So I was doing some genre research using ChatGPT, comparing epic fantasy (which I write) to litRPG (which I do not write—at least, not yet). After going back and forth for a while, I had ChatGPT list a bunch of principles that set each subgenre apart from each other. In other words, each of these principles holds true only for the one subgenre and not for the other.
It’s an interesting list. But being AI-generated, I’m not sure how much I can trust it, so I’d be interested to get your feedback. How true do you think these principles holds? Is it a pretty solid list, or are any areas where the AI got it wrong?
✅ Works in Epic Fantasy but Not LitRPG
1. Slow, Majestic Pacing
- Epic Fantasy: Readers savor patience, waiting hundreds of pages for payoffs.
- LitRPG: Readers expect regular “level-ups” or stat reveals—slow burns feel like stalling.
2. World as a Living, Breathing Character
- Epic Fantasy: Setting is alive, with cultures, histories, and myth shaping events.
- LitRPG: Worlds are often coded, constructed systems; too much “world-agency” risks breaking the conceit of “game mechanics.”
3. Archetypal Myth and Destiny
- Epic Fantasy: Readers love prophecy, ancient bloodlines, and cosmic fate.
- LitRPG: Players expect agency and control; prophecy undercuts the appeal of player choice.
4. Elevated, Poetic Language
- Epic Fantasy: Slightly archaic or grand prose enhances the mythic atmosphere.
- LitRPG: Readers expect clear, modern, accessible prose—too much ornament feels like “lag.”
5. Moral and Philosophical Depth
- Epic Fantasy: Readers enjoy wrestling with justice, faith, and power.
- LitRPG: Too much moral philosophizing slows down what should feel like gameplay and strategy.
6. Earned Heroism Through Suffering
- Epic Fantasy: Heroes rise through sacrifice, scars, and loss.
- LitRPG: Heroes rise by optimizing builds and winning battles. Too much suffering without progression feels like poor game balance.
7. History as Weight
- Epic Fantasy: Ancient wars, dynasties, ruins, and forgotten myths enrich immersion.
- LitRPG: History matters less than mechanics; world “backstory” is often secondary to the system’s function.
8. Layered Political Intrigue
- Epic Fantasy: Kingdoms, councils, conspiracies—slow, strategic plotting excites readers.
- LitRPG: Readers may skip political detail to get back to quests, loot, or progression.
9. Villains as Ideologies
- Epic Fantasy: Antagonists often embody philosophies or cosmic balances.
- LitRPG: Readers want enemies to be challenges, bosses, or rival players—not treatises on ideology.
10. The Reader Must Feel Small
- Epic Fantasy: The awe of mountains, empires, or gods dwarfs the individual.
- LitRPG: Readers want to feel powerful, not humbled—progression fantasy is about growth and mastery.
✅ Works in LitRPG but Not Epic Fantasy
11. Constant Tangible Progress
- LitRPG: Frequent “dings,” new skills, and stat boosts scratch the gamer itch.
- Epic Fantasy: Constant visible gains feel artificial—growth should be slow, hard-won, and often invisible.
12. Game-Like Structure
- LitRPG: Clear quests, dungeons, XP, and loot tables create satisfying loops.
- Epic Fantasy: Too much structure breaks the illusion of a living world—life doesn’t hand out quests so neatly.
13. Crunchy Mechanics
- LitRPG: Readers relish stat blocks, skill trees, and optimization discussions.
- Epic Fantasy: Overly mechanical explanations kill immersion—magic should feel mysterious, not like a spreadsheet.
14. Frequent Combat Encounters
- LitRPG: Battles are core gameplay; readers expect frequent fights.
- Epic Fantasy: Endless combat risks exhausting readers who want battles to feel rare, costly, and decisive.
15. Player Agency Above All
- LitRPG: The protagonist must feel like a player making choices.
- Epic Fantasy: Fate, prophecy, or the “burden of destiny” often guide characters beyond their control.
16. Meta Awareness
- LitRPG: Characters can reference game mechanics, genre tropes, or player logic.
- Epic Fantasy: Meta jokes break immersion—characters can’t wink at the audience about being in a story.
17. Loot and Rewards as Story Fuel
- LitRPG: New gear and loot drops are story progression.
- Epic Fantasy: Magical swords and treasures matter, but they’re rare, symbolic, and usually secondary to inner growth.
18. Episodic, “Grindable” Arcs
- LitRPG: Dungeon runs, quests, and side missions can be modular and satisfying.
- Epic Fantasy: Too episodic undermines the long-arc gravitas; the story must feel like a single tapestry.
19. Power Fantasy at the Forefront
- LitRPG: Readers want to imagine themselves growing invincible.
- Epic Fantasy: Too much power fantasy feels hollow—readers want awe and cost, not invincibility.
20. Immersion Through Familiar Systems
- LitRPG: RPG tropes are comforting—readers enjoy seeing familiar mechanics at play.
- Epic Fantasy: Familiar mechanics feel derivative—immersion comes from originality, history, and myth.
⚖️ The Big Picture
- Epic Fantasy: Offers immersion in a mythic, awe-inspiring legend, with patience, gravitas, and weight. It humbles and uplifts.
- LitRPG: Offers immersion in a game you can read, with momentum, mechanics, and constant progression. It empowers and energizes.
They share world immersion as a value—but diverge in what kind of immersion the audience craves: awe vs. agency, myth vs. mechanics, destiny vs. progress.
Wow, this is tough. I think the issue is that everyone is different, and likes different things. For example, I love a story (either kind) that has a great world backstory. Another thing is that are a lot of sub-genres in the LitRPG genre. Some examples are Gameworld (where the story only takes place in the gameworld), Realworld (where part of the story takes place in the real world), Apocalyptic (where the entire Earth is incorporated into a gameworld), Cultivation (eastern cultivation and martial arts), Portal, Deckbuilding (think trading card games), Dungeon Core (main character is the core of a dungeon) and Harem (self-explanatory, usually only in Gameworld sub-genre. I don’t read these). I’m sure there are others, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. Each of these sub-genres are going to appeal to different people.
If you’re researching what makes a great LitRPG story, my recommendation is to read some great LitRPG series. A few examples are “Awaken Online” by Travis Bagwell (Realworld), “Cradle” by Will Wight (Cultivation), “The System Apocalypse” by Tao Wong and “Primal Hunter” by Zogarth (both Apocalyptic), “Beware of Chicken” by Casualfarmer (Xianxia cultivation), and “The Divine Dungeon” by Dakota Krout (Dungeon Core).These are stories I love, but ymmv 🙂
Or perhaps talk to some of these authors?
Thanks for the explanation and the book recommendations. I will probably stick with writing epic fantasy, though I am very curious about what’s happening in the litRPG space.
My friend and sometimes cowriter Scott Bascom has pointed out a few things about this list, one of which is that it seems to be weighted far too heavily toward early litRPG, before the subgenre began to mature. Also, the AI seems to take the middle ground between online comments from people who actually read litRPG, and comments from people who talk as if they know what it is when really they don’t. So it’s missing depth (which is not too surprising, if you work with AI). But other than that (and #20, which gets the two subgenres inverted–epic fantasy readers are looking for familiarity, while litRPG readers are hungry for novelty), he said it looks pretty good.