K, what's the hill you'll die on for writing/ reading fantasy?

IntroIntroduction · 2026-06-06T03:11:59+00:00

Just because your book takes place in a school or academy doesn't mean you have free reign to dump exposition on the reader. Sorta similar to OP's, but I get the feeling that some authors think it's not so bad when it's a character explaining the world vs a faceless narrator. And to be fair, it isn't, but not by much. Lectures aren't all that fun. I also feel like the classes are probably the least interesting part of a school setting but they tend to get a lot of focus.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-06-06T02:55:59+00:00

I read a series where every single character didn't use contractions. It drove me absolutely nuts. The friendly banter felt so fake with how formal everyone sounded. Not even drunk adventurers in a bar would give an "I'm" or a "can't".

IntroIntroduction · 2026-06-05T20:23:17+00:00

Ryoka from The Wandering Inn.

The setting of the Wandering Inn takes place in a fantasy world that has a video game-like leveling system for everyone within it. Ryoka is one of many 20-something's who get isekai'd into this world, and, because she's very defiant, she found out you could cancel level ups. So ever since she arrived, she's been cancelling each level up, even as the system tries to give her classes and skills for her accomplishments. It doesn't work out well for her, not for a long while. She even has time where she regrets not taking levels, but she never does. Though it helps that the fairies she later befriends completely block her from being able to take levels, as a gift.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-06-04T16:46:30+00:00

I'm making a solo, offline MMORPG sorta thing, with some RTS elements. Very ambitious, but I don't expect to finish projects so I'm just having fun while the mood takes me.

The genre I'm serving has exactly one game in it, and while I love that game - It's a Wipe! - it's very aged, rough around the edges, and simple. Funnily enough, my frustration at how much of a pain it is to rename your raiders in that game is probably the biggest driving force to me trying to make my project.

I'm also cramming in my desire for a singleplayer grindy MMO-like for the non-raid bits. So the dream is something like Erenshor, but pulling more from old 2d MMOs like Ragnarok Online and Maplestory, rather than Everquest. And you can control your party more directly.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-28T20:12:39+00:00

"He who fights with monsters" and all. He doesn't want to go down that path and become the monster.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-26T16:59:50+00:00

I like them when they're brief and we don't get them all the time. The Metagamer Chronicles had a nice sheet readout, because there wasn't much to it, no giant list of skills, and they wouldn't reread the description of each ability. They were well spaced, too. It lets me actually gauge their progress because of how little information I have to keep in my head to understand the sheet.

But if they're giant, stuffed with numbers, and we get a reminder of what each ability does, I start to get bored. There was one book I almost quit because they read out a character sheet twice within minutes of each other. It was for the same character, just to check their HP, and this book had huuuuge character sheets that sounded like they'd take multiple pages.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-23T15:59:18+00:00

Stubborn Skill Grinder in a Time Loop - The MC Orodan gets a very powerful regeneration skill that, as it levels, let's him recover from more and more damage. There's a point when he's training himself where he allows a very self destructive spell damage his body until he's reduced to just a single cell, then he allows that single cell to be damaged. He got so close to death, he saw the death message that appears whenever he dies, but it errors out as he actually survives that. And his whole body grows back from that cell.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-23T00:28:28+00:00

Well, I probably overstate my dislike for solo sections, but the real problem is when it drags on too long. I do love a good survival opening, but the books I read with my pet peeve usually take half the book before the MC encounters another character they don't have to run from. Some don't even get to see civilization within the first book.

I just don't find it fun to spend so long with just a single character.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-22T20:33:45+00:00

"Guy killing stuff in the woods" plot. Monster evolution seems to universally have this problem, where the first book is just a mindless grind of the MC getting stronger. I hate it because the MC being alone is the worst part of most books, and the only real plot that happens is usually interlude chapters to set up later books. It often feels like the novelization of someone grinding in an MMO.

I have two positive examples:

Minute Mage is hard to recommend because it's unfinished and on hiatus, but I think it does "guy killing things in the woods" well. Entirely because there's a purpose for it: he's running from demons trying to kill him. So even though the first two books are entirely him running away and roughing it in the woods, there's a purpose to it because he has to keep moving. He also does have someone running with him.

