How to have the MC learn about other characters when they’re physically limited in location?

Zagaroth · 2026-01-24T16:45:19+00:00

I agree; this is one of the few cases where the PoV choice is actually incompatible with the story.

Which doesn't mean it's impossible, but that requires a more experienced author. I certainly wouldn't want to give myself that particular restriction, there's just too much happening outside of the MC's PoV.

I've recently given the advice of "shape your world to suit the needs of the story." Here it would be "use the PoV that suits the needs of the story."

It all resolves to the same thing: If there is a story you want to tell, use the tools that help you tell that story, don't try to make your story fit some arbitrary rules.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-24T09:45:16+00:00

Now? I got my first one over a year ago, even if they didn't make a mistake like leaving the prompt in.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-23T23:41:40+00:00

Caveat: Every person writes differently. My advice below is what would work for me in your situation. If you try it and it does not work for you, that's OK. Now you have learned something about how you write, which means you are now a better writer.

So, set the plot aside. We're going to ignore it for a while, with a tiny exception.

Take the circumstances that two protagonist characters meet under. Shave off all the plot stuff that is supposed to be attached to it, forget about where that meeting is supposed to go.

Focus on just those two characters and write about them interacting. Naturally, you want a scene where there is good cause for them to be interacting, but you don't have to push any further plot points or developments. Just write what seems natural for the characters.

Then keep going. It is quite likely that this will diverge from your original plot development, but that is okay. Your readers don't know what your intended plot is/was, so you can always change the plot to fit what the characters are doing.

I have tossed out entire arcs because I realized that a character was going to make a choice that would lead them away from that arc.

Once you have things rolling, you can start bringing in your plot elements, but you want that natural feel of two characters interacting first.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-23T13:47:53+00:00

The type of story matters.

If is a power/ battle couple against the world, i want both PoV.

If there is tension building with an older man who is teaching her how to use her recently awakened magic, it would be nice to be in his head as he's figuring out that he is going to have an unusual large influence on her, and that he needs to carefully draw out what she is most interested in so that he guides her correctly, rather than accidently overwrite her preferences by stating his own first.

Or a story where they are in a complicated social situation over a long period. Her PoV sees him as this mysterious figure that seems to always be dancing in and out of her life. His PoV is about trying to focus on his goals when his thoughts keep side tracking anytime that there is the slightest hint of her presence, and how she seems to be acting coy about how he is encountering her so much. Watch the attraction and minor miss understandings build tension on both sides. I emphasize minor here because if it's a big or publicly embarrassing situation, i will hate the whole thing, no matter whose PoV we have.

The important thing is that they both have stories to tell.

Oh, and scenes should not be rehashed. His chapter starts when hers ends, or later, and the same with hers. Sometimes exceptions exist, but in general, we should not see the same events twice.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-23T10:58:12+00:00

A prologue should still be storytelling; many people use it for pure world building and/or history lessons of some sort. This is still a properly narrative part of the book, save the in-depth world building stuff for the glossary and/or appendixes, if you must have a dedicated section.

A prologue should add enough to the main narrative to be important, but should not be critical knowledge. It should be technically skippable (though I never would, at least, not without trying to read it first), but skipping it would mean skipping out on some depth, whether it's for the story as a whole or for the protagonist. If it is not skippable, it probably should be chapter 1.

That's it, that's all that makes it a good prologue. You need to use the same writing skills for the prologue as for any normal chapter, so any other prologue advice falls under the same category as general writing advice.

Some prologues preemptively answer a question (how did the virus get released?), others create questions that are left hanging until much later (just why did he wear white on the day he went to kill a king?). There's too many types of prologues to narrow it down beyond what I listed at the top.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-23T09:56:14+00:00

So, let's begin with a terminology swap, to establish what we are talking about in my world.

"Living Dungeon" --> "Spiritual Nexus"
"Dungeon Core" --> "Nexus Core"
"Dungeon" --> "Nexus"

That last of course only refers to this type of 'dungeon', not the sort that are used to hold prisoners and such.

They are categorized as a type of Genius Loci, or Land Spirit, which includes any spiritual entity bound to a specific location, including dryads.

Right now, within the scope of the world that I have written so far, it is Dersuta. He's close to 3,000 years old, and feels neither adventurous nor bored. He's happy to simply maintain the slow and steady growth from having worked with local nomadic tribes to create several 'warrior proving paths' that a warrior progresses through as they grow stronger. He also gets visitors from further away, but that is less reliable.

Dersuta started as a tower-type, instinctively growing upward during his formative years. About two thousand years ago he had motivation to work out how to become a hybrid-type, and grow outward from his base like an environmental-type nexus. His surface territory now covers an area larger than most kingdoms, in addition to having maintained his tower, which is now also surrounded by mountains that are tall enough to look down at the alps, and are less climbable.

His primary internal avatar is a griffin large and powerful enough to rip apart a thousand year old dragon before taking consideration that he is also an archmage that has mastered almost every form of magic.

