I'm going with Pride & Prejudice & Leveling. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a solo player of high level, must be in want of a guild."
Which classics are just begging to be re-written as litrpg?
LitrpgWould not Hamlet be more stuck in an endless indecision loop and fail to ever choose a path 🤔
Time resets until he does
Yep, sold
Count of Monte Cristo just needs stats and levels, and I guess 3 Musketeers would work too.
That's the first one I thought of, it legit has a training montage.
Considering that the anime adaptation of the count was set in 5053 along with being on the moon, litrpg wouldn't even be the craziest version of it
Although not a Litrpg, Downtown Druid is about as close as you can get in that corner.
I would so read a Three Musketeers LitRPG. Wouldn't get irritated that an author had brought guns to a magic party either, since they're already there.
Dante's Divine Comedies. He climbs through hell, purgatory, and heaven, then fights god.
im gonna write this shit
Dante's HUD displayed:
[Quest Uodate: Descend through the Nine Circles of Hell - 0/9 Complete]
[Survive Limbo. Reward: +1,000 XP, Skill Unlocked: Divine Insight.]
Virgil, the System AI waited for him to accept the quest.
I mean the game pretty much does just that but I agree it would be cool
That would be epic. Just add stats and system notifications
One might say it could be THE epic.
Dantes motivation: dante is a barista and god stiffed him on a tip and now he is on a journey of vengeance
I honestly thought this was how immortal great souls was gonna be
Some people do see it as the first Portal Fantasy/Isekai, so it's definitely a worthy candidate for litRPG.
Mur Laferty’s Afterlife series is not litRPG, but follows a similar path, although it does start in Heaven.
I did that in Detroit with a head full of LSD, so…
I am strongly considering doing The Wizard of Oz, as a sort of warm-up project to get into the LitRPG-writing mindspace. It's the original isekai, all you need to do is add a system on top. She shows up, gets a nice bump in XP from killing a high-level spellcaster, loots an artifact, then forms a party with three other characters to hunt more witches.
Factually, this would be legit. 10 out of 10. Would read.
Oh lordy, Toto could be a wise cracking companion that gets the ability to speak
One of the funniest bits of one of the sequel Oz books?
It’s discovered that Toto did gain the ability to speak upon his first visit to Oz. He just decided that living a ‘not-talking dog’s life’ was much easier than what all the talking animals had to do, and wisely kept his mouth shut ever since.
stop reading my notes lol
When you write this, come back and post here. I'm all audible, so I'll have to wait for the audiobook drop. But I'm kinda excited for it.
I really want to read this now so badly.
This is a great idea, but one thing to remember - it's in that very complex copyright space where the book is public domain, but the film is not. This can be complex to navigate.
A Connecticut yankee in king Arthur’s court (this is already an isekai novel, just needs stats and a system)
I think it is also like one of the oldest isekai from the US.
It actually fits the genre pretty perfectly
Oliver Twist.
Gotta level up that rogue class
10 out of 10, would read
Add in a dash of spell thief / magic
Romeo and Juliett.
[You are dead. Now choose a class.]
Tybalt's blade clashed with Mercutio's, triggering a system alert:
[PvP Duel Initiated: Winner gains 300 XP and Vengeance buff.]
"A plague on both your houses"
You have been cursed.
Romero succeeded his charisma check.
Juliet, make a wisdom check. Oooh, ouch.
That honestly could be a good start to a story, tired of how they normally start
The starts of these novels recently have started to seem creatively bankrupt.
MC is doing something completely irrelevant to the rest of the plot described in way more detail than is necessary.
Suddenly blue screens! MC accepts them almost immediately as real rather than the far more likely scenario of hallucinating or having a mental break.
MC is a secret genius and does something nobody else in the world even considers and becomes super OP despite it being a patently obvious thing to do and nobody else ever copies him because reasons.
System is snarky to OP as he goes about fulfilling thinly disguised wish fulfilment and every character exists solely to gush about how amazing the MC is.
Now I want to write a short story about point number 2 from two view points. A schizophrenic that accepts it as reality, and his doctor who has a mental breakdown and the patient has to help him along.
Depending on the direction you go with that, I think it'd be brilliant.
True, I can’t stand reading about the boy genius who can build things no one else his age can. And the screw my family and everyone I’ve ever known. At least with Romeo and Juliet you could somehow get them to see one another and then spend the time looking for each other
I doubt I'll be capable of completing it, but I've started writing something that wasn't originally intended as a litRPG, and so it had a lot more thought put into the inciting incident.