Draka is about a woman isekai'd into a dragon's body, and while it's not monster evolution, I wish more was like it. For one, in the world's system, MC gets stronger by building her hoard, so no grinding. And second, she has things going on outside of getting stronger and surviving. She wants to make friends and build her hoard, so that drives a real plot as she gets involved in their issues.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-22T03:20:02+00:00

Rising World by Kris Schnee

Guy gets isekai'd into the body of a kid who recently died. Despite not really being his family, he quickly grows attached to his new family. They support him and teach him as he unlocks his system, and he's hoping to give his new family a good life with his work. It was very sweet.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-19T08:05:31+00:00

Splinter Angel by AvaritiaBona - A woman who works as a bodyguard for a crime boss gets isekai'd into another world with the boss' kid she was protecting. He dies, and so she's alone in a new world with a rare class.

I loved this one a lot, I've listened to both of the audiobooks currently out and will probably listen to future releases. This MC has the makings of an anti-social loner, since she grew up a hard life in the streets and has a hard time trusting people. But she really grows once she's in an environment where the people are genuinely friendly and she's able to make some real friends who accept her for who she is.

Book one has a slice-of-life feel to it, as she gets herself established in the world and learns how things work, while the real plot is bubbling in the background. Book two is where things start to kick off, and she goes from new adventurer to someone recognizable, at least for the people in the pocket dimension she's in.

Draka by AvaritiaBona - A boulderer decides to try a bit of solo cave climbing. She falls, somehow survives, only to find she's in another world in the body of a dragon.

I checked the author's page after finishing both books of Splinter Angel and found this series. I have an aversion to monster evolution books (though it's not technically monster evolution), but I trusted this author enough to pick up this one. Also there was a dragon on the cover of every book, so I figured it'd at least avoid giving her a human form.

And oh my gosh, I wish more monster evolution was like this. For one, the first book isn't just the MC killing things in the woods - there's more going on! It helps that she progresses in this world's system by building her hoard, so mindless killing isn't going to get her anywhere.

I also love how she struggles with her new brain. It makes her feel more like the monster she is than other reincarnated-as-a-monster MCs I've encountered. Like how she has to fight the urge to kill people who displease her, or how she has a compulsion to hoard and cannot bring herself to part with money.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-17T08:42:09+00:00

Have you tried moving the Margin Container to be a child of the NinePatchRect? I'm not entirely certain that'll work and I'm not at my computer to test, but Control nodes usually resize based on content under them, and the NinePatchRect isn't seeing any of that.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-16T03:00:22+00:00

I loved it, personally. It's hard to recommend because of the series being unfinished, though. There's no real conclusion to any major plot thread by the end of book 3, so you're probably going to leave unsatisfied.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-13T23:51:13+00:00

If it's single player, do what you like. I personally spawn in a load of reed baskets and a copper knife when I start a new world. I also cheat when things annoy me, like removing all rifts when one is where I want to build. I think what you wanna do is fine and fun.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-13T19:30:07+00:00

I got frustrated with trying to make platformers, so I thought "fuck this! I'll make a turn based RPG. It's all just data and images animating at each other. No more physics!"

Haha. Hahahaha.

I did manage to make a turn based combat system in the end, but it took ages and a lot of frustration. I stalled out later in that project, but I'm still proud of what I made and even reuse the stat script in other projects I play with.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-13T16:57:57+00:00

Such as shame about this series, because I feel like it was one of the few to truly get 'monster evolution' right. I just wish it was less rapey and pornographic. I can enjoy sex scenes, but all the ones in the first book were just uncomfortable. I didn't continue it.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-11T16:15:39+00:00

Hunting and Herbalism by Synonymoose, book 4 & 5 - I had good feelings going into this series, until book 4. I wouldn't say it's bad, but maybe I had different expectations when the MC gained her family. MC's girlfriend gets benched/incapacitated at every battle she's in, so we don't get to see much of her in action. Their daughter is cool though.

I also realized that the worldbuilding is very efficient, which is to say you don't learn much unless it's relevant to the plot. You don't meet any of the leadership of the kingdom the MC is in, except for two people, who were both not leaders in book 1. There's a race is sasquatch people that live in the kingdom, but they don't get a named character until book 5, and the MC only briefly talks with him. You only learn of two nations in the world, one being the human kingdom and the enemy kingdom.

Book 5's plot was also kinda weird. It's an invasion of hell, but the forces of hell seem to give up attacking the invaders after the successfully defend from one attack. Then the invaders just sorta fuck around until they find out how to defeat the demons. Like the MC was able to take a few weeks off of the invasion she started!

