Equipment quality for LitRPG/Adventure genre

[Senruika]

I'm not talking about realism, but I'm talking about how it would be makes sense.

in common RPG genre for video games you start with beginner/wooden sword at first city, which then you can upgrade your equipment each time you gain access into a new weapon shop until ultimately you get your highest tier gear inside of treasure chest at the final dungeon.
And the enemy strength would also proportional to the equipment you can currently obtain, so you wouldn't suddenly fight an enemy general using full plate adamantium armor while you only have a common iron sword.

It worked for video game because that's how you balance stuff for the gameplay purpose. But how would you do it for Novel?

I mean like, what's stopping someone to placing an order to a traveling merchant so they could get best mass produced weapon possible despite still at starting city. It's also common for a powerful equipment to become a family heirloom which logically makes them much powerful than store bought one (or else wouldn't makes sense for it to be a family heirloom).

So my question is: how do you make the character equipment progression in novel? Where the character start from using weak weapon but then they got progressively stronger after each arc without pulling some nonsense like "the weapons aren't available until the next arc"

 

[Fairemont]

Merchants sell what people can afford. People in backwater noob town wont be selling top tier gear, and traveling merchants are going to charge an arm and a leg for whatever they are carrying. Theyre also likely to be selling something subpar while claiming it is much better just due to location.

In theory, of someone saved up enough they could buy something really nice, but most would probably spread their expenses around in a more balanced fashion.

 

[Alski]

Money and connections.

 

[NotaNuffian]

I'm not talking about realism, but I'm talking about how it would be makes sense.

in common RPG genre for video games you start with beginner/wooden sword at first city, which then you can upgrade your equipment each time you gain access into a new weapon shop until ultimately you get your highest tier gear inside of treasure chest at the final dungeon.
And the enemy strength would also proportional to the equipment you can currently obtain, so you wouldn't suddenly fight an enemy general using full plate adamantium armor while you only have a common iron sword.

It worked for video game because that's how you balance stuff for the gameplay purpose. But how would you do it for Novel?

I mean like, what's stopping someone to placing an order to a traveling merchant so they could get best mass produced weapon possible despite still at starting city. It's also common for a powerful equipment to become a family heirloom which logically makes them much powerful than store bought one (or else wouldn't makes sense for it to be a family heirloom).

So my question is: how do you make the character equipment progression in novel? Where the character start from using weak weapon but then they got progressively stronger after each arc without pulling some nonsense like "the weapons aren't available until the next arc"

Selling it to the highest bidder?

Make MC understand that being poor sucks? And I mean being slightly poorer than the competitor.

Case and point in auction house.
You no money? You no honey.

So give MC the grindset.

Or moonlight as the other side of the law.

Curry favors to gain access to better gears? Sometimes money can't do all the talking and you really need to grind that favorability.

Also make sure that MC learns that fame does pay? Being famous do increases favorability of some folks.

 

[fcures]

I would just make it so even when the protagonist gets the best weapon in that area, they keep discovering there are many places that bring more powerful weapons, or some won't be buyable and only obtained through different means. Or I would just make it so the protagonist can and will buy the storngest weapon, but they aren't skilled enough to really use it effectively in battle—therefore, useless without skill progression. Or something along those concepts.

 

[LilRora]

Two ways.

One, scarcity. If something is good, more people want it. If it's scarce, few people that want it are able to get it. That scarcity can be achieved in uncountable different ways, like lack of skilled craftsmen, lack of materials, high rate of destruction / low rate of recovery, purposeful hoarding by privileged groups, and more.

Two, exclusivity. Not all weapons are for everyone, and while that is important for real weapons, it's possible to push the idea way further with magic - here, just as well, the only limit is imagination. You can make weapons aspected to reject people with insufficient affinity, you can make them require extreme physical abilities due to either physical or some metaphysical strain they put on the body, or yet something else.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Scarcity and a barely competent, highly corrupt shopkeeper.

 

[Fairemont]

Realistically, equipment progression is like any non-wealthy person investment schema. You make incremental upgrades over time bassed on what you need and can afford, as well as what will benefit you the most.

Those minor upgrades fund future minor upgrades, thus creating a slow, but steady upgrade theme.

 

[Arkus86]

There are two main ways to gatekeep your gear progression - availability and affordability.

Your MC can walk into a store bursting with the best quality gear on the market, but it's not going to do him much good if he can barely afford the cheapest gear.
Conversely, your MC can come into wealth, but it's only going to help so much when better gear is simply... not available.

