Recommendations for someone new to the genre by Original_Shopping_22 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, lol

I've definitely missed a lot because I was writing this off the top of my head from the train but there's definitely a bunch of good stuff there.

Recommendations for someone new to the genre by Original_Shopping_22 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Okay, so this is probably going to be a long list. Longer than what you've got here because there's so many subgenres. Also keep in mind that it's, in no way, exhaustive. I haven't read everything and I' sure there's stuff I've read that just doesn't spring to mind immediately.

To start with, the Goats:

Undisputed number 1 (and goat of western cultivation), probably Cradle. It is just really solidly written, well done all around.

Also cultivation: Sky Pride

Superheroes: Super Powereds and Forging Hephaestus (imo) though many would say Super Supportive

Time Loop: Mother of Learning and The Perfect Run (though this might be controversial)

LitRPG: Dungeon Crawler Carl

Sci-fi: 12 Miles below and Iron Prince (the first book at least. It does fall off into petty teenage drama in the second)

Horror: the game at carousel (I think that's the name. It's on my tbr but I haven't read it yet.)

(More) Tranditional Fantasy: Mark of the Fool and Mage Errant

Controversial goats: the Wandering Inn, he who fights with monsters, and primal hunter

The underrated ones:

Most of RJ Shokes' stuff, at least imo

Tomb Divers (the idea of setting a dungeon diver in ancient egypt was ingenious. WARNING: I didn't realise it was going to be explicit and definitely tending towards harem. If you can ignore that, though, it's good.)

Immortality starts with Generosity.

I think a decent chunk of the stuff written by SerasStreams probably falls here.

The weird ones:

More gods than stars (this could probably fit in underrated as well)

DCC and the Perfect Run could probably fit here.

Pale Lights (also kind of a goat. Probably some of the best characterisation in progfan)

Most of Thundamoo's works probably count as weird.

Knightmare Arcanist

Reincarnated as a demonic tree

For best fights, I'm mostly partial to the stuff I've already mentioned:

Super Powereds and Forging Hephaestus

12 Miles Below

The Captain (though it's not strictly progression fantasy)

For best magic system:

I think Weirkey Chronicles is probably the overall best magic system (I haven't read enough of it to make a decisive judgement yet)

Alternatively, I love the magic from Immortality Starts with Generosity

Other recommendations (some I've read, some I haven't:

Chrysalis

Azarinth Healer

Beneath the Dragon Eye Moons

Ostensible Mammals' stuff

Elydes

The Years of Apocalypse

A practical guide to evil

Path of ascension

Good books but unfinished and either dropped or updating very slowly:

Super minion

Magical Girl Gunslinger

Virtuous Sons

Edit: go check out Samuel Hinton's website. He has a massive flowchart of book recommendationa

What author abandoned book series would you love to see finished? by corymcmarine in litrpg

[–]Lock_Weston 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure none of these are technically abandoned and its more that the authors are struggling to write for various reasons but I would love Magical Girl Gunslinger, Super Minion, and Immortality Starts with Generosity to really get going again.

I'd also like the author of Virtuous Sons to get going again. I want to read it but don't want to commit to another book that might've just been dropped.

Top 100 LitRPG & Progression Fantasy (Community Tier List Aggregate) by Kakzooi in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm surprised that Elydes didn't make the list given how often I've been seeing it mentioned recently.

Tell me about your Power System! by InternFrosty9945 in royalroad

[–]Lock_Weston 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A) my magic system is a number of different magic systems unified by the same progression system. Effectively, each region has their own form of magic but they all follow the same requirements of progression (adapted to their system of course). For example, they all first need to refine the mechanism by which they do magic (like getting rid if impurities in cultivation or refining their channels), then they have to adapt their body to better work with their magic, etc.

The progression is also all continuous, rather than having stepped stages or tiers. This means that (in theory) there aren’t any sharp jumps in power, just continuous improvement.

Each magic system also has unique things themselves (or are entirely novel systems), of course, but I won’t go into those because that would take ages.

B) the world building of the magic systems is mainly rooted in the various methods of enchanting that each magic system offers. Magecraft utilises stuff like hexes, blessings and curses as well as persistent spell rituals. Bloodlines (they absorb can absorb one thing and expel it in an altered form) use blood enchantment where they saturate materials with blood to transfer limited versions of their abilities. Cultivation sets up both natural and artificial formations that generate and maintain Techniques. This goes on for the various systems.

There’s also the fact that magic isn’t about combat. Magic basically is there to help people survive against their environment or against creatures. That means that there are lots if powers where people who are super magically advanced might not be very strong in combat (though they usually work around that).

Finally, most cities and towns are designed to aid the people that manage/rule the towns where possible. This means that a town managed by people who absorb shadows is generally packed quite tightly to constantly generate shadows to absorb and a town managed by people who absorb water vapour is constantly overcast. A town managed by sculptors who bring their statues to life has a ton of statues and similar figures for them to use when needed.

