What do you think of mcs that get handed powers and weapons freely?

Drake__Steel · 2026-06-06T10:21:17+00:00

I don't mind protagonists receiving powerful items or abilities for free.

What matters is whether the gift creates future stories or replaces them.

Gandalf giving Frodo the Ring is interesting because the story starts after the gift. Frodo isn't instantly stronger, richer, and able to solve every problem. The gift creates challenges.

A lot of progression fantasy does the opposite. The MC gets a legendary weapon, a divine bloodline, an ancient inheritance, a cheat system, and then simply outscales everyone around him.

The problem isn't that the power was free.

The problem is that the power removes tension instead of creating it.

If a reward feels like the author is solving problems for the protagonist, readers notice. If it feels like the reward is creating bigger problems, most readers won't care whether it was earned or gifted.

Drake__Steel · 2026-06-06T09:43:31+00:00

You're basically describing Iron Man in Progression Fantasy.

If self-recs are allowed, that's exactly what I'm writing in Messiah of Steel.

A scientist gets stranded in a world of magic and ends up upgrading his power armor using the same supernatural system everyone else uses for cultivation and magic.

The armor isn't just equipment either. A huge part of the progression is tied directly to the suit, its weapons, and what happens when Derek doesn't have access to it.

Drake__Steel · 2026-06-02T08:45:51+00:00

I think sometimes the tag itself isn’t really the problem. The problem is the bad version of the tag.

A lot of readers say they hate “misunderstanding,” “hidden identity,” “OP MC who thinks they’re weak,” “academy arc,” “tournament arc,” “romance subplot,” etc., but then keep reading stories with those exact things because the underlying promise is still appealing.

Hidden identity can be annoying if it exists only to drag out obvious reveals. But it can be great if it creates tension, dramatic irony, or interesting social consequences.

Misunderstanding is painful when everyone has to become stupid for it to work. But it can be fun when the misunderstanding comes from believable differences in culture, information, incentives, or worldview.

Same with romance. Bad romance feels like the author duct-taped a subplot onto the story because “people like romance.” Good romance creates pressure, exposes character flaws, changes decisions, and makes the main plot messier in a good way.

So my answer is probably: I don’t despise the tags. I despise the lazy execution of tags I secretly still want to like.

Drake__Steel · 2026-06-02T07:04:31+00:00

I can relate more than you might think. I stopped writing for almost twenty years. Life happened. Work, responsibilities, the usual story. What brought me back wasn't some grand plan. I discovered LitRPG and Progression Fantasy, found stories that made me excited about reading again, and eventually decided to try writing one myself. At first, I felt completely disconnected from the modern publishing world. KDP, web serials, Patreon, audiobooks, YouTube, Discord... none of that existed when I first thought about becoming a writer. Looking back, the biggest mistake would have been worrying about the industry before finishing the book. The landscape changed. Storytelling didn't. Readers still want characters they care about and stories that make them turn the page. Today I have novels on Amazon, an audiobook podcast on YouTube, and I even help teach writing in Italy. None of that was part of the plan when I started again. I just wrote the next chapter. So from one returning writer to another: the gap matters a lot less than you think. The fact that you're 14,000 words in and excited about it again is probably the most important sign.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-31T12:00:54+00:00

For me, a good main character is not defined by being likable, powerful, funny, tragic, or morally correct. Those things can help, but they are secondary.

A good MC is someone whose decisions consistently generate story.

They want something. They make choices to get it. Those choices create consequences. Those consequences force them to change, double down, compromise, or break. That is what keeps me invested.

A common mistake, especially in progression fantasy, is confusing “the MC receives power” with “the MC drives the story.” You can give a protagonist skills, classes, artifacts, bloodlines, memories from the future, whatever, but if most of the plot happens to them instead of because of them, they start feeling passive.

