These servers depend on the work of modders creating add-ons to transform Minecraft into an RPG experience that can rival its mainstream counterparts. Whether you want to host your own server or just enjoy a single-player RPG experience, the mods you run can make or break your adventure – so you better choose wisely. Let me help point you in the right direction by sharing some of my favorite RPG mods (and modpacks).
20. RPG Stats
Check Out This Mod Minecraft already has some RPG elements, such as gathering experience to level up and managing simple stats like HP, hunger, and armor. You can take it a couple steps further with RPG stats, introducing six new attributes that’ll gain experience and increase in rank as you partake in different activities. These stats include Magic, Melee combat, Ranged combat, Defense, Farming, and Mining. As you level up, you’ll accrue small bonuses that should make the game easier. You’re gunning for levels 25 and 50, which unlock powerful skills.
19. RPG Difficulty
Check Out This Mod As you get stronger in a role-playing game, so do the enemies you fight. Most of the time, monster strength increases the farther you get from the starting area. RPG Difficulty brings exactly this kind of enemy progression to your Minecraft world. Enemies around your spawning point will be easy to handle, but they’ll get progressively stronger and more vicious the farther you go in search of ore and treasure. Masochists among you can customize the mod to increase enemy difficulty over time instead of distance. You better get that diamond armor fast!
18. Traveler’s Titles
Check Out This Mod One of my favorite tropes from certain Japanese RPGs is announcing every new area you enter with a brief title card showing the name of the place and some nice B-roll. Traveler’s Titles does the same for Minecraft’s procedurally generated biomes and alternate dimensions. It’s completely customizable, allowing you to change the text size, color, and location. If you’re playing with the Waystones mod, you can even give a custom title card to the area around them.
17. Callable Horses
Check Out This Mod Many of the best open-world RPGs of the last 10 years have one thing in common: trusty horses with perfect hearing that’ll come trotting to your location from anywhere in the world. I’m talking about games like Skyrim, The Witcher III and TLOZ: Breath of the Wild. If we dig a little deeper, we find evidence of this as far back as TLOZ: Ocarina of Time on the N64. All Minecraft is missing to compete with all of these iconic titles is Callable Horses, a mod that’ll make the ponies in Minecraft a little more receptive to your commands. Just find a horse, sit on it, and hit the P key to forever bind your souls. From then on, it’ll come running to your side whenever you need it.
16. Advanced Compass
Check Out This Mod I’ve played a ton of Skyrim over the last 10 years, clearing every quest at least once (I think) and exploring every nook and cranny of this snowy region. Of all the tools and information you get from the game, none helped me more than the compass. Skyrim is a colossal province, and finding your way around can be hell without a compass to help you keep track of the direction of your goals. The Advanced Compass mod offers a similar RPG-styled compass for Minecraft that’ll show you much more than just the general direction of your objectives. Depending on how you configure it, the compass reveals the direction and exact distance of animals, enemies, villagers, and any points of interest marked on your map.
15. Ignite HUD
Check Out This Mod To continue transforming Minecraft’s user interface into that of an epic RPG, you’ll want to download Ignite HUD. This add-on adds new customizable widgets and pop-ups to your Minecraft heads-up display. The new player widget organizes all of your character’s information, such as health and hunger, in a way that should feel familiar to MMORPG veterans. Goodbye, World of Warcraft; hello, World of Minecraft! You’ll also see a life bar on enemies you’re currently looking at, info on player temperature, and lovely little active effect symbols on the corner of the screen.
14. Classes MC
Check Out This Mod Some RPGs let players allocate their skills and attribute points however they see fit. You want to be a greatsword-wielding rogue with high stealth and even higher speechcraft? Sure thing! Others prefer a more streamlined approach where the player chooses a specific class, such as “Knight” or “Wizard,” and follows a preset route to power. Classes MC adds a similar job system to Minecraft, allowing players to choose between Mage, Knight, Ranger, and Healer – each with unique abilities.
13. RPG Origins
Check Out This Mod The first thing I did after clearing Skyrim was find an “alternate start” mod. My next character wouldn’t start the game en route to getting their head chopped off. This gave me the freedom to imagine just about any backstory I wanted. Thanks to this change, I loved my second Skyrim character even more than the first. RPG Origins won’t affect where you spawn, but it will give your character some unique abilities based on their background. There are six origins, each connected to a stereotypical RPG class. These are the Archer, Brute, Knight, Mage, Cleric, and Thief.
12. Ultimate Origins Modpack
Check Out This Mod Alternate origins seem like a grand idea – but only six? We can do better than that. The Ultimate Origins Modpack offers no less than 55 different origins for players to choose from. On top of that, you can also pick one of 14 classes to further customize your character. This makes for a whopping 770 possible combinations, meaning your character is almost guaranteed to be unique – even in a server setting with dozens of players.
11. Ice & Fire: Dragons
Check Out This Mod The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin reignited humanity’s eternal fascination with dragons. These scaly beats of mysterious origin and immense power pop up in the stories and myths of independent civilizations worldwide. No matter where we live, humans love the idea of giant magical lizards terrorizing humanity. Ice & Fire: Dragons introduces elemental dragons into Minecraft, along with many dragon-related items such as Dragon Eggs, Dragon Armor, and much more. Since its release, the author has continued to enrich the mod with many new creatures, including Gorgons, Cockatrices, and Hydras. It’s a wild, magical world out there.