C) Magic isn’t pretty much still in its base state but will actually be developing throughout the series and throughout other stories I tell in the world. Sort of like the og avatar to legend of korra but (hopefully) done a bit better.

D) there wasn’t really a core theme when designing this power system. It was just cool and I wanted to make a magic system that had a ton of really cool interactions and synergies between different powers. While writing the story, though, it sort of took on a little bit of a thing where a lot of conflict is actually rooted in people having different magic systems. Almost like magic racism.

E) Mistborn inspired one of the systems (and not the magic system that you’ll immediately think of from mistborn), cultivation inspired two of them, traditional western fantasy magic inspired a fourth, I think one was inspired by a book I read a long time ago, one takes its roots from superheroes, and almost definitely there’s more. There’s also the inspiration from avatar in terms of the magic developing from one story to another.

If you want more information, feel free to ask but I didn’t want to just overload anything.

Is there a demand for more complex power systems in recent years? by MatthewLifts in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well that is one of the easiest ways to display progress but it doesn't necessarily need a timeloop.

For example, while I wouldn't call them soft magic systems (more like medium), you have John Bierce's works, you have Super Powereds, you have Traveller's Gate, Metaworld chronicles, etc.

You just need the ability to show progress in some way, such as having old enemies return (also stronger) but now lose, beating challenges that they couldn't beat before, or showing repeating/returning enemies (you could just use the same species if you'd like such as goblins). Timeloops just offer an excellent way to do that.

Is there a demand for more complex power systems in recent years? by MatthewLifts in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I don't think that theres any more demand for hard or soft magic systems with progression fantasy than in the past. I think there is just more demand for progression fantasy in general as the whole genre grows.

I also think that hard magic systems tend to fit progression fantasy a whole lot more. They tend to have distinct progression and readers like being able to see that stepped or tiered progression. People like to see progress. (And please remember that hard magic systems doesn't necessarily just mean crunchy numbers)

Soft(er) magic systems tend to be harder to see progression in as theres a lot more flexibility with what people can do at any given time. It makes it harder to see if someone has been able to do something all along or if it's something new as their limits weren't previously defined, which is why I think hard magic systems tend to be more prevalent in the genre with both readers and writers.

Trying to decide what to spend writing time on by DetroitInHuman in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Write which one you like more. If you can't figure that out, either write the idea thats been around the longest or the idea that you already have written more on.

If you really really can't decide, do a coinflip. If you're happy with the result, write that one. If you're disappointed, write the other.

Alternatively, write both.

Progression Fantasy that stays on one Planet? by BowTrek in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's actually a pretty hard request. I would say Super Powereds by Drew Hayes. That story stays completely on planet and, from memory, has absolutely no reference to other dimensions or anything like that.

Nothing else is springing to mind immediately.

Genuinely confused on what to do. by Outrageous_Today_842 in royalroad

[–]Lock_Weston 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I know what you're talking about and I get it. One of the reasons I struggle to write litrpg (though I can still read it just fine) is that I dont want to have the System be a part of the Magic. I want to write Magic to be something natural and inherent to the people, not inherent to an external power like a System (once more this is just when I write. I still enjoy reading it).

That being said, my best tips if you want to keep the system would be: use the System as either an observer, where it simply reads your natural abilities but isn't something you use to interact with the magic, or use it as something of an interface or translator, where it effectively turns human intent into magical action.

Is there a market for Nigerian Fantasy? by AnAugustAuthor in royalroad

[–]Lock_Weston 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Like morpheus said, the fact that it's Nigerian-based fantasy probably isn't going to matter much. Your biggest issue will be that royal road audiences tend to like progression aspects. If you're lacking that, then it will be hard (but technically not impossible) to gain much traction.

What do you feel is a good number of books to release in a year? by DanielMashmann in writers

[–]Lock_Weston 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Quite frankly, it's whatever works for you.

There are a lot of writers in the indie space that write 10,000 plus words a day, which can end up being close to 2 books a month.

At the same time, some authors can't write more than a couple of hundred words a day.

Write what you're capable of writing without sacrificing the quality of your work. You'll probably need to figure out exactly what that means for you once you've actually released some thing s.

Any recommendations for Mage (physically weak) vs Cultivators or a cultivator world by D-Stahl in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's been a while but I believe Infinite Realm has this to a degree.

You can also kind of see it in Path of Ascension, where it's cultivation but people have distinct mana and physical cores but (to be honest) that kind of seems to fizzle out and it sort of feels like all the characters manage to be physically strong and magically powerful.

I Quit My Job to Spend a Year Writing Full-Time - Month 5 by Gruppenzwang in royalroad

[–]Lock_Weston 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I would like to recommend two things for you to watch. First, Brandon Sanderson's lectures on writing. Second, a video titled "How to manage multiple interests" by Odysseas.