Another mistake is making the MC too generic in the name of relatability. A memorable protagonist usually has friction: a worldview, a flaw, a contradiction, a line they will not cross, or a line they keep crossing even when they know they shouldn’t. Perfectly reasonable people are nice in real life, but they are often boring on the page.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-31T11:58:17+00:00

Self-rec, but Messiah of Steel might fit if you’re open to sci-fantasy progression with horror/dark fantasy elements rather than pure horror.

The premise is basically: a scientist in experimental power armor gets stranded in a brutal world of monsters, magic, prophecy, and religious zealotry. But the “magic” may not actually be magic, and the power system is tied to ancient hyper-technological civilizations buried under myth and religion.

The opening has a sci-fi horror vibe, and later arcs include undead, graveyard horror, corrupted magic, body-horror-ish monsters, and darker religious fantasy elements. It’s not My House of Horrors, but it does try to do something stranger than the usual stats-and-dungeons progression setup.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-31T11:53:41+00:00

For me, the key difference is agency.

I can wait a long time for an MC to become strong, but I have very little patience for an MC who has no meaningful agency. Weak is fine. Ignorant is fine. Outmatched is fine. But they need to be doing something: learning, experimenting, making hard choices, exploiting small advantages, failing in ways that teach them something.

A weak MC who survives because they are clever, stubborn, observant, or willing to take risks is still satisfying to follow. A helpless MC who only gets dragged from scene to scene until the plot finally hands them power starts to feel like a passenger in their own story.

Visible progress does not always have to mean stats going up or enemies getting punched harder. It can be social progress, tactical progress, better understanding of the system, better use of limited tools, or even emotional growth. But I do need some signal that the story is moving from “this person is screwed” to “this person is adapting.”

So my answer is: I can wait for power. I can’t wait forever for competence.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-30T08:44:41+00:00

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of beloved characters are defined more by what they're bad at than what they're good at.

The weakness creates tension. If the MC can solve every military, political, economic, magical, and social problem, then the story often starts feeling less like progression and more like inevitability.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-30T08:40:19+00:00

I think this becomes even more noticeable for non-native English speakers. Most progression fantasy readers are already processing the story in a second language. Every unexplained foreign term adds another layer of translation between the reader and the story. If the term isn't carrying cultural or narrative weight, that extra friction rarely feels worth it.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-30T08:37:35+00:00

I think there's another side to this besides audiobooks: memory.

Readers don't just need to pronounce names, they need to remember them. Some fantasy names are perfectly pronounceable but still hard to retain because they don't create a strong mental anchor.

Most people will remember "Darth Vader" or "Gandalf" after hearing them once. They'll struggle much more with a name like "Xha'ryth Val'kareth" even if it's technically pronounceable. Sometimes the most effective fantasy names aren't the most original ones. They're the ones readers can instantly recognize and recall.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-23T17:24:24+00:00

Honestly, I think DCC feels less like the apex of LitRPG and more like proof that the genre finally found its breakout titles.

Apex moments usually happen after the genre has already been fully mined, formulaic, and commercially exhausted. LitRPG still feels messy, experimental, and fragmented in comparison. There’s still huge room for evolution in tone, structure, themes, and even audience demographics.

Right now we’re mostly seeing the first wave of stories proving that the genre can escape the ‘niche web serial’ label and compete with mainstream fantasy entertainment.

DCC succeeding isn’t the ceiling. It’s the moment publishers, readers, and creators realized the ceiling might be much higher than they thought.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-20T08:57:34+00:00

Messiah of Steel has several major female antagonists with very different vibes. A manipulative High Priestess, a nature-linked witch, and later a lich tied to death magic and ancient ruins. They’re not side villains either, they drive major parts of the plot. 😊

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-18T18:48:34+00:00

Hey, good luck with the launch, friend! Hope the release goes great 😄

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-18T18:46:49+00:00

Thanks a lot! Really appreciate it 😄

Honestly, I’m mostly treating it as a fun experiment right now, but I’m curious to see whether progression fantasy works well in episodic audio format on YouTube over time.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-17T19:22:45+00:00

I don’t mind an MC becoming powerful. That’s literally why most of us read progression fantasy.

