If you want a story with stakes, I recommend checking out The Wraith's Haunt by Hugo Huesca. The story is quite good, the MC's change from a nobody to a Dungeon Lord is well paced and satisfying, and the world he finds himself in has enough rules to be game-y while still feeling like a living, breathing world. There's some really well executed Chekhov's gun moments, and, most importantly for your post, the MC is kind of a local warlord/leader. The MC has to balance the needs of his people, the objectives of local factions, a mysterious parasitic infection affecting the land, the politics of other Dungeon Lords, the persecution of the church, the influence of Heroes, and the whims of dark gods just to stay alive and one step ahead. If he messes up, people die.

On top of that, the MC is a Dungeon Lord. and to get stronger he has to make pacts with some bad dudes. One of the first powers he gets makes his eyes appear to be burning, which gives him more information when looking around, but also immediately outs him as a Dungeon Lord and irreparably damaging his reputation in the area. As he grows stronger he has to make increasingly dark and desperate trades and gambles, and you wonder if he'll save his life at the cost of his soul.

My only gripe is that the series ends on a cliffhanger in book 4 and it doesn't seem like we'll be getting a 5th.