Computer RPGs that allow proper 3.5 build shenanigans

[Sam K]

Perhaps the wrong forum, but:

Since the odds of getting any kind of game going IRL, and the PBP forum is very light on 3.5 games, I'm looking for CRPGs that will let me unleash my inner 3.5 munchkin. Google is being pretty useless for this since it doesn't really distinguish between "This is a game based on D&D 3.5" and "This games system feels a bit like D&D 3.5". So I turn to the greatest collection of 3.5 knowledge I know of, these forums:

I'm looking for a CRPG that (probably with some mods) lets you have something close to the sillines of D&D 3.5 character creation: dips into broken PRCs, OP metamagic, double 9ths, that kind of stuff. Will happily slap on some difficulty-enhancing mods to have silly epic fights; those of you who played Baldurs Gate 2 with the tactics mod and a fully custom party in ordet to beat the ritual and improved Bodhi (with undead Sola as her sidekick) know the kind of fights. Cept I want it in 3.5.

No interest in AD&D (too few build options) or 4th or 5th edition (your "player friendly" approach sicken me!)

Tried NWN Enhanced but the core game just feels too clunky and it lacked some core features (like power attack shenanigans with twohanders). IWD doesn't seem to have too many PRCs (or mods that add them).

[Darg]

Modding either NWN or NWN2 is probably your best bet. I hear temple of elemental evil is really good.

Of course, any game over a decade old is going to feel clunky and even chunkier the older it gets.

I know you can get double 9ths in nwn2 with a little editing of the spell progression selection file of prestige classes (although you can only select spells known from the previous class you level up). The animation for hellfire blast and hellfire shield always has me coming back to it every once in a while.

[Seerow]

Have you looked at Pathfinder: Kingmaker?

It's PF instead of 3.5, but if you tried NWN and it was too dated for you, I don't expect you'll find a more recent 3.5 based game, it's simply an outdated system with little incentive for gaming companies to invest in it.

[Troacctid]

I am personally a fan of Dungeons of Dredmor, which is a solo turn-based dungeon-crawl roguelike with some impressive character customizability and a 16-bit aesthetic.

[TotallyNotEvil]

Going to echo Pathfinder: Kingmaker. It's truly excellent, and the (now default) turn-based mode is extremely good at simulating PnP play.

Also has all the advantages of a modern day game like good graphics and modern UI. Plenty of mod support, too.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Hmm, Divinity: Original Sin II doesn't have the same depth as 3.5, but it's still a lot of fun, and there's a surprising amount you can do by combining the various skill types (to the point that I found it interesting just watching videos breaking down how optimized builds work (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyT5NcCVqdX-SSrVo2D71SqJFaNivN7BY)). The other reason I mention it is that it's genuinely impressive in the freedom of options it gives the player(s), to the point that you could actually compare it to sitting down with a human DM in many cases.

[Gavinfoxx]

Temple of Elemental Evil, with the Circle of Eight modpack! It allow for Enlarge Person Guisarme and Spiked Chain shenanigans!

[Falontani]

When BG3 gets here I heard that it will be moddable enough to allow someone to mod in 3.5. That would be interesting!

[Yael]

I also recommend Temple of Elemental Evil. I've played it multiple times and it tries to emulate the 3.5 system (including some of its shenanigans), although it's pretty rough on the difficulty spike.

It has a content mod that adds some extra classes, like the Beguiler, Favored Soul, etc. Pretty good game imo.

[Sam K]

I also recommend Temple of Elemental Evil. I've played it multiple times and it tries to emulate the 3.5 system (including some of its shenanigans), although it's pretty rough on the difficulty spike.

It has a content mod that adds some extra classes, like the Beguiler, Favored Soul, etc. Pretty good game imo.

I picked up ToEE($6 on GOG), and yeah, it has some great mechanics but damn that difficulty spike. It really shows the weakness of the early levels, where you have next to no resources or options to help you deal with difficult fights. I will need to bring my A-game for that!

[Mordaedil]

I'm gonna recommend NWN, (EE or not doesn't matter) with the Player's Resource Consortium pack installed. It adds like 200 prestige classes and like 50 races with switches that you can turn on and off for how close to PnP you want to be.

[Doctor Witch]

Temple of Elemental Evil, with the Circle of Eight modpack! It allow for Enlarge Person Guisarme and Spiked Chain shenanigans!

Add Temple+ to that for more base classes, prestige classes and feats.

https://github.com/GrognardsFromHell/TemplePlus/wiki/Changelog

It's got some nice fights in the Circle of Eight mod but the vanilla game is low level and pretty bland though, the speed cheat is a godsend.

You can also create two parties, level them up to 40+ (no epic content though), then have them fight each other. One will be computer controlled and pretty dumb though. You can get rid of all alignment restrictions after 1st level as well I think. There are a bunch of house rules to make whacky characters, get rid of some crafting requirements etc.

I don't think double 9ths are possible inside 20 levels but you can get them.

The game also has a decent radial menu system for all your charater options but you're gonna want to set up hotkeys or it takes forever, especially with lots of party members.

[Zaq]

It's an action game rather than turn-based, but playing Hades (I'm on Switch but I think it's on other platforms as well) gave me some great moments of "huh, I wonder how these two abilities interact with each other... oh... OH... OH DEAR THEY WORK LIKE THAT HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE..." that definitely triggered a few of the same neurons that light up when I'm deep into 3.5 optimization.

It's not exactly what you asked for, but it's a darn good game and it definitely has some of that "wow that combo shouldn't work but it REALLY REALLY DOES" energy!

[Asmotherion]

Well, there is a limited amount of options in Neverwinter Nights 2 (mostly because it was released towards the end of 3.5, so many of the options that were vastly unbalanced were already playtested and thus debunked as bad ideas to implement into a video game), but overall it allows for some nice builds, even if they're not top-tiar optimisation.