It's taken me a lot of changes and thought to get the "MC gains system access" moment to "work" while still being in the first three thousand words, and to explain the MC being (almost) uniquely overpowered and having training that allows her to remain functional under the extreme stress of growing wings (among other changes) while including hooks.
The litRPG business model is usually "spend six hours work on each chapter" which is why the cliche starts are so common. I'm sure I've spent at least eighty on my first chapter and its implications.
Ulysses.
Because then his bonded animal doesn’t die and you don’t have that whole horrible scene with the old dog.
Lord of the Flies as a system apocalypse.
Nah. That’s totally a Battle Royale/PUBG system.
Status Update: Player PIGGY has died. There are 27 Players remaining
Oh shit, the islands shrinking!
That would be epic!
The island doesnt shrink, The Beast circles them closer and closer
Yes!!
Ouch, that hurts
10 out of 10, would read
Would absolutely read this
Robbin Hood the hunter
The Metamorphosis: Monster Evolution Litrpg
One Hundred Years of Solitude, but it's just cultivator entering seclusion.
The Wizard of Oz is an Isekai, dnd party, and BBEG story.you even have an ethereal patreon in the Good Fairy.
Sure she has like 5 legendary action per turn but that weakness to water really did the BBEG dirty.
I mean, you can't give the party a hopeless encounter. If there's no way for your group to win, you're just going on a suicide adventure and that's not fun! I wish water being super effective was foreshadowed more, though. If water is her weakness, does she stay home when the humidity is 100%? Does her body no longer have 70% water? If so, no wonder she can fly on a broom. She must weigh like 5lbs. The DM might want to consider these important questions for his next bad guy.
I even have to talk to the DM about railroading. We spent all that time on the yellow brick road. Following it like our life depends on it. Every sidequest or deviation just put us right back on the fuckin road...
We keep hearing about this monstrously powerful wizard the whole goddamned time, only to find out he's a fuckin' hack. After Dorthy's dog does a perception check and finds out he's full of shit he tries to appease us by giving us magic items. But when he gives out these legendary items to everyone and when we get them appraised it turns out they do nothing. What bullshit is that?
Man, I appreciate the DM putting this whole thing together but he really needs to think about his players a bit more.
You've got a lot of good points. I'm thinking we make the water special. Some McGuffin that we get rolling earlier. Magic water. To wash away lies. And it turns out her powers are all stolen and it breaks the bound she has to them. Then they go out of control and bye bye witch.
We'll have to take some liberties. Could work. Could work.
Thanks DM, I appreciate you hearing me out. There was a lot to praise while we were off to see the wizard. The random encounters with the Praire Lions, the Savanah Tigers, and the Forest Bears, Oh my, were they great! The Candyville setting was great, and the leader of the Lollipop Guild was really entertaining. I caught a continuity error though. There was a horse that was a different color each time we ran into them. I thought it was cool if it was intentional.
Anyway, keep up the great work and I appreciate you listening to my nitpicks.
I was worried about the Lollipop Guild. Happy the groups enjoying it.
For our next session, we'll be hitting up Wonka's chocolate factory.
I just had a cold chill run down my spine thinking about that, lol. If you didn't know what was going on before you walked into that factory... dear Lord. Think about the DM setting up specific instances in a series of rooms that seduce each party member in the most perfect way possible. Each one would be trying to get the player to break the rules set up at the beginning of the tour.
A rogue sees a pristine gem sitting out in the open, the Paladin sees an oompa loompa and thinks it's a demon, the cleric sees someone enjoying their day and so has to condescendingly tell them how they are living their life wrong, the druid sees a weed dying or some bullshit animal having a bad day, and the bard sees literally anyone he might be able to score with. It would definitely be a horror adventure whether the party realizes that's the genre or not. "...but everything was so happy and exciting!" said the party."
"Is it raining, is it snowing? There's no earthly way of knowing which direction we are going!" said the Wonka stand-in.
Wonka's Factory is really just Slanesh's innermost sanctum. By the Throne... Willy Wonka IS Slanesh! (This is Warhammer 40k stuff if you're not familiar.) How has no one seen it sooner? Pepesilvia.jpg
I'd be pissed if the dm didn't at least drop some heavy handed hints at the weakness
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Victoria-Alston-Sleet-ebook/dp/B07SHXKPMS I recommend, along this line. First few pages are our brave heroine being worried she's broken a bicycle.
And then the boxes hit.
Nice! I'll check it out.
Note that the book performed rather badly, and the author dropped the series (just after the end of the tutorial, essentially). That's partially why I started my own regency-era-themed LitRPG, The Infinite Labyrinth.