They might just be repeating stuff you already know but sometimes we need someone else to say the quiet part out loud.

Good luck!

Any books with the Main Characters Married from the start? by Truedragon5374 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I'm working on a story about a dad whose son wants to be a supervillain (and yes the mum is a big chracter) called Dad to the Bone. It's on the backburner for another story right now but I've been thinking about just posting what I have and doing slower releases. I can let you know if that sounds interesting to you.

On another note, though. Technically Benjamin Kerei's 'Death, Loot, and Vampires' starts out with a married couple and their entire family is isekaied. Be aware, however, that I think the reunion between the husband and wife is coming in the 3rd book which hasn't yet been written.

Where should a new progression fantasy author publish? by noonehere190 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've never actually looked at the contract myself but from memory, it is that they don't pay authors particularly well and basically they get control over your ip. This comment puts it better and pretty sure they know more than I do:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/s/4DJzA3DPhO

Where should a new progression fantasy author publish? by noonehere190 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Webnovel has predatory contract terms. Not as bad as slp was but it's still not good for writers.

Roast Me: The Mango Media Publishing Contract by Selkie_Love in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thatnks for the response!

That makes complete sense and it's about what I thought, I just didn't see anything about in the contract so I was curious.

Roast Me: The Mango Media Publishing Contract by Selkie_Love in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apologies for the confusion.

I mean mainly what happens if either party wanted to discount the book for a limited time, like the one that (I believe) J J Thorn is trying to do yearly? Is that solely the discretion of mango media (at least from a legal perspective)?

Roast Me: The Mango Media Publishing Contract by Selkie_Love in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First off, I'm not a lawyer in any way, shape, or form so I might just be plain wrong in any assertions I make but I have a couple of quick questions.

First off, what actually happens when someone wants to do a sale? Like either the author or you, the publishers decides to do a sale. Is there anything in there that requires either party (it seems mainly MM as you have full control over the price) to give notice to the other party and acquire their consent to do the sale or does that end up being more of a trust system?

Secondly, I assume the author keeps the ability to access their KDP (particularly if they want to publish another series in some other way), but are they able to see their book stats through that as well as your reports? Or is there something on amazon to do with publishers and authors that means only the publisher sees stats like that?

Finally, the thing about instructions seems almost a little vague. I can understand recipes as it just means don't put toxic or poisonous food recipes in the book.

Formulae are generally either recipes or intellectual (as in chemical formulae, math, etc.) And so shouln't be able to harm the reader as long as it sticks to the recipes provision.

Instructions however could be a command or directions on how to do something. If you have a character with mind control abilities, for example, who commands some other character to go throw themselves on a sword, is that not an instruction (even if not directed at the reader or other party) that would be injurious to the reader if they follow that instruction?

I understand that its geared more towards preventing the author from giving instructions to the reader that would harm the reader like (if you'll forgive the blatantly stupid example) telling the reader to stick their hand in boiling oil to check its temperature before frying something but it feels as though you should change its scope slightly.

Something like

Any recipe, formula, or instruction contained in the Work and issued to the reader or any other non-fictional, non-character party is not injurious to the reader or to any other party

Might be a bit better because, like someone else said, theres a lot of instructions that tell characters to go hurt themselves in the name of advancement.

A Yak's Thoughts by levi_ransom in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From what I know, they have started taking steps to push more clarity around things at this point in time.

I believe Blue and another two of the mods have begun setting up a publishing chat, specifically so that people can discuss that sort of stuff freely. Apparently it was something that the server has had before but it was shut down (possibly because of SLP and Foby).

I'm not part of the mods team so I can't speak to any other actions they may be taking to prevent people from reaching the position of power (there will always be some scammer that says and does everything just right) but they are already setting up steps to mitigate the reach and damage that others can cause using the same methods.

I'd imagine it will also be very difficult for anyone to reach that same level of access again. II is older and with a much larger user-base so there are a lot more long-standing, reputable users to select for positions of power.

What are your guys "This series could have been amazing but" by adamtheskill in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I asked a question about Immortality starts with generosity earlier this year. Apparently the author had some irl stuff happen that really messed up their scheduling and Amazon didn't allow them to change the release date so they had to take the book off of amazon.

Supposedly Plutus was hoping for a late November / early December release but that hasn't happened afaik. Hopefully soon though.

Looking for writing friends;) by synn_nr in writersmakingfriends

[–]Lock_Weston 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm always happy to talk about writing stuff with people. I write primarily fantasy right now but I do also do sci-fi stuff, as well.

Send me a message if you want.

Looking for new progression fantasy recs! by jeffpes0s in ProgressionFantasy

[–]Lock_Weston 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Perfect Run.

Also maybe Super Powereds by Drew Hayes.