What makes a good LitRPG?

[Kureous]

I am open to the opinions of both authors and readers

 

[Sergeandgreen]

1. The numbers have to actually mean something,
2. Consistency,
3. Steady progress (we like it when numbers go brrrŕ)
4. Simple and understandable structure of the system.

 

[FluffyGura]

5) Stats make sense(like agility why does it affect reaction speed? When it supposed to be the mind stats that does so. Or why does it only increase mana and not thinking speed. Etc etc.

 

[Sergeandgreen]

A good lit rpg story manages to have such a clear system that the reader can think about what he would do in the heroes stead. So if the system just gives random boons or quests its not really good. In most cases it is recommendable to give clear limits for the system that limits the possibilities. Skills is one example. If you have a system where you can stack unlimited amounts of skills the skills themselves become meaningles after some time. But if you limit the skills to lets say 5 or 10 (maybe more but only after some time and not from the start), but you have the option to upgrade them or fuse them, the skills retain their importance.

 

[DemonOppai]

Chapter’s word count not just half of it stat sheet.

 

[Roseofblades]

1. The numbers have to actually mean something,
2. Consistency,
3. Steady progress (we like it when numbers go brrrŕ)
4. Simple and understandable structure of the system.

I agree. Consistency. The quickest way to screw up a story is to change something you didn't mean to change or fail to remember something you had written before. This is true for any writing, but especially so for LitRPGs. Your readers are watching your characters level up before their eyes, marking their progress with new abilities, skills, or whatever your system uses. If you suddenly forget or change something without meaning to, your readers will absolutely notice. I can't go more in-depth into this because it varies with how you represent your RPG stuff. I personally try to avoid clunky stat blocks. I used descriptor words to make references to a specific character's specialty or what their "primary stats" are. But that's just me. If you do use stat blocks, try not to bombard your readers with too much info. One of the most intimidating things for new players to D&D is looking at all that stuff on the character sheet. It's a -lot-! Try to condense the stat blocks into only the most basic things that your reader needs to know. One of the quickest way to turn me off to a LitRPG story is to overload my brain with an influx of stat info. Even if it's based on a system I know, it can still be a lot for me.

One thing that I struggled with at first was making the system clearly understood. Sometimes this can be hard to do and it can often feel a bit like an "infodump." Often times, less is more. The more complex your system is, the more lengthy descriptions you need to allow your readers to clearly understand how everything works.

At this point, I'm allowing my ADHD to fuel this mini-novel I've written... So I'll just wrap it up and say hopefully this helps!

 

[Sola-sama]

I tried writing a litrpg once. In my humble opinion, what makes it good is the consistency of the definitions (skills, attribute, racial traits, etc).

You want the game to be funky and wonky with the numbers and skills? That's fine, but make it internally consistent and coherent.

The one that I wrote back then aimed for ultra-realism. That means people have 1 unit of attribute across the board, and someone having 100 unit of agility means that person can move beyond the speed of sound. However, if that person do not have 100 str or 100 vitality, his cellular walls will evaporate the moment he move at the speed of sound, thus cooking his body due to the vibration and friction heating up in the process of moving in such speed.

Another example would be having high 'perception' attribute meant his senses are extremely sharper than his peers. This means he also feel pain 10 times or even 100 times than the average people, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to see/sense/hear/smell things from a distance.

 

[Syringe]

Don't make things for the sake of it. Things need a purpose. It will seriously piss people off if things appear (or worse), are arbitrary, like Stats for example. If stats don't properly reflect the state of a character then there is no point in including it. The way you show/convey discrepancies can also elevate your work in LitRPG if you don't like clear cut Stat vs Stat stuff, like how one person can have more experience but have weaker stats and still come out on top.

Rules should be defined, and changes in them should be a big deal and impactful. The fun in LitRPG imo are not the stats, but the skills. I feel like having fun and interesting skills to read and interact with the world is a big part of it.

 

[BlackKnightX]

I love choices and options, like choosing a class, a job, which path to take, which reward, which boon, etc. If it's a monster evolution LitRPG, choosing the evolution options is probably the most fun part.

Other than that, I prefer seeing what the numbers can do than simply seeing them go up. Also, a unique and comprehensible system is highly appreciated. Bonus point if you really put some thoughts into what each stat really means and represents.

 

[LilRora]

Over about four years of reading and half of that writing stories, many of them LitRPGs, I can say without hesitation that the system is the most common failing point, and it's the thing that's the easiest to fuck up.

Because of that, two probably most important things in my opinion will be internal logic and consistency of the system and logic and consistency in its application, so how it affects both characters and the world as a whole. A story obviously won't be any good if the basic elements such as plot or character depth aren't there, but those two are probably the most important to me specifically in regards to LitRPGs.

 

[Daitengu]

Just because it's LitRPG doesn't mean I care to read "the grind". I've dropped many because all the author wrote for 50 chapters was the grind for survival and power.