(noticed further down that you love the idea of historical LitRPG: The above is filled with historical characters - its original prompt was, after all, "Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington have to ally against RPG-powered invaders from another dimension". Before that changed a little. So you meet and see a lot of real historical characters beyond the two above)
Dragonlance. Chronicles and Legends
It's already the novelisation of a series of game sessions, innit?
Yeah... but stats and blue screen though
That one’s still under copyright.
Ah yeah you are right. I misread the title. But I stand by my choice :)
Oh it would be great fun. “Raist, you can’t take on Takhisis, you only have 44 HP!”
But Hasbro would sue the pants off you.
Would still make great literature
DrangonLancer. There
Lance Dragon, Private Investigator and Evoker
Odyssey by Homer.
The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov.
War and Peace by Tolstoy.
As a bonus:
Captain Blood by Sabatini, Poirot and Sherlock Holmes. Those would be truly epic adventures.
Someone just needs to sit down and write a LitRPG while listening to Epic: The Cerces Saga
Beowulf
Frankenstein. The creature learned to speak and read by observing people for a couple of days, and had superhuman physical abilities, so slapping a System on that with some quests just makes sense!
Ooooh a perfect monster progression
When reanimating a corpse, it gains one random skill from the body used. Since Frankenstein is composed of various parts, he acquired a diverse range of abilities.
I feel like it could work. They did it for Vampire Hunter. I actually read that book and it filled in a lot of history holes for me.
Other historical figures could be interesting too. "Jean-Paul Marat - Level 33 Bard" doesn't have Lincoln's name recognition but he puts you in one of the most important periods in human history and the guy just had some fascinating experiences.
Historical LitRPG! I love it!
Gone with the Wind: I was Reborn as a Plantation Owner with an Overpowered Cheat Skill at Level One
What's the skill?
Probably something way too on the nose like the ultimate wind core, although you could base it more off of Rhett’s character and go full on Harem style as he uses his maxed out “Womanizing” skill to collect OP hotties.
The Art of War and Leveling. Just some dude stuck in a library reading about combat tactics.
The Man in the Iron Mask
The classic. The OG we all draw inspiration from. The story contained in every story. The one I’m thinking of doing myself.
St. George and the Dragon.
20+ years later and I'm still sad that The Dragon and the George series by Gordon R. Dickson was never finished. It was such a fun take on St. George.
it would fit right in with a lot of the unfinished LitRPGs
Yup, although in this case it is because the author died.
Journey to the West.
It's basically already an RPG. You could either go two ways: the main character as a reincarnated god made into a mortal human (Sanzang) or the main character as the Monkey King, a once proud warrior who after almost overthrowing the Jade Emperor was stripped of his legendary gear and weapons and then lost all of his levels by being imprisoned for 500 years in the bowels of a mountain.
I kind of love this. When will you be releasing it? Please say you are a writer.
Not a bad idea, actually. Would need to put another novel I’m working on hold but that’s not in any rush.
Yesssss!!!
A Sun Wukong LitRPG faithful to the original scripture is something I'd absolutely love to read before dying.
Honestly, making it a LitRPG would simplify a lot of the story's plot.
Absurd abilities? New skills from Leveling up.
So many weird monster? It's a LitRPG, what do you expect.
Monkey King's desire to constantly fight? He just likes the feeling of levelling up.
Arthurian legends (King Aruthor / Merlin)
- you've got the classic lady handing out swords as a means of governance. Wizards. Honor. Round tables. Etc.
Write it from the perspective of the legend as portrayed in the very old TSR table top setting: Once and Future King.
Funny you should mention this 😂😂😂
Dante's Inferno is basically a tower climb. It even ends in a climactic meeting with a big baddie: Lucifer. He even has a well spoken sidekick in a dead poet and later goes on to summit purgatory and heaven. It's a story about a fictional version of the author growing closer to God. The LitRPG version would be about him growing closer to God...hood.
Was just taking about this! Absolutely! 10 out of 10, would read
Lord of the Flies
Piggy's Reckoning
Yessss
Much Ado about Leveling
A Mid Summers Nights Litrpg
Conan the Barbarian
Epic of Gilgamesh
Frankenstein's Monster, monster evolution
Bridge to Terabithia
John Carter, Princess from Mars, isekei
Tarzan, reverse isekei
Yessss. So much yesss.
Bridge to Terabithia? Good lord. The feels.
The Fly.
Charlotte's Web
Is Charlotte the BBEG?
All of CS Lewis stuff could be fun as litrpg and already half way there.
Gilgamesh mythos would be a lot of fun I think.
I would love to see a mystery/detective isekai litrpg where the main character gets sucked into an established magical/feudalish system and uses modern research techniques without being combat style over powered and gets insight/investigation powers.