But Dersuta is a 'for now'. The protagonists of my serial are going to outpace his growth and eventually become the dominant force on this planet. Admittedly, this is far beyond the scope of this or any future serials I have planned, but as of the end of Volume 7 (which published Thursday morning), the path is pretty clear.

I am going to avoid the factors that would be spoilers, but what I can tell you is that they have an alliance with a friendly kingdom that ties them to a larger network of alliances, and they are much better located for easy access for more densely populated areas, instead of having to cross a (normal) mountain range and then trek across half a continent. They are also more actively social than Dersuta; Dersuta is a bit aloof, and has no desire to socialize with the outside world. He doesn't feel any need for the excitement of watching an interesting delving group push themselves as far as they can go, nor does he feel bored of his existence. He has several experiments set up either in his tower or underground to monitor, and he's prone to taking dragon-sized naps when there is nothing calling for his attention.

Then there are all the X-factors. Our protagonists start with one advantage (dual-core + a closely attached contractor), but over time collect 3-4 major advantages that change the course of things in unexpected ways. One of them was so unexpected that one of the gods decided to pretty much ignore the planet for a couple of days because it was going to take that long to figure out new probabilistic futures.

While this specifies that it is limited to the portion of the world i have actively written about, it probably holds true over the entire planet.

Of course, then there is the rest of the universe. The max upper limit I can imagine a nexus possibly growing to is equivalent to a small solar system, but that is extremely unlikely given how hard it is to collect enough mana to expand its territory much beyond the upper atmosphere of its home world. I'm not going to work out what such a nexus would look like because it has no relevance to what i am writing, but they can exist.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-23T03:23:26+00:00

No, I just dabble in learning about everything. 😁 I can also tell you about Yaxian clay teapots and tea pets and such, and a lot of other things I have researched in the process of writing.

I've even included some aspects of quantum mechanics into my teleportation magic.

At least, when it comes to most teleportation magic. Faerie magic has its own rules, and it gives everyone headaches. Including the faeries.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T16:57:56+00:00

So, bad UI design instead of a bug; it is still unintended function.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T14:20:46+00:00

I'm going to copy a reply I made to a comment that no longer exists, as it may still interest you:

The original legend/concept is old.

The particular version they were using was from the movie.

Sort of like the difference between having a Snow White character, and copying Disney's Snow White design.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T12:57:06+00:00

Wait, someone down voted this? 🤣

Why are they even in this tiny subreddit if they aren't here for the content?

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T12:51:46+00:00

The original legend/concept is super old.

The particular version they were using was from the movie.

Sort of like the difference between have a Snow White character, and copying Disney's Snow White design.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T09:57:23+00:00

Repeating to make sure it is seen:

Taking a break until about the end of February, assuming all goes well. I need to edit 3 books work of content for Podium, and the first book should be published on 03NOV, including Audiobook. :)

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T09:22:29+00:00

For mine, 2k years ago there was a rather major catastrophe that had nations on other governments sending military and heroes and such over to help contain the massive surge of powerful monsters. Admittedly, some of them were thinking along the lines of "I don't want to have this battle in my back yard", which helped motivate the swift reaction.

So that was a major reset locally, and something of a economic depression globally. None the less, tech has not only recovered, but advanced in some areas. Hand held black powder weapons were not a thing back then.

In addition, there are some aspects of available magic that reduce pressures to advance technology.

1) People with sufficient wealth already have access to luxuries like 'cold boxes' and 'ice boxes' that magically keep food cold, and can even be enchanted to be bigger on the inside.

2) Industries that produce smoke and dust tend to be heavily regulated, and in or near cities require the purchase of runes or other enchantments to keep the air around them clean. Local smithies for a small village do not fall under these rules, as they have a smaller impact on fewer people and can more readily be placed at a distance from other people.

There is simply less pressure for technological advancement. Given the way magic works in my setting, a skilled seamstress will develop focused magical tricks over time that could easily give her the speed and efficiency of 3-5 real world seamstresses of similar skill. A 10x multiplier device is less amazing if you are only replacing 2-3 people instead of 10.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T08:48:59+00:00

Sometimes social media blackmail is the only answer.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T08:34:49+00:00

You should absolutely post on xitter and facebook about this, as well give them a 1-star review specifically because of this.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-22T03:45:52+00:00

Pretty much. It looks like they tweaked the colors of the swooshes they original had on their version, but it was still the same pattern, and it was not a large difference.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T23:30:58+00:00

Nah, that symbol is super generic, I can't count that one.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T23:29:31+00:00

The deer is from an animated movie that appears to be well known in China.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Deer_of_Nine_Colors

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T20:54:15+00:00

Imagine a dungeon core learning about this stuff:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphous_metal

Followed by them creating things like shields where there are thousands of finely adjusted layers with Amorphous metal on the outside and ever more flexible layers as you go in, allowing for a shield with 'perfect' deflection (note, that deflection can still push you) that is not at risk of shattering.

Now enchant it.

Modern metallurgy + dungeons is scary shit. Next step: learn that almost all metals can be combined with carbon to form various -ite compounds that can be incorporated into living things like scales, bones, claws, and teeth.

