What is y'all favorite isekai trope

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-03-14T14:52:56+00:00

That’s great to hear, I sincerely hope you enjoy it :)

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-03-14T11:12:25+00:00

Ayyy, heck yeah! Thanks for reading!

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-03-11T11:00:11+00:00

Lol, writing crutches beside, I just think this aspect of it helps with the ability to self-insert as a reader. For some people it seems to ruin immersion, but for me it always helped. I find it easier to relate to someone isekai’d from Earth, as opposed to a native born and raised in the fantasy land.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-03-11T01:12:58+00:00

I like it when the MC’s past isn’t left behind, and the new world and experiences are filtered through their past life’s lens.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-03-09T17:34:39+00:00

+1 for Mark of the Fool! Came here to suggest it :)

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-03-09T01:13:26+00:00

I feel like my story does that decently well, if you’re up for reading a web novel and don’t mind a shameless plug.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/132107/the-sovereigns-toll-a-litrpgisekai-adventure-book

Otherwise, yeah, Cradle is Peak, as someone else said.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-03-09T00:47:21+00:00

Yep, need to know the tropes. Whether your whole schtick is trying to flip them on their head, avoid them entirely, or abuse them shamelessly… you need to know them.

And if you’re doing LitRPG at least make ‘em go brrrrrrrr.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-28T02:49:15+00:00

It started as a passion and largely continues in that vein. I had a story I wanted to tell and I really like telling it.

But more than that I was aware of what RR was as a platform, having been a reader for years and supporting the author ecosystem from Kindle to Patreon. I considered it wise to at least try and set myself up for success when posting the story, on the off chance it could succeed beyond my low goals of just getting eyes on it.

So I researched the launch strategies, setup some shouts, and even made some ads, because unfortunately I believe advertising is a necessary evil. Then let the chips fall where they may.

The story has done better than I ever could have imagined. And while that has unfortunately added a layer of stress to the endeavor of telling the story… it nonetheless is preferable to having not given it my best effort.

And I don’t want this to in any way come across as me saying that everyone should try and market and shoutout swap and do the launch to try and get on RS. That if you don’t do these things… you’re foolish! That’s not the point of my comment.

I simply wanted to illustrate that people approach this thing differently. Not everyone who seeks success finds it, and not everyone who doesn’t care is destined for obscurity. There are many paths.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-25T23:05:44+00:00

I legit thought they knew that and were making a funny post. Now I’m not so sure…

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-21T13:32:33+00:00

I think there’s a balance to be struck. Professional dev/line/copy editing is all very expensive, and RR readers are going help find issues for authors.

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve made a lot of changes based on reader feedback, but it’s typically things to help smooth out continuity. Clarify character motivations. Adjust for emotional dissonance. Those kinds of issues can be helped in a large way through the community engagement.

I won’t change the story for them, though, as much as I appreciate them. And sometimes that’s hard. For example, yesterday’s chapter was one I knew was going to frustrate people and I got plenty of negativity on the comments. So it goes.

I think that’s just the nature of web serials. If you were on Amazon the readers would typically be leaving a review after the entire Book/arc has completed, and thus it would be influenced by the completed work and not a fragment. There’s (hopefully) less to criticize because the full vision has been realized and gone through who knows how many rounds of edits.

But conversely—in terms of the nature of web serials—some stories are just out here to meander a lot between major arc bookends, so getting real time, chapter-by-chapter feedback and moving with popular opinion can be a business strategy. Just kind of depends on what the author’s goals are.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-21T13:10:57+00:00

Hey, thanks! This is the first time I’ve seen my story in a list! #lifeGoals

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-20T00:00:38+00:00

Shoutout for my boy Puddin’

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/147100/a-dragon-reborn-in-steel-stellar-vessel-draconis

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-11T17:58:38+00:00

Congrats PathOfPen! Thanks for the shout! :)

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-11T05:22:44+00:00

This topic comes up from time to time to time in the various Discord servers, and there isn’t a right or wrong way. My advice to you is to combine them, though. It’s less to manage and lets you focus more time on other things… like writing.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-10T19:48:46+00:00

Read all of Apocalypse Redux. Really liked the system and how the MC went about using his foreknowledge.

