just calm every enemy you encounter?

A third option is to cheat. Open the console and use the command "player.setlevel #" (with the '#' replaced by a number) to set your level to a lower value; this will make the enemies you fight weaker and perhaps more manageable. Do note that this also affects loot and quest rewards.

dtgreene,

I must admit I am a bit surprised, I really expected that you would know a few more games :O

Don't let me down, don't make me fail my WIS-check again :D

Or is it that the boundaries set forward by darthvictorbr are to restrictive :D

I still can't think of this one game I am still thinking off.....

But maybe you can remember with my vague description of my memory:

It is not using the D&D rules but the IIRC GNU similar kind off. (yeah I know really vague) I only remember that I read an article about were it was mentioned that they changed to this GNU one as D&D owners are a bit restrictive with licenses.

Sorry can't remember more....not even sure if it is on GOG or not.

@darthvictorbr

As you can see dtgreene is THE person to ask for such questions!!!!
If in doubt ask dtgreene ;)

Dungeon Siege, Baldur's Gate 1&2, Planescape Torment, & Arcanum.

The problem of enemy HP in Oblivion isn't that they aren't manageable, if you are lv 30, take 2 xivilay can take 5 minutes and 10 in a high difficulty, i found myself using "chamaleon 100" to skip fighters since they take an eternity in Oblivion, mainly in higher difficulty.

In Morrowind, you mana don't recharge, but you can use enchanted items and mana potions aren't expensive. Also, you can cast "spells that are in items" without animation aka faster as you click... The unique problem that i've is the enemies that reflect spell.

Do you mean Knights of the Chalice, by chance? That would be a party-based RPG though (and IIRC you're rather detached from your characters).