This might sound a bit dorky but at times I feel like Dominions started out as a RPG project that spiraled out of control.
There's a lot going on in the game that makes it feel like you're the master of a small band rather than leading armies.
Would be neat if someone actually made an RPG style map, like say a really big dungeon, were every tile represented a room or similar feature. And the pretender as the leader of a party of adventurers.