Tactical RPGs place combat on a grid where unit positioning, terrain advantages, and ability ranges matter as much as character stats. Each battle is a puzzle: how do you use your limited actions per turn to control space, protect vulnerable units, and eliminate threats? The genre marries the character progression of RPGs with the strategic depth of chess. Permadeath variants raise the stakes dramatically, since losing a character you have invested hours in to a bad tactical decision creates emotional weight that few other genres match.