Role-playing games are all about taking on the persona of a fictional character and experiencing a world and an adventure as someone wildly different from yourself. As useful as stats and skills can be, one of the more important factors for character design is the customization options that let you choose how you appear in-game, from the hair on your head to the shape of your entire body.

When it comes to turn-based RPGs, not every game chooses to go down the route of maximal customization. However, there are plenty of cases where the limits are removed, and you can create virtually any aesthetic you could possibly want. This could be through adjusting skin tone or reshaping facial muscles, but the crucial detail is the lack of limits on how you present yourself, even if that means opening the door for some silly creations.

Test your knowledge.

Baldur's Gate 3

Personality That Oozes From The Screen

  • Extensive faces, colors, and cosmetics.
  • Race-specific appearances ensure characters look genuinely different.

Baldur's Gate 3 offers one of the most impressive purely visual character creators in any RPG. Right from the get-go, you can choose from a huge range of faces, hairstyles, skin tones, makeup options, tattoos, and other cosmetic details, making it easy to create anything from a traditionally heroic adventurer to something truly unusual.

The race options add even more visual variety, with everything from Tieflings to Dwarves offering dramatically different physical features. At the same time, details such as horns and scales help to add an extra layer of distinctiveness. That's without considering the hundreds of armor pieces that you can layer on top to create the perfect hero, or in my case, a strange little bard with a pink fluffy beard.

Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous

Bordering On A Concept Art Creator

  • Numerous portraits and visual options to create wildly different characters.
  • Fantasy races provide major differences in silhouette.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is all about establishing your character's identity long before the adventure begins. The wide selection of fantasy races immediately creates dramatically different appearances to choose from, while portraits and other standard customization details allow you to tailor those characters to a specific aesthetic.

The visual customization continues through equipment, and as you progress through the campaign, new gear and items help transform your character's appearance from a humble adventurer to a visually imposing fantasy hero. For me, though, it is the racial differences that are the standout. When your party consists of a Kitsune, a Gnome, a Dhampir, and more, it really starts to feel like you are in a truly fantastical world where anything is possible.

Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire

Any Adventurer Can Fill The Role

  • Vast disparity between race appearances.
  • Robust color selection and styling.

Many RPGs give you the chance to make some wild characters that often don't really fit into the wider world, but Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire ensures that even when you move the sliders to the far end, each character still feels visually at home in its unusual universe. You have the standard racial differences, but the godlike characters' supernatural appearances can make them look completely different from more traditional fantasy races, allowing specific party members to stand out far more than others.

Customization options for skin, hair, faces, and other details allow those foundations to be further refined, and when you bundle the game's pirate-inspired setting, you can also add on some distinct equipment that ensures every creation feels far from the traditional CRPG hero. If you are someone who values uniqueness above all else, then I highly suggest giving Pillars of Eternity 2 a try, as you may well find that the ideal adventurer simply doesn't exist anywhere else.

Wasteland 3

Even Apocalypses Can Have Personality

  • Combines military aesthetics with more rugged gear..
  • Armor and outfits embrace the game's post-apocalyptic setting

Wasteland 3 takes character customization in a completely different direction from traditional fantasy RPGs. The post-apocalyptic setting is already a contrast from magical fortresses, and that backdrop allows for an eclectic mixture of military equipment, rugged survival gear, and colorful cosmetic items that mean your characters can look as serious or ridiculous as you want.

The ability to customize multiple Rangers also gives you more opportunities to experiment with appearances, both in cool and funny ways. Its commitment to weird post-apocalyptic fashion makes customization feel especially expressive, and I would argue it stands among the best turn-based RPGs, purely from a visual point of view.

Solasta: Crown Of The Magister

Classic Fantasy Done Exceptionally Well

  • Detailed facial and color options.
  • Very specific customization regions.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister may take a more traditional approach to fantasy customization, but it achieves the fundamentals at a very high level. Like any good RPG, you can adjust faces, hairstyles, and other physical details to create a character that matches your vision, but the number of sliders and options is far more extensive, meaning you could easily spend over an hour perfecting a single face.

The visual strength continues with the equipment, which comes with huge aesthetic changes, alongside some handy buffs that serve more as an additional bonus to looking cool. It might not have the flashiest character creator around, but the core is robust enough for you to transform a blank canvas into a work of art, should you have the time.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader

The Grimdark Setting Makes Everything Stand Out

  • Sci-fi aesthetic leaned into fully.
  • Equipment ranges from ornate clothing to imposing armor.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader benefits enormously from the visual richness of its setting. The universe's lore means you can play as a character with an aristocratic, militaristic, or religious aesthetic, then alter the individual colors and patterns outside of the more extreme visual changes.

Excess is perhaps the best way of describing a lot of the customization options, not because you can stretch out limbs and shape your character in absurd ways, but because of how over the top a lot of the coats and heavy armor pieces are, even early on in the game. At its core, the designs are there to ensure that the characters look inseparable from Warhammer 40,000 universe, and as far as cool factor goes, you are going to have a hard time finding a turn-based RPG that competes with it.