There is a sub-genre of Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk out there called LitRPG. It stands for Literary Role Playing Game. The definition of LitRPG is open to interpretation and at this point it is a little fuzzy. As far as I know (And please add your voice to what you believe it to be), It means a literary story with game like elements in a game world/setting. One of the main aspects is leveling, gaining abilities, loot and becoming stronger to defeat your enemies. It is a type of portal fiction where players enter or are forced into a game world to survive, grow and/or escape/rule.
The genre has been around for a long time but mostly under the science fiction or fantasy settings. This isn’t a crash course in LitRPG but more of a gentle swimming in the deepening waters. LitRPG has grown within the last year and to be honest, I find it fascinating. Telling a game world/story is the perfect connection to our society as it embraces virtual worlds. With movies and books like Ready Player One, Jumanji and Scott Pilgrim, it can only lead to more stories. (Let us not forget anime like Sword Art Online and Hack.Sign just to name a few.)
But back to what I’m trying to say.
LitRPG is young and still growing. Confining a genre to a certain set of rules is constricting and eventually suffocating. It will fall under it’s own weight and eventually be consumed. For something to grow, it must expand to fill the growing void. Boredom could drive it’s lazy claws into it and become a turn off for those just jumping in.
Now, I’ve been writing for a few years. When I stumbled onto LitRPG, my creative juices began to flow. I fell in love as the genre kissed me on the neck and let its tongue glide along my skin. I instantly began working on a story for the genre, bringing my own sexy edge to it. Thoughts flowed to a fantasy world where you can play a character class and be free to love and lust how you want, when you want. Seven books in, it has been a wild and fun ride, one that will always lovingly haunt my writing career because it took hold of me and bent me back as I placed the back of my hand to my forehead with a sigh.
I have made really good friends in the genre and explore many worlds but I came across a concern. Stories tended to stay in a certain kind of formula. It’s not bad if you like reading the same kind of books but LitRPG is ripe for exploration. I mean, sexy worlds are abound and would only help open the floodgates to new readers. Romance can inflame hearts as characters explore not only their abilities/skills but bring in new eyes to something with willing seduction.
Some of my fellow authors have taken to writing sexy LitRPG. Game worlds where you can have action, loot and power but you can also have intimate encounters and blissful romance. The tribe of LitRPG is growing and we should take our time to help nurture it.
There has been a little push back. Some vocal readers have expressed their displeasure at reading heated pleasure. True, we all have our priorities but expanding one’s taste to include a little sensual action never hurt anyone. As a matter of fact, it leads people to take on that warm glow and smile. (Or moan, at least that’s how I imagine it. Tell me if I’m wrong.)
Eden, what are you trying to say?
I’m saying, as you peruse the many wonderful LitRPG titles, take a moment to read some of the fine titles below. Their worlds are amazing and filled with sexy encounters. If you like your fantasy/sci-fi with a sexy edge, these are the authors you want to follow.
Galataea Crystallim Core: Collection 1 by Scottie Futch
Gamer for Life (Alpha World Book 1) by Daniel Schinhofen
Unexplored – Rise of the Crimson Kingdom: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 0 Unexplored Cycle) by Alara Branwen
Ted Online: Ted Stedman Novel 01 and Dungeon Spawned: Dark Dungeon 01 by D. R. Rosier
Everybody Loves Large Chests by Exterminatus (Free to Read on Royal Road)
This small list is far from complete but it is a starting point. Please add any authors in the comments so I may expand it. 🙂
May the sexy reading engulf your imagination with erotic tales of bliss.
~Eden
*Edit- I wanted to add something. A reader brought up that the article dictated the end of LitRPG if it doesn’t expand. That was not my intention. LitRPG is in fact growing. My concerns were based on diversity in the genre. It has happened in the past where some believed their should be strict rules when it comes to writing LitRPG but there has been an openness to try new things within the genre and I was only focusing on the erotica/romance part.
Most LitRPG is fantasy based (My books are guilty of that too. Something I wish to change in the near future ;). Added diversity could help bring in new readers and writers. Sci-fi, horror, romance and mystery LitRPG could be the shot in the arm for new stories. Some possibilities could be a dating sim like stories, horror worlds, even space and sci-fi MMO stories. Diversity is the key and that is what should be nurtured in whatever world you wish to explore. 🙂
Eden Redd 
You’re right for LitRPG to grow it has to expand. And, in many ways, LitRPG lends itself to romance and erotica.