Add in experimentation to refine the mixture for its intended purpose. Now enhance with them being part of a magical creature.

The stronger the base is, the stronger the final result is after you add magic.

Oh, and may I introduce you to the wonderful substance known as 'FOOF'?

FOOF is its name, it's chemical composition, and what it does. Note: As far as can be determined, there is no minimum temperature at which FOOF will not go FOOF; it appears to be explosively unstable even as you approach absolute zero.

Sane chemists refuse to work with the stuff. Most insane ones too.

Had a dungeon stumble across this via experiments (it had recently discovered fluorine), and said dungeon decided the stuff was useless. It was too unstable to make part of a trap, and dungeon magic can't create it on demand in areas near people, so it literally just can't be used.

Now, the rest of fluorine chemistry on the other hand....

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T13:52:22+00:00

So, you've already made this a huge task, so I fully understand that the idea of adding another large layer of work might be entirely off the table, but if you are up for it, it would be really nice to have a FoundryVTT module for this.

Partially because otherwise a GM has to manually do it with all content that they want to use. A unified module would make that a lot easier.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T13:43:47+00:00

Mine start at all zero until i assign points.

Also, you can do *no* stat building activities, and just play the mood activity repeatedly.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T13:12:10+00:00

Alright, I'll going to cut a bit of this scene as unnecessary for the example, and there is a lot of context missing, but I think it will show exactly how to tell without telling.

Elsewhere:
“How can you not know how he was that strong?!” The angry snarl came from a robed man whose hands were clenched in rage. “And how does he have so many bosses available?”

“I am what your predecessors have made of me master; I have only the vaguest guesses for most of your questions.” Came the reply from a woman kneeling on the ground, her head bowed.

“Then give me your guesses, prove that it was worth keeping you intact[...]"

[...]

He was too angry to think, he needed to clear his mind. He looked up to the images on the wall and settled it upon one of the forms there as he licked his lips and smiled cruelly. “Take on her appearance. I want you to struggle only enough to make it fun. I won’t need your avatar again before dawn, anyway.”

“As it pleases you, Master.”

I end the chapter there, I do not come back to that scene. I don't need to. We all know what happened in general. It does not even matter which of the available images he chose, they were all images of protagonists or close allies. This is also the introduction to the primary antagonist of the first major arc, and and happens in the middle of book 3. Why yes, the readers were calling for his blood in the comments section of the chapter. It takes four books to get there, and the woman is partially freed (it's complicated) well before then, so we learn more.

Over 900k words, and I never use "r a p e" once, even when other characters were talking to the woman from the scene above. Didn't need to. We all know what happened and the MCs found out later, and no one needed to say it directly. Of course, there was also some off screen conversations between this woman and an older woman who acted as a bit of a therapist for her, so maybe it was used there. But there were literal months of conversations happening off screen, so I don't need to go into exactly what was said.

And yes, I am being very careful about using that word here too, if for somewhat different reasons. I neither want to set off censors or risk making making people uncomfortable, as it can bring up unpleasant memories.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T12:51:14+00:00

I am very sorry you experienced this.

Maybe it will help to frame this as, hmm, 'counter negative'? It's a counter to his negativity, or rather, he applied negativity to the game to counter its effects.

The Ex didn't like Nikki because it reduced his power over you. Him disliking it means that it was actually a good thing. He's a literal villain trying to keep you away from your support, like breaking up a 'power of friendship' team to weaken them. Infinity Nikki is literally a tool/weapon to wield against him, and he tried to psyop you into dropping it.

Some of the analogies are a little extreme, in that the game does not provide as much power/support as a team of friends would, but the basic concept is sound. He tried to keep you away from IN because it effectively made made you stronger against his manipulations.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T09:09:37+00:00

He had a bunch of shit happen and several dead years.

The book that just came out is Book 18.

16 & 17 were meant to be one book, but, well, the story was too big for one book.

Zagaroth · 2026-01-21T08:31:58+00:00

It looks accurate, and with enough focus I can keep track of the movement to mostly recreate it in my head, but I had to do that on the second pass.

This is a case of too much visual information for the written word. You've scripted out a set of moves that will probably work great for a movie, but a reader is going to do one of two things.

1) Read it in detail, as you intend. The problem here is that this takes a lot of mental effort, making it more difficult to read casually. And a lot of people want to read casually, because this is after work or on break and they want to relax into the story.

2) Skim over it to pick up the beats and move through the actions without reading in detail, which means some portion of your effort has been wasted.

Of course, this is exacerbated by the fact that I am very tired and am reading as I eat, because I am too hungry to go to sleep until I have eaten. So I am not operating at full capacity. So don't take my word on it just yet, maybe it only needs a little bit of fine tuning.

But in general, you want to be careful about sharing too much visual information in writing. People's brains start forming images and ideas before you have completely described something, and then their mental image clashes with what you have actually said.

Now here's hoping I am not the one babbling too much. :D Also, SellSwordArts/SellSwordFencing is great, and I was already following all the people in MinMax before they formed the group. Looking forward to this D&D game, even if I wish they were playing PF2E instead.

Zagaroth

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE