What is LitRPG?
What is LitRPG?
That’s probably the question I get asked the most when people hear me about my work. While personal definitions (and preferences) vary wildly amongst both authors and fans, I’ll try to outline the genre as I see it in broad strokes.
LitRPG is a fantastic and thriving subgenre, often with overlap within the broader categories of both Fantasy and Science Fiction, and also usually falls under the broader categories of Progression Fantasy and GameLit. It’s predominantly a genre fueled by the work of passionate independent authors and equally passionate fans.
That probably hasn’t cleared things up. In short, LitRPG stories are usually set in a world governed by RPG game-like mechanics. The characters are aware of these mechanics, and often their own stats, and can interact with them.
The exact nature of this game world can vary wildly, and the distinctions often comprise sub-subgenres within LitRPG as-a-whole. Some characters are playing (or trapped) in a Virtual Reality game. Others are transported, portalled, or reincarnated to a new world where reality itself is controlled by a game-like System. There are stories where the characters all just live in a world with these mechanics, and that’s just the way it’s always been. Sometimes a game-like system comes to our own Earth, reshaping the world with amazing and usually apocalyptic results. Stories range from high-octane action adventures to slow-paced slice-of-life tales.
Characters in LitRPG often gain power as they progress through the story, adventuring, gaining experience, and most often represented by some form of “leveling up”. LitRPG characters often have Classes, Statistics, and other abilities recognizable to most TTRPG and Video Game RPG players. The characters usually make choices about how they’re going to grow their skills and abilities as they gain power, and those choices have an impact on the character moving forward.
I’m not just a LitRPG author, like most of my comrades, I’m a fan of the genre. My personal journey into LitRPG began years ago with Ready Player One, which isn’t exactly LitRPG, but gave me a taste of what was to come. From there I discovered The Gam3 by Cosimo Yap, Survival Quest by Vasily Mahanenko, and Delvers LLC by Blaise Corvin. Since then I’ve consumed more LitRPG titles than I can easily recall.
Reading Recommendations
Below you’ll find links to my own work, but first I wanted to share some of my favorites in the genre with you. If you’ve made it this far, I’m pretty sure there’s something in here for everyone.
(This list is unranked and in no particular order, and the classifications are my own)
The System Apocalypse by Tao Wong (LitRPG Apocalypse)
Darklands Online by David Bushman (VR-MMO)
This Trilogy is Broken by J.P. Valentine (Real RPG, Comedy)
Portal to Nova Roma by J.R. Matthews (Portal to another world, LitRPG Apocalypse)
Sword to Ploughshare Saga by Wolfe Locke & James Falcon (Real RPG & Slice of Life)
The Ballad of Shady Greg by Wolfe Locke & Mike Caliban (Real RPG & Slice of Life)
Edge Force by Matthew J. Barbeler (Real RPG)
Cyber Squad by A.K. Mocikat (Cyber Punk, VR-MMO)
The Good Guys and The Bad Guys by Eric Ugland (Reincarnated to a Real RPG)
Sky Realms Online by Troy Osgood (Trapped in a VR-MMO)
Sentenced to Troll by S.L. Rowland (Trapped in a VR-MMO)
Tokens and Towers by Harmon Cooper (Reincarnated to a Real RPG, Tower Climbing)
The Ripple System by Kyle Kirrin (VR-MMO)
Unorthodox Farming by Benjamin Kerei (Reincarnated to a Real RPG)
Threadbare by Andrew Seiple (Real RPG/LitRPG Apocalypse)
Noobtown by Ryan Rimmel (Reincarnated to a Real RPG)
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (LitRPG Apocalypse)
The Accidental Champion by Andrew Karevik (Reincarnated to a Real RPG)
Overdrive by R.H. Tang (VR-MMO, Mech Fighting)
And so many more!
Zee Locked-In - Book One of OVR World Online
The exciting debut novel of author Justin Monroe is now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, Audible Plus, and Paperback!
In the bleak not too distant future when most people who can have fled online to the virtual reality, OVR World Online. Zachary "Zee" Jones was never going to be able to afford to become a player. Until he was arrested after committing a crime to save his mother's life and included in the Inmate Player Program. Even without perception filters to limit his pain, it was better than the alternative sentences. He has the opportunity to earn more money in a 5-year sentence then he could have in his entire life as a hospital janitor.
Zee is jacked into Gygax, a high fantasy adventure game world, filled with knights, magic, and monsters. But Zee quickly learns that just because the world is virtual, it doesn't mean the danger isn't real. Can he find his fortune, maybe a few allies, avoid the dangers of adventuring as an Inmate, and unravel the mystery behind the game's confounding sentient computer program wearing a familiar face called the Doctor?
Available on Amazon for Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, Audiobook, and Paperback.
Zee Knocked Down - Book 2 of OVR World Online
OVR WORLD ONLINE – GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT
A Powerful Artifact Was Discovered!
Zee Locked in has recovered The First Player’s Sword from a dungeon hidden beneath the Goblin’s Keep!
Zee and his friends didn’t expect that after they survived recovering the legendary First Player’s Sword that OVR World Online would announce it to the whole world! Even though no one knows about the secrets that the Sword protects it’s still a powerful one-of-a-kind game item that everyone wants. To make matters worse, they’ve reached Level 5 and the party has to depart the Orientation Zone. Outside of the OZ, Player-vs-Player combat isn’t just allowed, it’s encouraged. As long as Zee has the Sword, he and his friends will have every Mega Corp, Clan, and treasure hunting Player Killer aiming for them.
As the high-level bounties start to be posted, Zee quickly realizes it won’t take much for him to be knocked down and have the Sword ripped away.
Available on Amazon for Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, Paperback and Audio!
