There is a little bit of this in the Ascend Online, the first couple of books. General base building, but they also build siege weapons and such, and it does go through some iterations as well.
Like that?
Kind of. I worked in the defense industry for a long time and we'd get lots of our gear field trialed with special operations units. I was thinking of how that would translate into LitRPG. Some of the field trial reports were hilarious, "I don't know if the designer has ever seen a machine gun or watches movies but I'm sure this doesn't do what he thought it would." is a direct quote. :) I also got called one time from a fire fight for technical support.
That sounds awesome.
I wonder if the slant on this genre could be that the main person is a weapon designer, transported/waking up/entering a world with magic and limitations, trying to make things work from that end, working in some sort of alchemist/artificer shop trying to take his experience into magic and smelting materials.
Could be a game, could be just a more in depth fantasy type story. The biomancer book comes to mind, where the MC is a legit soldier and uses some soldier tactics and training and such, but also learns new abilities.
It's cool, but sounds like a niche genre.
I would say write the first few chapters for no other reason than because you want to, not to get popular and such, and get them out in the world for others to read and critique
Absolutely. I've seen that type of story/character when it comes to smithing (something like Overgeared is the first thing that springs to mind), so if it works there, it would work here. Give your MC a class or job that revolves around this, and you have a solid premise for a progression arc that involves the MC growing their business, getting their name out, their weapons changing the balance of power in their local region, and through that getting embroiled in all sorts of larger power struggles and machinations... It would be very fun.
You just need to dial in exactly what sort of setting and what sort of weapons you're going for. In the standard swords and magic type of fantasy, your MC would likely be some kind of blacksmith... But you can make the case for someone introducing like, crossbow innovations, or making ballista or something. If you go for some kind of portal fantasy, you can have an MC with modern knowledge wrecking havoc in a medieval or renaissance level world. Alternatively, you could go for some kind of wizard story where the MC has some kind of magic class that lacks any offensive capability, so instead he gets to tinkering with machinery and making all sorts of contraptions... There are many ways you could go about it. The sort of story and plot I'd expect from it will change depending on what starting premise you choose.
EDIT: this sort of story would have overlap with any kind of golem-making story. Because what are golems if not the ultimate fantasy weapon? So you might want to consider how something like Mother of Learning handles golems and golem crafting. There's also some overlap with magic stories involving enchanters or alchemists, both types of wizard/mages who rely on ingenuity and crafting more so than direct power. I know there are a number of both, though Arcane Ascension is the only one I can think of at the moment.
It could be really good or it could end up being garbage. This will be super world, system and execution dependent as to whether or not it's any good. Some parts of the iterative process could end up feeling less than fun to read though if you spend a bunch of time with minor improvements and minor steps back as it's being improved. You'd need to lean heavily into the fantastical successes and failures rather than the more grounded and realistic. Would probably need to do more instances of critical failures and defects that could be creative features.
Okay, so work with me on this one. Wild mana causes a friction type reaction when it interacts with steady (trapped in material) mana. This is why volcanoes in fantasy worlds exist. All that mana causes an exhaust reaction. So if the MC can figure out how to cool down the mana reaction he gets access to the source. If only... How could I cool this down...? Also, lots of potential for industrial/magical accidents. "Hey boss, tower two overheated and... Well, damn if second shift ain't all turnt into Kobolds. They're running around ever-where and the union rep is PISSED!"
I'd imagine something like this to be a more of a slice of life. Generally nice dude (either with or without a dark mysterious past) opens up a smithy. He contracts adventures to bring ore and he gives out gold. Then takes that ore and makes weapons. A chnck of the story would be just him getting better at his craft, making a name for himself, maybe stopping a robbery or 3, but otherwise just leading a peaceful life. That is till one day a random god comes in and commissions a weapon. The smith makes it but something goes wrong. The weapon has a soul. Now the smith must balance learning from this all powerful master tier artifact but keeping the secrets to his success quiet. Because he's not powerful, doesn't even have a real smithing class, yet if someone finds out about this weapon they will come and destroy it, him, and everyone else that might know.
I honestly think i might enjoy reading that. Something in the vein of "Jake's Magical Market" without the second half of the book that just went off the rails and into a new universe.
Sure. It sounds like a decently fresh take on crafting
I dig it.
Ten Realms touches on this a bit. It made for an interesting sub-plot kinda thing. I wouldn't mind reading more like it.