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It’s tough. I understand where the folks who have an “erotic allergy” are coming from when they leave negative reviews because of the sex content of my books, but I just wish they’d read my descriptions more carefully (or at all). It’s funny, because they’ll often mention how they were enjoying the story/characters until the evil SEX SCOURGE reared it’s head in the narrative. It almost makes some of the bad reviews seem like backhanded compliments.
I don’t write in the LitRPG genre myself, but I’m fascinated by the evolution I’ve seen in it over the past few years. And like with fantasy in general, it seems like a natural pairing for books with an erotic tone to them.
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Same here, in a way. Despite a rather clear blurb, a callout in “From the author”, other reviews, and categorization as LGBT fiction in Amazon, the “erotic allergy” that Hughes alludes to carries over even into non-erotica romance.
I witnessed this in the reception of my Fjorgyn LitRPG series.
And you’re correct. If the niche does not expand, it will most likely be forgotten. In this regard, LitRPG is not a genre. It is a style of story telling. And yet there is a small but vocal reader group that seems adamant that this niche should not include romance or erotica who seem to digest any incoming LitRPG novel without reading the details of the story only to then slam it in reviews because it is not what they want it to be.
And those of us who write more diverse stories will inevitably move on to where our stories are better appreciated.
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A shocker I know but I tend towards liking the erotica version more than normal Litrpg since I kind of feel that it’s more honest. Honest about the possibilities and honest about humans in regards to our urges as well. Don’t care much for the “high minded” people that look down on erotica because I kind of feel they aren’t being truthful. Author Stuart Grosse has two series; Rules-Free VRMMO Life and Into The Black that both deal with some darker aspects but are truthful. Wild Times in Virtual Reality and Gamer Girl are also good series for other view points. It’s truly interesting to see this topic being explored from multiple angles as long as the erotic lends towards story building not being the sole focus, though Eroma by Piers Anthony does do it well.
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Thank god for Authors like you and basically all them you mention in your recommendations!
Personally, I love LitRPG novels due to the sense of progression and development, the hands-on approach to character development and the world building that goes along with it.
However, I prefer my novels to includes all sides of life, not just hack-n-slash gain-a-level stuff. Romance, sexuality and fetishes is, according to me and my preferences, nothing to be hidden away but its to be shown in all its beauty and enjoyed. We are talking about people here, people who live a full life, people who love, people who have desires…
Why should sex have to be:
Peter slides down besides Angelica, resting his back against the tree. She quickly snuggles up against him, letting her hand slide down his chest blissful about what is to come… The next morning Peter and Angelica is chipper as two chipmunks after getting their freak on all night along against an old tree trunk and practically bounce down the road towards Mount NadaJuicyDetails.
And, if it has to be, should not ending a life, killing a moster be:
Peter brandishes his puny daggers as Angelica makes her huge two-hand sword ready to clear the path ahead of them… As the last gnoll hits the ground Peter says to Angelica; “So, how far is this Mount NadaJuicyDetails?”. Angelica sighs and says; “No idea, very frekking far I guess?”.
Or? Is sex actually worse then killing? I can understand that some people do not appreciate getting aroused by reading a novel, but, hopefully, there continue to be authors like yourself that writes novels that can tickle in all the ways, not just the ones that are seemingly ok for kids to read…
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Totally agree, why should one aspect of life be denigrated just because a small minority of people are too prudish to appreciate it. After all if a book falls into an adult category the reader should expect to find adult situations. I write erotica under a pen name, but if the fantasy, science fiction or LitRPG story I’m writing demands an adult encounter, well I will write it and make it the best encounter I can imagine. As an aside everything I write has a storyline, good characters, and I hope great writing.
Personally I would consider murder to be far worse than an intimate rendezvous on my moral scale, and there is a lot of murder going on in the majority of the books I read, even if the murder is self defense.
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I’ve experience the same sense of wicked joy at discovering “LitRPG” and also the frustration at discovering the attempts at some kind of binding definition. You’d think it would be easy enough to say the more erotic works aren’t a person’s cup of tea, but let those writers and that part of the audience enjoy their thing. And vice versa. Human nature never seems to get that part down, though.
For me, it was an idea to write a comic erotic novel about a kinky gamer who mods his game into a fetish playground. I had no idea there was even a “LitRPG genre” until about two months ago, as I was finishing it. On the one hand, it was great to discover the potential audience was bigger than I’d thought. On the other, figuring out where to post or market it sometimes seems like rolling the dice, and exactly because of what you describe here.
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Hello mate great bllog
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