It's so boring after a while.

 

[Reinya]

you need to make half of chapters word count be numbers, because there are not too many numbers. Make 3 tables with main character status in one chapter. And the most important thing that each status changed one digit, because there is progress! And it's not you typing the number of characters, it's the main character so likes to check his status and see the progress, so it's not your fault

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

I am open to the opinions of both authors and readers

An explanation that contributes multiple things to the plot. It cannot just be enough to be a magical construct created by some divine being or a series of mages or artificial stuff gone wild. It shouldn't just be an apocalypse or such. It should also have, as an example, original stuff like words created from your blood or roots forming your status, which gives the potential for druids to spy on your skills and prepare accordingly, or something. Conflict between you and the System (actual conflict. Not conflict that never goes anywhere as a trope to be kind of funny) is great! I believe that Systems should have multiple impacts on culture, and that many others have found exploits or success in it.
Heavy attention to the numbers, and making sure you are consistent is important as well. This... is something I don't do well...

 

[Jemini]

The one that I wrote back then aimed for ultra-realism. That means people have 1 unit of attribute across the board, and someone having 100 unit of agility means that person can move beyond the speed of sound. However, if that person do not have 100 str or 100 vitality, his cellular walls will evaporate the moment he move at the speed of sound, thus cooking his body due to the vibration and friction heating up in the process of moving in such speed.

Well, if your target was ultra-realism, you failed right out of the gate by causing the agility stat to increase a person's speed. The term agility, by it's definition, is the ability to change the direction of your momentum quickly. In other words, it's the ability to reach a full stop and then start going in a different direction from your original direction. It has nothing to do with increasing speed, only changing the direction of your momentum. It's considered a very high-value ability to have in most competitive sports, since such sudden changes in momentum are necessary on a moment to moment basis in those settings.

This is a very common error among people who have grown accustomed to RPG mechanics related stuff. People tend to have difficulty describing fine motor skills related terms. Here are the true meanings of several of the common motor-skills related terms often used in LitRPGs and real RPGs alike.

Dexterity = The ability to operate your body in a precise manner. This can refer equally just as well to fine motor skills such as pushing thread through the eye of a needle as it can precision feats of acrobatics such as jumping and landing on a precise point or throwing something and hitting the target you wanted to hit.

Agility = The ability to change the direction of your momentum quickly, usually referring to stopping from a full run and altering your direction. This is a very valuable skill to have in most court-based sports. The term Dexterity doesn't necessarily include agility, but they are related enough that one could decide it fits under the umbrella of Dexterity and nobody would complain.

Speed = The ability of your muscles to contract explosively and propel your body or a part of your body. As you may have gathered from this description, speed is not actually a function of fine motor skills at all. It has more to do with strength. In a hyper-realistic litRPG setting, a person's speed should be a function of their strength stat.

Flexibility = Flexibility is not a function of Dexterity. It is the range of motion you can get from your joints, and is related to the limberness of your tendons and making sure your muscles do not have any form of contraction or strictures. As this is a function of good health, one's flexibility ought to be related to their vitality or constitution stat. Higher flexibility does allow one to make better use of their dexterity though, and as such it is easy to see why people consider them to be related.

Finess = A degree of precision gained through training. This is not a product of inborn stats, but something the likes of inborn stats can make something like this easier to achieve and require less training than it would for someone who is lower in the precision related stat.

Deftness = A strong synonym for Dexterity, except that it tends to imply it is more a product of training rather than inborn ability. It is often used as an adjective rather than as a stat name.

 

[Sola-sama]

Well, if your target was ultra-realism, you failed right out of the gate by causing the agility stat to increase a person's speed. The term agility, by it's definition, is the ability to change the direction of your momentum quickly. In other words, it's the ability to reach a full stop and then start going in a different direction from your original direction. It has nothing to do with increasing speed, only changing the direction of your momentum. It's considered a very high-value ability to have in most competitive sports, since such sudden changes in momentum are necessary on a moment to moment basis in those settings.

This is a very common error among people who have grown accustomed to RPG mechanics related stuff. People tend to have difficulty describing fine motor skills related terms. Here are the true meanings of several of the common motor-skills related terms often used in LitRPGs and real RPGs alike.

Dexterity = The ability to operate your body in a precise manner. This can refer equally just as well to fine motor skills such as pushing thread through the eye of a needle as it can precision feats of acrobatics such as jumping and landing on a precise point or throwing something and hitting the target you wanted to hit.

Agility = The ability to change the direction of your momentum quickly, usually referring to stopping from a full run and altering your direction. This is a very valuable skill to have in most court-based sports. The term Dexterity doesn't necessarily include agility, but they are related enough that one could decide it fits under the umbrella of Dexterity and nobody would complain.