Nobody is going to be delivering high-quality expensive gear to some remote location where there is no demand for it. You could order it, but not from a common travelling merchant, who would not ordinarily be dealing with anything that expensive.
Then even after securing the order, you have to account for the transportation expenses themselves too. Nobody in their right mind would send a special order like that, from wealthy and possibly powerful, influential customer, with common messengers or peddlers. You would likely need a dedicated carriage with proper security detail, or at least special courrier, if it was only a single sword or something small.
All of this would drive the price through the roof.

As for family heirlooms or artifacts... sure, they can be powerful, or they might be mostly symbolic, ceremonial. Perhaps it has been powerful once, but that power is now gone, or surpassed by modern equivalents.

 

[PancakesWitch]

Unless your main character starts as some sort of rich noble with great authority and connections, I doubt any run of the mill villager could ever get any end game gear unless he luckily just happens to find some in some secret underground ruins or dungeon nobody knows about.
I dont really know what else to tell you, it seems you didnt even think things through at all when asking this question, it's very, very obvious why this doesn't happen and why it also makes sense and is realistic in video games too.

 

[GlassRose]

So my question is: how do you make the character equipment progression in novel? Where the character start from using weak weapon but then they got progressively stronger after each arc without pulling some nonsense like "the weapons aren't available until the next arc"

Magic weapons which require the user to he strong enough/meet certain conditions to wield. Like level or stat requirements in an mmo.

 

[Golden_Hyde]

how do you make the character equipment progression in novel? Where the character start from using weak weapon but then they got progressively stronger after each arc without pulling some nonsense like "the weapons aren't available until the next arc"

it entirely depends. On Final Fantasy 12, Vaan (the protagonist) immediately given a mithril sword.

it's not exactly something that you should worry, but if you're focusing more on progression, particularly from zero to hero, your MC can use a halfbaked, untempered iron sword that may or may not break after 10 slashes. Quite lethal, but decently fragile.

And yes, as someone up there have stated. You have more money, you can afford better weapon crafted using, say, mithril. Extremely durable, can be abused so many times, and in general it's a testament of how far you've gone in your adventure.

Though, that also tied to your reputation, and since you brought up LitRPG, it could be many things. Levels, reputation itself, ranks, mileage, anything that determines whether the user is fit to wield it.

 

[SurfAngel_1031]

I'm not talking about realism, but I'm talking about how it would be makes sense.

in common RPG genre for video games you start with beginner/wooden sword at first city, which then you can upgrade your equipment each time you gain access into a new weapon shop until ultimately you get your highest tier gear inside of treasure chest at the final dungeon.
And the enemy strength would also proportional to the equipment you can currently obtain, so you wouldn't suddenly fight an enemy general using full plate adamantium armor while you only have a common iron sword.

It worked for video game because that's how you balance stuff for the gameplay purpose. But how would you do it for Novel?

I mean like, what's stopping someone to placing an order to a traveling merchant so they could get best mass produced weapon possible despite still at starting city. It's also common for a powerful equipment to become a family heirloom which logically makes them much powerful than store bought one (or else wouldn't makes sense for it to be a family heirloom).

So my question is: how do you make the character equipment progression in novel? Where the character start from using weak weapon but then they got progressively stronger after each arc without pulling some nonsense like "the weapons aren't available until the next arc"

I personally think Dungeons and Dragons does it perfectly fine. You get a starting currency, then a basic list of equipment you can purchase.
After that, it's up to the "level" progression you are lining for. What difference does it make in the short term of the character has longsword vs a wooden one? Other than it's attack.
I am aware that LitRPG is system based, but don't reinvent the wheel. Use what you've seen.
You know a level 1-3 will have mostly basic armor. 4-12 is usually +1 through +2 with extras.
You get it. I still would outline what you want the MC to have and keep track of the monsters and events they get into. That way you can figure out when they level up.
Don't try and write directly into the editor, outline - plan and the write.

 

[beast_regards]

The LitRPG is the story of empowerment.

Not necessarily the power fantasy, as there are always some cynical takes on the genre, but usually, the sense of empowerment is there, where the effort is rewarded even if it comes at the cost.

You could throw the advice about the challenge out of the window: this is the web novel space, there are no editors to tell you how literature should work.

The "smart protagonist" is the name of the game, and "smart protagonist" knows everything.

If the "smart protagonist" could bypass the head-butting goblins by mail ordering the S-ranked Adamantine Armour, he should do it. It's not the fact that Adamantine Armour makes him impervious to said goblins that is important, but the fact he knew how to effectively manage the resources my ordering it, and win. The shortest, min-maxing path is usually the best, the "smart protagonist" are the ones who roll past monsters in the Dark Souls to get the gear they need for the build, not ones who struggle against the basic monsters.