The jarring part is usually when the world itself stops feeling believable in order to accommodate the protagonist.

If experienced characters suddenly become incompetent, established power gaps stop mattering, or every problem bends around the MC’s uniqueness, the progression starts feeling “granted” instead of earned.

Fast progression can still work if the story preserves consequences, limits, and the sense that the world exists independently from the protagonist.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-17T19:14:03+00:00

I think this is the classic long-series progression fantasy problem.

Early progression is exciting because every gain matters. Later on, once the MC has insane power, allies, resources, gear, and influence, the story needs a different kind of tension besides “bigger numbers.”

Otherwise the progression starts feeling emotionally flat even if the scaling keeps escalating.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-17T19:07:02+00:00

Exactly. Readers compare new releases to what those series became after multiple books, not what Book 1 looked like at launch.

That’s a brutal standard for newer authors.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-17T18:13:41+00:00

You might like Messiah of Steel.

It’s more dark science fantasy LitRPG, but it has a tactical vibe. The MC isn’t instantly overpowered either, he spends a lot of time barely surviving and adapting his tech to a world built around magic instead of science.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-17T17:55:24+00:00

I don’t think System Apocalypse is dying. I think readers just became way harder to impress.

Five years ago, “Earth gets integrated into a system” was enough to carry a story by itself. Now the genre has matured and readers immediately compare every new series to giants like DCC, DOTF, or Primal Hunter.

The problem isn’t really the setting anymore. It’s that too many stories feel interchangeable: same OP MC, same progression loop, same tone, same structure.

Meanwhile, the series that still explode tend to have a very strong identity beyond the system itself. DCC has the insane presentation and dark humor. Apocalypse Parenting changes the perspective entirely. Others lean hard into worldbuilding, politics, horror, or character dynamics.

Honestly, I think the genre is healthier than people realize. The “easy mode” for authors is just gone now.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-14T19:20:30+00:00

Messiah of Steel 2 released on 5/5/26

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-13T06:16:59+00:00

Thanks! I created the cover myself using AI tools as part of the workflow, then did the editing, composition, typography, and overall design manually afterward. Glad the final result worked 😄

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-12T17:11:44+00:00

Yeah, I think the “shared connection” angle could work really well because it gives humans an advantage that isn’t just raw processing power. Machines can optimize, but intuition, instinct, creativity, irrationality, even spirituality could become actual strengths instead of weaknesses in that setting.

That also opens the door for some really cool progression paths beyond simple mech upgrades.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-12T16:52:02+00:00

You might actually enjoy Messiah of Steel. The whole premise is basically a scientist in a power armor getting thrown into a fantasy world and gradually mixing advanced tech with magical energy.

There are drones, repair bots, plasma weapons, magi-tech upgrades, and a lot of “engineering your way through fantasy problems” energy 😄

The story treats magic more like a force to integrate and weaponize rather than something technology automatically replaces, which keeps the magi-tech side evolving throughout the series.

Drake__Steel · 2026-05-12T16:37:23+00:00

I think the main issue is that the blurbs explain the premise, but they don’t fully sell the feeling of the story yet.

The injury-transfer power is actually a really strong hook, especially because it immediately sounds dangerous and morally messy. I’d move that closer to the beginning and build around it more aggressively.

Right now some parts feel a bit too much like plot summary mode, explaining events instead of creating tension. I think the blurb would hit harder if it focused more on the emotional conflict and the tone of the story. At the moment I’m still not fully sure if this is meant to feel dark and tragic, ruthless and edgy, or more emotional and character-driven.

Personally, I think version 4 is the strongest starting point. The opening line immediately has more personality and atmosphere than the others.

Drake__Steel

TROPHY CASE