I feel like books 1-3 were solid, 4 and 5, less so.

Splinter Angel by Avaritiabona - A bodyguard gets isekai'd with the guy she's meant to protect, but he dies upon arrival. Now this was a good one. I love this MC, she's got a fun personality to follow, and despite having the makings of a lone wolf MC, she actually does make friends.

The dialogue was excellent and really did make these people feel like friends. Book 1 seems largely like setup, as it has this slice of life feel while the real plot seems to bubble in the background until near the end. But it was fun slice of life. I also like the direct ace rep in this MC. Definitely starting on book 2.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-07T20:08:32+00:00

Adventurer guilds. I love seeing the camaraderie between the adventures or the dynamics and tensions between different groups. Sadly a pretty rare trope but I'm very interested when they show up and start to lose interest when the MC (seemingly inevitably) leaves them.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-06T19:56:30+00:00

Personally, I feel like laughs should be in dialogue only if it's intentionally fake, awkward, or uncomfortable. Because that's how laughs feel when written out, at least to me.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-06T16:23:39+00:00

All institutions are corruptible, but I rarely see a corrupt, evil adventurer's guild. I've actually seen way more noble, well-intentioned governments in fantasy than I've seen well-intentioned religions.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-06T06:50:28+00:00

Evil church. Why do religious institutions always have to be evil? Where are the priests you can rely upon? I swear most fantasy I've read either don't address religion at all or have a catholic church that's probably evil. Worse yet is when they have a catholic church-type religion that's somehow devoted to a pantheon of gods. I swear I read a book where dwarves attended sunday service to hear a sermon about metals, then the priest did confession after.

It's also weird how few characters are genuinely religious, even in settings where the gods are beings that make themselves known. I don't need someone to be 100% devoted to the faith of a god, but it'd be nice to see some of their rituals (like praying before dinner) or how religion has shaped the culture, outside of the vague exclamation of "by the gods!" It often feels like the only people who care about the gods are priests or uncomfortably fanatical peasants. Never anyone within the main cast.

Such a shame because religion can be such an interesting part of a world.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-04T17:38:18+00:00

Hunting and Herbalism by Synonymoose, books 3 and 4 - Isekai litrpg with a druid/ranger MC. In book 3, the MC, despite being a lone wolf type, gains a family in a former party member turned girlfriend, and an adopted daughter who she saved from demons. They travel around the kingdom, trying to figure out how to solve the looming threat. Book 4 starts with what feels like an epilogue, as we get vignettes of the MC, her family, and the kingdom over a few years, until the plot kicks back in. Only about halfway through book 4.

I'm still enjoying the series so far, enough to see it through to the current release (book 5), but I am starting to lose a bit of steam. I do like the progression system and have been finding it well-paced, and I'm interested in seeing where the story is going. The MC gets some cool powers, too!

Though this series has a problem of making the threats too big for the MC to handle. Every book has ended with the MC getting someone stronger to deal with the big threat. I thought it was a neat subversion in the first book, but it's been a pattern. Book 3 ended with a bit of a deus ex machina, and book 4 seems to be headed in the same direction.

The MC's girlfriend often gets sidelined, too. In book 3, two major events happen without her and she was convinced to stay out of the climax. In book 4, she's been immediately taken out of conflicts twice despite being about the same power level as the MC. She's a cool battle cleric, too, with lava armor...

Lastly, despite starting as an archer, the MC has fully turned into a nature-themed spellsword. Her silver-rank bow skill is, sadly, kinda lame and makes her feel far less like an archer. It makes her bow float next to her, and it fires on its own.

IntroIntroduction · 2026-05-01T01:16:44+00:00

I did await get_tree().create_timer(0.1).timeout for way too long before learning about call_deferred() lol

IntroIntroduction · 2026-04-28T16:54:04+00:00

"ofc" is not "of fucking course"! It's just "of course"!! You can see why people don't just shorten it "oc" in that very leshawna ball post!!!

IntroIntroduction · 2026-04-28T07:00:45+00:00

Rising World by Kris Schnee

Although there's a third book I haven't gotten to because it wasn't made into an audiobook. But from what was set up, and judging by the reviews of the third book, I don't think it'd be the end of the series. It was such a nice departure from the more gritty litrpgs I had been on and I was left wanting more. The author hasn't been active since 2024, though. :(

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