BLOOD OATH by maniasoft (1994, MS-DOS)

Go forth and spread violence!!

maniasoft existed for a decade prior to the release of "BLOOD OATH" in 1992, but this is the game that established it as one of the most legendary studios of all time. Created by visionary director Kevin Kevinson, BOATH leads players through an experience unlike any other: "a touching journey of the soul",  in the words of PC Gamer magazine's August Namone, with "deep storytelling and emergent narrative elements" that surpassed other games of its era.

You start the game and you pick your class (I started as a cobbler but it's up to you). You go around your village and it's kinda like Ultima VI or something, but when you go to bed on the first night you're visited by a really scary lady who paralyzes you and does something to your brain. After that you have this ability where like... if you catch NPCs at the right time you can feed on them and take some of their abilities!