10. Medieval Craft
Check Out This Mod Fantasy RPGs and the Middle Ages are intrinsically connected in culture. There’s something about Medieval Fantasy RPGs that just… works. It probably has to do with the fact that most famous recounts of fantastic beasts, superhuman warriors, and mischievous fairies originate in medieval Europe’s sleepy hamlets and busy castles. Medieval Craft is a rather massive mod bringing a lot of medieval charm into Minecraft. It features nine new mobs, seven new structures, and a staggering 48 new pieces of equipment ranging from full plate armor to King Arthur’s mystical sword, Excalibur: ready to be pulled from the stone!
9. The Twilight Forest
Check Out This Mod Now that you’ve chosen a powerful class, leveled up your attributes, and found yourself some decent gear, it’s time for your first real adventure. The Twilight Forest is one of the most legendary Minecraft mods ever created. It was released in 2011 and has been played by hundreds of millions of players worldwide. It allows gamers to enter an alternate dimension full of treacherous dungeons. You’ll battle various menacing bosses with complex fighting mechanics and claim epic loot with unique abilities. Breathtaking landscapes, intriguing secrets, and endless adventure await in the Twilight Forest.
8. Electroblob’s Wizardry
Check Out This Mod Magic is an inalienable staple of fantasy RPGs. While magical hijinks are common in Minecraft, it lacks a formal magic system allowing you to cast real spells on top of enchanting items and brewing magic potions. Electroblob’s Wizardry has offered players a straightforward path to magical mastery since 2017. Just install the mod, and the world of Minecraft will be changed by magic forever. There are upwards of 170 different spells to discover along your travels. Exploring and conquering dungeons is the only way to grow your magic arsenal, so grab your Magic Crystal and Wizard’s Handbook, and let’s get this party started! (Get it? Party? Like, in RPGs? No? Ok.)
7. When Dungeons Arise
Check Out This Mod When I first played Minecraft in 2010, it was exclusively about building. There was a survival mode, sure, but it was extremely basic. Things changed with the official release and the steady addition of features like pets, enchanting, and structures like villages and temples. But is this really enough? When Dungeons Arise adds a wealth of randomly-generated dungeons to the mix. Colossal castles, fearsome fortresses, docked pirate ships, and even flying Steampunk vessels are only some of the structures you’ll find along your travels, waiting to be conquered.
6. Dimensions and Dungeoneering
Check Out This Mod Modpacks are a fast and easy way to immerse ourselves fully into an all-new Minecraft experience. Dimensions and Dungeoneering opens the doors to a realm of magic and heroism, bringing together the best features of famous mods like Artifacts, Ars Nouveau, and Champions. Minecraft adventuring becomes complex and immersive as you slowly discover features from over 100 different mods – all bringing the game one step closer to a full-fledged fantasy RPG. Whether you want to dig for relics, explore new dimensions, or even raise goldfish, this modpack has something for that.
5. Dark RPG
Check Out This Mod The Dark RPG modpack is built to help you become the anti-hero edgelord you always wanted to be. Everything, from the equipment to the block textures, is meant to transport you into a dangerous world full of dark forces vying for dominance. There are quests, dungeons, new (dark) biomes, and even a full-fledged currency system opening the doors to commerce. You’ll also get to choose your origin and a class, so you’re not entirely defenseless while looking for epic grimdark armor and weapons.
4. Fiefdom: Medieval Fantasy RPG
Check Out This Mod I’ve always dreamed of getting a mysterious letter revealing my noble heritage and containing the keys to my very own castle. Fiefdom allows me to live out my dream in the blocky universe of Minecraft. Upon starting a new game, you’re granted your very own fief in the world of Minecraft. As the Lord, it’s your job to keep things moving: defense, development, and the economy are in your hands. You’ll also have to venture out into the wilds to find and conquer dungeons for loot and glory, so there’s never a dull moment playing Fiefdom.
3. Medieval Minecraft
Check Out This Mod Another medieval fantasy-themed RPG modpack worth trying is Medieval Minecraft, including over 250 individual mods that’ll transform your Minecraft experience to the core. Along with basic RPG features like origins and jobs, Medieval Minecraft offers an overhauled world generation system to accommodate the numerous new structures and dungeons. Fighting epic bosses with powerful magic and legendary blades is a big part of gameplay, but you’ll have to keep your feet on the ground and remember to eat, drink, and stay warm to survive. It’s one of my favorite modpacks from an aesthetic perspective, so if you’re not running your own favorite texture pack, you should definitely check this out.
2. Roguelike Adventures and Dungeons
Check Out This Mod The roguelike is a classic genre that’s seen a massive uptick in popularity thanks to hit titles like Dark Souls, Hollow Knight, and Hades. You can get some of that dungeon-crawling action in Minecraft through the Roguelike Adventures and Dungeons modpack. This pack discards the intricacies of crafting and enchanting in favor of pure, unadulterated dungeoneering. It’s endless fighting for fame and glory, punctuated by the occasional maze or puzzle. Spellcasting, dragons, airships, and a wealth of new dimensions are only some of the exciting discoveries you’ll make playing RAD.
1. Mineshafts & Monsters
Check Out This Mod The mods and modpacks we’ve covered so far all have one thing in common: They try to preserve the open-ended nature of a Minecraft adventure. They might introduce some dungeons and questlines, but for the most part, you’re meant to make up your own story as you go along, just like vanilla Minecraft. Mineshafts & Monsters shatters the status quo by giving players a large-scale compulsory “main quest” with an engaging storyline. It turns Minecraft into an open-world single-player fantasy RPG epic. Something that struck me while playing Mineshafts & Monsters was the beauty and grandiosity of the builds you come across during the story. That alone makes this worth a try.