Speed = The ability of your muscles to contract explosively and propel your body or a part of your body. As you may have gathered from this description, speed is not actually a function of fine motor skills at all. It has more to do with strength. In a hyper-realistic litRPG setting, a person's speed should be a function of their strength stat.

Flexibility = Flexibility is not a function of Dexterity. It is the range of motion you can get from your joints, and is related to the limberness of your tendons and making sure your muscles do not have any form of contraction or strictures. As this is a function of good health, one's flexibility ought to be related to their vitality or constitution stat. Higher flexibility does allow one to make better use of their dexterity though, and as such it is easy to see why people consider them to be related.

Finess = A degree of precision gained through training. This is not a product of inborn stats, but something the likes of inborn stats can make something like this easier to achieve and require less training than it would for someone who is lower in the precision related stat.

Deftness = A strong synonym for Dexterity, except that it tends to imply it is more a product of training rather than inborn ability. It is often used as an adjective rather than as a stat name.

I think you're missing the point that I'm trying to convey. My point is to use the term and numbers that is internally consistent.
In this case, the actual meaning for agility in my world was 'Muscle's ability to freely contract and expand', but because I'm lazy to elaborate further detail, I just wrote speed (which is, by definition, not completely incorrect).

I don't care if you put VIT (Vitality), END (Endurance), HP or whatnot as a metric to measure one's vitality. I don't care if you have 100 stats. When you write a book, you can literally make up a new word (Like how German can slap two words together and call it a single word) and define them as you wish. Fantasy book isn't dictionary that has to be 100% similar to the language used verbally. As long as you can convey what you meant and consistent in doing so, that is sufficient to make a compelling LitRPG.

Thus, to counter your point of being 'Failing to pursue ultra-realism by causing the agility attribute to increase one's speed', that was my novel, my world. I can define whatever the fuck I want. Heck, I could call INT (Intelligence) by saying the size of one's cranium or the density of one's gray matter and nobody gives a fuck since by definition, intelligence has some relationship with the size of one's brain. You have no power over my writing, your opinion does not matter. I write for those who want to read my garbage, not to cater to people like you who wants to debate every single word definition and think that languages are rigid like math. Languages are evolving, there are multiple paths that end towards the same goal. If you're confident in your linguistic capacity, try writing a dictionary instead.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

don’t think I could ever enjoy lit rpg. Don’t understand what about it hits that dopamine for people. Like just go farm rock crabs in RuneScape or something if you like grinding so much

 

[Jemini]

I think you're missing the point that I'm trying to convey. My point is to use the term and numbers that is internally consistent.
In this case, the actual meaning for agility in my world was 'Muscle's ability to freely contract and expand', but because I'm lazy to elaborate further detail, I just wrote speed (which is, by definition, not completely incorrect).

I don't care if you put VIT (Vitality), END (Endurance), HP or whatnot as a metric to measure one's vitality. I don't care if you have 100 stats. When you write a book, you can literally make up a new word (Like how German can slap two words together and call it a single word) and define them as you wish. Fantasy book isn't dictionary that has to be 100% similar to the language used verbally. As long as you can convey what you meant and consistent in doing so, that is sufficient to make a compelling LitRPG.

Thus, to counter your point of being 'Failing to pursue ultra-realism by causing the agility attribute to increase one's speed', that was my novel, my world. I can define whatever the fuck I want. Heck, I could call INT (Intelligence) by saying the size of one's cranium or the density of one's gray matter and nobody gives a fuck since by definition, intelligence has some relationship with the size of one's brain. You have no power over my writing, your opinion does not matter. I write for those who want to read my garbage, not to cater to people like you who wants to debate every single word definition and think that languages are rigid like math. Languages are evolving, there are multiple paths that end towards the same goal. If you're confident in your linguistic capacity, try writing a dictionary instead.

It's true you can write and define things however you want in most cases, but you defined your sub-genre as "hyper realism." As soon as you do that, you suddenly have rules you need to abide by, and one of them is accurate definitions.

I mean, it's fine if you want to just do whatever you want, but if you do then you can no longer call yourself as being in the hyper-realism genre. That particular sub-genre has rules as strict as Science fiction does relative to Sci-fi.

EDIT: (Yes, I just named two different genres. Science Fiction is extremely hard future-tech stuff that tries to follow principles of actual engineering to come up with things that could actually be practical sometime in the future. Azamov is probably one of the more famous hard Science Fiction authors, and Jewels Vern, the father of Science Fiction, is also worth mention as roughly 3/4 of his works fit into proper hard Science Fiction. Sci-fi used to be considered an abbreviated term for "science fiction," but it's definition has since drifted to become a separate genre in which they don't need to follow the strict and stringent rules of Science Fiction anymore. Most of the stuff you know as Science Fiction is probably actually Sci-fi, StarTreck being the most famous example. Then, you have Star Wars, which goes a little farther to the point it can't even be called Sci-fi anymore. It, instead, belongs to a farther out genre known as "Space Opera.")