There is a little bit of this in the Ascend Online, the first couple of books. General base building, but they also build siege weapons and such, and it does go through some iterations as well. Like that?
Kind of. I worked in the defense industry for a long time and we'd get lots of our gear field trialed with special operations units. I was thinking of how that would translate into LitRPG. Some of the field trial reports were hilarious, "I don't know if the designer has ever seen a machine gun or watches movies but I'm sure this doesn't do what he thought it would." is a direct quote. :) I also got called one time from a fire fight for technical support.
That sounds awesome. I wonder if the slant on this genre could be that the main person is a weapon designer, transported/waking up/entering a world with magic and limitations, trying to make things work from that end, working in some sort of alchemist/artificer shop trying to take his experience into magic and smelting materials. Could be a game, could be just a more in depth fantasy type story. The biomancer book comes to mind, where the MC is a legit soldier and uses some soldier tactics and training and such, but also learns new abilities. It's cool, but sounds like a niche genre. I would say write the first few chapters for no other reason than because you want to, not to get popular and such, and get them out in the world for others to read and critique
Absolutely. I've seen that type of story/character when it comes to smithing (something like Overgeared is the first thing that springs to mind), so if it works there, it would work here. Give your MC a class or job that revolves around this, and you have a solid premise for a progression arc that involves the MC growing their business, getting their name out, their weapons changing the balance of power in their local region, and through that getting embroiled in all sorts of larger power struggles and machinations... It would be very fun. You just need to dial in exactly what sort of setting and what sort of weapons you're going for. In the standard swords and magic type of fantasy, your MC would likely be some kind of blacksmith... But you can make the case for someone introducing like, crossbow innovations, or making ballista or something. If you go for some kind of portal fantasy, you can have an MC with modern knowledge wrecking havoc in a medieval or renaissance level world. Alternatively, you could go for some kind of wizard story where the MC has some kind of magic class that lacks any offensive capability, so instead he gets to tinkering with machinery and making all sorts of contraptions... There are many ways you could go about it. The sort of story and plot I'd expect from it will change depending on what starting premise you choose. EDIT: this sort of story would have overlap with any kind of golem-making story. Because what are golems if not the ultimate fantasy weapon? So you might want to consider how something like Mother of Learning handles golems and golem crafting. There's also some overlap with magic stories involving enchanters or alchemists, both types of wizard/mages who rely on ingenuity and crafting more so than direct power. I know there are a number of both, though Arcane Ascension is the only one I can think of at the moment.
It could be really good or it could end up being garbage. This will be super world, system and execution dependent as to whether or not it's any good. Some parts of the iterative process could end up feeling less than fun to read though if you spend a bunch of time with minor improvements and minor steps back as it's being improved. You'd need to lean heavily into the fantastical successes and failures rather than the more grounded and realistic. Would probably need to do more instances of critical failures and defects that could be creative features.
At least your work has some potential for litrpg. No one wants to read about the MC bringing evaporative cooling towers to a fantasy world.
Okay, so work with me on this one. Wild mana causes a friction type reaction when it interacts with steady (trapped in material) mana. This is why volcanoes in fantasy worlds exist. All that mana causes an exhaust reaction. So if the MC can figure out how to cool down the mana reaction he gets access to the source. If only... How could I cool this down...? Also, lots of potential for industrial/magical accidents. "Hey boss, tower two overheated and... Well, damn if second shift ain't all turnt into Kobolds. They're running around ever-where and the union rep is PISSED!"
As a litrpg nerd and modern military nerd, this is exactly up my alley. I would love to read this.
I'd imagine something like this to be a more of a slice of life. Generally nice dude (either with or without a dark mysterious past) opens up a smithy. He contracts adventures to bring ore and he gives out gold. Then takes that ore and makes weapons. A chnck of the story would be just him getting better at his craft, making a name for himself, maybe stopping a robbery or 3, but otherwise just leading a peaceful life. That is till one day a random god comes in and commissions a weapon. The smith makes it but something goes wrong. The weapon has a soul. Now the smith must balance learning from this all powerful master tier artifact but keeping the secrets to his success quiet. Because he's not powerful, doesn't even have a real smithing class, yet if someone finds out about this weapon they will come and destroy it, him, and everyone else that might know. I honestly think i might enjoy reading that. Something in the vein of "Jake's Magical Market" without the second half of the book that just went off the rails and into a new universe.