Yes!! I actually just released a LitRPG (Royal Road) that's all based on Greek myth. Book two is going to be diving more into Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia and Egypt.
But I love the idea for an isekai detective. I was literally thinking about that today, but more of an urban fantasy, dresden files type. But throwing a modern-ish detective into a litrpg would be epic.
Almost zero fighting. It's like a mystery, puzzle game. Clue, the LitRPG.
Anything mythology related. One of the humans or demigods can be the MC. Maybe Hercules or one of the characters from the whole Troy wars.
Lol I actually just finished writing a LitRPG Greek myth with Hades as the main mentor. Releasing it chapter a day on Royal Road.
Starting on book two shortly.
Jason and the Argonauts!
A thousand and one nights- (Arabian nights)
Aladdin, sinbad, and some other characters get their systems unlocked. Some world ending desert disaster brings them all together in a fight of the ages.
Would read
Some of those stories appeared in later publications and weren't part of the original Alf Layla book.
The loin the witch and the VR pod
Some creepy harem stuff there 😂😂😂
He who Fights with Moby Dick
Lol!
Lord of the Rings
[You have defeated Balrog level: Blue]
[Bing, you have leveled up from Grey to White]
Moby-Dick:
''Call me XxIshmaelxX. Some expansions ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no gold in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore ... "
The tale of the white whale boss fight.
Fahrenheit level 451
The Bible
Ovid’s Heroides. “The Hero left me behind so I became a Battle Queen”
Well, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies is already a thing that exists, so hey. You might be able to swing it.
Odyssey
1) Call of the Wild. 2) Dracula 3) Frankenstein 4) The Count of Monti Cristo 5)... the Bible (He'll be back)
Oh lordy
That would be the perfect title.
🤣🤣
Why only "Call of the Wild" and not the half of the pair "White Fang" ?
Absolutely. I'd be here all day listing the books that could make this list.
All of Greek Mythology? Odyssey and Iliad?
Yup, I'm on it. Got first book written. Mostly around Hades.
👀
I see you, fellow author.
Finnegan's Wake. That way someone (hopefully) dumbs it down enough that I can understand more than a single sentence!
The fall (bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk! Level Up!) of a once wallstrait oldparr is retaled early in bed and later on life down through all christian minstrelsy.
Bahahhah
there’s an entire manga series that does classics like count of monte cristo, this is brilliant
Moby Dick
Repo man (not the new lame one)
Trying to picture the game mechanics for this one
I think mythologies done with Cultivation and LitRPG (DotF style, as it were) would be interesting.
Not to toot my own tooter, but I just wrote a Cultivation LitRPG set in a mythology setting! 😁 The MC navigates a world split into domains managed by different pantheons. Kicks off with Greek myths, and next, we’re diving into Egypt 🏛️🐍 First book is light on the Cultivation but next book will be leaning more into it.
Terra Mythica in your name? I'll is it on RR or KU?
Ya, under Fobywoby on RR. Terra Mythica is the series. Book one is "In Shadow & Light". First book is written but doing chapter per day release while editing. Then onto book two. Seven book series outlined with a definite end planned at seven.
Hopefully it's okay to post link -
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/89308/in-shadow-and-light-a-litrpg-adventure-terra-mythica
If you dig the story, I could get a copy of the full thing out to you, pre-edit.
Beowulf or basically any other heroic epic
Absolutely love the Pride and Prejudice idea. Would read that for sure
Elizabeth Bennett received a quest notification:
[Attend the Netherfield Ball and gather intel on Mr. Darcy's true intentions.]
As she equipped her finest gown, a sense of anticipation filled her. The ballroom was a grand setting, teeming with avatars of various statures and abilities, each vying for a higher social ranking.
Mr. Darcy, renowned for his high charisma and intellect stats, often left lesser players intimidated by his mere presence. His aloof demeanor masked a complex skill set that few could decipher.
Elizabeth's perception skill, however, was keen. She attempted to peirce through the facade.
Startled by the screen, she checked her notifications.
[Perception Check Failed].
"Who are you, Mr. Darcy, and what are you hiding?"
The Doom books series.
I've got a friend over at Doom... let's make this happen.
And by friend, I mean someone that responded to a support ticket once. And by Doom I mean a completely disrelated gaming company.
Not a book, but Planet of the Apes could make for a pretty stellar LitRPG.
Good lawd yes
Could have a monster progression POV as the Ape. Imagine the guild building.