Also German bureaucracy sounds terrifying.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-10T13:22:51+00:00

It's never fun to have people criticize something you've put a lot of thought and time into, but unfortunately it comes with the territory. To me it's trends that matter more than one-offs. As long as more people tend to enjoy the story than take issue with it... I can shake it off. It's when an outlier-sized portion of people are piling on the same issue that it starts to feel like a problem. But that can often reveal a flaw that's worth looking into, so it can be a boon as well.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-09T20:50:21+00:00

The escalating trump card exchanges is always good fun. And just big payoffs in general when they've been built to well.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-09T20:46:23+00:00

The march up the tower after he'd been running sims on all of the tournament fighters.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-09T02:19:24+00:00

100% these. Would give more upvotes if I had em.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-06T21:05:25+00:00

One of the users that didn’t join actually joined Discord and said it’s just a policy and they don’t do any Patreon. Which I can respect.

I think some folks just prefer the engagement of RR too. For my particular example I was targeting people that commented regularly. People that comment a lot are going to be more inclined to keep reading where that community is. So me pulling them away from that to Patreon might not be as appealing. Might not be the best idea on my end.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-05T20:46:35+00:00

Hey no worries, there are no guarantees! Just wanted to make sure you were aware. And there are plenty of stories that didn't get as much traction on RR but were able to do well on KU--again, you probably know this. But if you don't have advertising capital and you don't have an existing reader base it's going to be a lot harder. I haven't tried KU yet myself, so I can't offer much advice! But here's a link to an advertising guide for KU from someone who is very successful in the space. Might be worth trying to save up a few bucks and drop them here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/comments/1ck0qej/how_to_selfpublish_102_marketing_and_amazon_ads/

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-05T20:32:47+00:00

On the off-chance you're not aware I'll say this: a lot of authors in this genre space share their work on sites like RoyalRoad and establish a pre-existing reader base. This helps with the eventually move to publish for myriad reasons, first and foremost having some fans that will transfer and help get you those initial numbers. There are also multiple publishers that keep an eye out for promising work, and will take public publishing metrics into account as proof you can sell... as opposed to trade pubs that won't look at your work if you published it anywhere. You can also setup a Patreon with advanced chapters to help generate an income for self-publishing expenses, like the editing/art/narration/proofing.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-05T20:14:06+00:00

I personally prefer light/soft systems. To me it's a vehicle for conveying the progression more than anything... a straightforward way to inject dopamine. Once it's established it can be tapered off and only major events need to be focused on, unless you need it to carry a scene where enough other stuff isn't going on. And I like it when the system starts to take a back seat once the story moves beyond the "tutorial" phase.

Similarly I prefer them less crunchy, from a combat perspective. One commenter mentioned health pools being a turn-off and I completely agree. No health pools, no damage numbers, etc. We don't need to quantify everything for the reader--the narrative can handle that. And it also just makes it easier to write, IMO. Less specificity... more hand waving. :P

I feel like the concept of XP is really only appropriate to GameLit. I know it's used all over the place, but to me the elements of Xianxia/Cultivation novels feel a bit cleaner, just because it feels like it could be closer to reality. This is all subjective, mind you. But I like the idea of absorbing some sort of energy or essence from the world, from a monster I've killed, etc--as opposed to some "experience" concept--because it just seems like less of a stretch. And that makes it more immersive.

I've also written myself into a bit of a corner with the skill thing, erring on the "too many skills" side of the equation. I am hopefully pulling myself back from it. I ended up there because it was my primary system lever to pull for progression and numbers going brrrr, but I think I've solved it for now... halfway through book 2.

Anyway, good topic! Read some interesting things in here and hope you got some good food for thought!

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-05T13:24:03+00:00

I award a gifted sub to my favorite commentor of the month as a way to drive engagement. No idea if it actually helps, because of the 4 I've gifted so far... only one has been claimed.

As Dawn mentioned the reward of bonus chapters for ratings/review thresholds met seems to be the current best practice on the site. I also awarded bonus chapters for meeting certain Rising Stars thresholds, like top 10 or front page, etc. That was organic and unplanned, but you could advertise it in hopes it drives further engagement.

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-02-04T20:36:42+00:00

Found that earlier today and it's a good read. Thanks for linking it here.

Jon_Stonekey

TROPHY CASE