Epic of Gilgamesh, the idea of turning the first human literature into a LIT is kinda funny
I want to say Star Wars considering Jedi/Sith already feel like cultivators to me. I'm just if it would be a fitting for a "litrpg" instead of a wuxia. Still Jedi with levels and classes? Fits to me.
Also anything in Warhammer. 40k or otherwise would be interesting. Just sounding out what how the system at large worked between all the factions and races and lore would be a challenging but enjoyable to see. I can only imagine the kind of bullshit passives orks would have or what their cultivation or leveling would look like. Even their conversations back in fourth could be fun.
Ork 1: "I 'eard da humies talkin' 'bout dis fing called cultivashun. Dey say ya grow bigga and stronga by meditatin' and stuff."
Ork 2: "Meditatin'? We ain't douin dat. We Orks get strong by smashin' fings an levlin"
Ork 1: Roight, but 'ere me out, ladz! Wot if we give dis 'cultivatin' fing a go while we're bashin' 'eads and krumpin' dem gitz? If it don't make us any bigga or tougher, den we just go back to smashin' and fightin' like we always do! Ain't no harm in tryin' a bit of both, eh?
Ork 3: Oi, boss! Whatever ya say, we'll give it a go!
And thus the most terrifying sect of cultivation the universe had ever seen was born, Da WAAAAGH! Choppas.
Lol! Could totally work. I think litrpg / Wuxia mash-up, throw in a system and we are off to the races.
40K, A LitRPG Adventure!
Magician by Raymond E Feist lol
Been a long time since I've heard that name. Some great books. Anything Riftwar Saga would be perfect.
How has no one mentioned Les Miserables!
Tell me more! How would you gamify?
Man. This is an awesome question to think about. I'd probably go with the Iliad. War of the Worlds as a system also apoc sounds fun.
Totally! I'm writing a Greek myth litrpg now. I think the Iliad would be epic.
Also, I could see War of the World's as an epic system apocalypse. Humans trigger being accepted into The System and have to face our first real enemies.
Dune.
I think about this every time I watch a series show… but I’m a shit writer, so in no particular order:
Dune, Interview with the Vampire, Fallout, The Boys…maybe the Office and Schitts Creek
I would kill for the Office, the LitRPG
It has an interesting quest system
3 musketeers seems obvious, the big one I've thought about is Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. Its one of my favorite stories and I can hear the AI from DCC screaming "New Achievement! You've become a dirty pirate." Also, Swiss Family Robinson would be very solid. Half the characters take beast tamer classes.
1984
Thought Criminal level 5
Skill lost: Greater Double Think
New skill obtained: Telescreen Darkness
Said before, Journey to the West, is literally inspiration for cultivation via a journey. (That is what the Monk Tripitaca is doing).
Robin Hood seems so obvious that it got used as a cover by the MC in the first 'Accidental Traveler' series, 'Accidental Thief', by CJ Davis.
Les Miserables would make great Wandering Inn type writing.
The 3 musketeers originally released in little pamphlets, so the serialized Patreon style was part of the game back then, and led to them doing ridiculous stuff
Anne Rice isn't even near public domain yet, but using history to put some immortal or vampire reset based character way back in time before an apocalypse would be pretty funny. 'You only have 2000 years to prep to stop Mayan Apocalypse in 2012, good luck.'
Well, you already have Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (even made into a MOVIE), so there.
Man, no one gonna say Harry Potter? Just tweak it a little bit and have some random American child living in a cabin in the woods with just his father. One day, dad is out hunting for days at a time, as he typically does, when an owl arrives with a letter admitting him into Hogwarts. When he touches the letter, he is greeted by a floating blue box asking him if he'd like to choose the "Wizard" class, to which he says yes. He then proceeds to be portkeyed to Hogsmeade as part of their foreign exchange program where he's promptly enrolled in the school. Upon arriving, he receives another prompt with a Quest: Survive the Apocalypse: 3:364:23:59:59.
He then starts leveling his affinities and spells as he delves into life at Hogwarts, eventually fusing magic with muggle technology as the first true magi-tech wizard in preparation for the impending apocalypse.
Now, the tutorial and academy arcs have been completed and it's time for the system apocalypse arc. Could probably toss in a tournament arc shortly after the apocalypse once world powers begin to be established.
10 out of 10, would read.
Super dig the apocalypse countdown. And like no one knows why or how. They just know the dark one is probably responsible.
Plus, quests in each book. [Discover the Secret of the Hidden Chamber - Failure: End of the World]
Journey to the west would just be another OP cliche LitRPG story.
1 missing reply
Hamlet "To be, or not to be: that is the question."
[Quest Update: Choose Your Path. Reward: +1000 XP, Alignment Shift]