Cascadia [A Numbers Light LIT-RPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A lost warrior exiled from his desert enclave stumbles into a bustling city on a backwater colony world. His goal is to find a place to call home, pick up a job that isn't fighting mutant scorpions, and maybe go on a date with a foul-mouthed woman who spends most of her day sleeping and most of her night chasing UFOS.

Yet there's more to the city of Cascadia then meets the eye: Reality around the backwater planet is bursting at the seams, spilling monsters into the woods while also offering tantalizing passage to other worlds filled with wealth, secrets, and power.

The warrior Corvayne and his trusty spear are more then match for goblins and the occasional rabid sasquatch, but he will soon find there are far greater threats converging on him. Only his friends, his wits, and a weird ability that bends the rules of what his weapons can do will help him thwart sinister mage worshipping cultists, unstoppable time-monks, nuclear bombs, and the occasional pet-sized (but very, very vicious) dragon.

Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, often cryptic, and always weird - Cascadia awaits!

Updates: Mondays + Whenever I feel like it.

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This story features:

-A cast who are mostly good friends and mostly good people, despite exploring weird and dangerous worlds.

-A mix of dungeons, dragons, and exploring the pine scented city of Cascadia... and beyond.

-Very very light LitRPG elements that slowly seep into the story. Learning the system is a challenge that takes the characters a long time.

-A strange universe with a mix of both standard magic and powers that twist reality itself. Some wizards know how to cast fireball, but a few can curse someone to be lost for eons.

-No explicit sex scenes. Warning is for implied sex scenes and some nudity.

-Lots of blood, mostly monster blood.

-A long planned story and long character arcs. I have the ending in mind as I write.

-Main character PoV over 90% of the time.

[Nov 2022, 23, and 24 Writathon Winner!]

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Roof Monster

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.1/ 5.0
Followers: 316
Views: 429,721

Chapters(281 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

AlexZinaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I was very pleasantly surprised with this story. It is engaging from the start, and I was thrilled to find out there are already 370k+ words written.
The author uses vivid descriptions presenting the setting in a way easy to imagine and overall the language flows smoothly.
The initial setting with the protagonist at the bottom of the totem pole in his community gave me some Cradle (from Will Wight) vibes (a good thing). It will be interesting to see his development down the road and the reasons behind his shunning.
The characters, specially the lead and his girlfriend have great chemistry and banter.
Honestly, as an amateur aspiring author, I found it a bit disheartening that this story is not way more popular. What I mean is that having nearly 100 chapters released over just five months, with an interesting premise and unique twists, likeable characters and pleasant writing style with lots of drama/action I would expect way more success, and think the main issue the story had so far is lack of exposure to a bigger audience. I hope the author keeps writing it.
For downsides, just very minor stuff that will certainly be addressed with editors/proofreaders (small typos and missing ' here and there). Overall, considering the size of the work it has negligible impact on the experience of the reader.
I will be following this story to see where it goes, and am glad I have 300k words to go :)
RathowmRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A lovely written story. I cant say I have an especially keen eye for grammar, but I didn't notice anything wrong at all. It flows and it takes you in deeper into the story as It should.
The Paragraphs are long and detailed. That may or may not be your cup of tea, but I have no problem with it. The author enjoys his description of the world, the scenes and environments. Though they are also careful to show rather than just info dump. It is truly well done.
The story is as described in the synopsis. Fun adventures in dungeons and unique cities and settings with a foul-mouthed girlfriend to boot. So far, it can only be described as fun and passionate. The author has put true heart and soul into this work.
First off, Wick is a wonderful character. Corvayne is also very likeable, and im enjoying his moveset development early on. The LitRPG elements are light, and seep into the story in an timely manner. Action scenes are well done. The dialouge may be my favorite part. Realistic, funny, and its smooth.
Will continue to read. Keep it up author, truly one of my favorites that ive seen on the site so far. I am truly hoping you will keep writing. Amazing work.
So&so-kingRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I made this account just to tell you your work is great and I loved it
I admit when I started I thought that I would just waste an hour on a nothing story then forget about it but I was hooked for the bast few days as I binged your work and I can't wait to see how it goes
I love how the story take a lot of time just for the characters to hang out and talk and I wish for more, not that your action scene are lacking or anything they are great in there own way
I hope to see more of you great work
WetdryvacRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Solid writing, characters make decent sense in their choices, good balance of world build, fighting, slice of life, and social interaction. Has some pretty horrific elements in places, but addresses 'em without being *handwaves* dismissive? I dunno. One of the few books where truly awful stuff is right there, describe in detail, and I didn't just eject on the spot. And it's interesting seeing stuff that's been building for the entire thing come to a head.
CrouchingWombatHiddenDropbearRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Really enjoying reading this well written adventure. If you like urban fantasy and paranormal fantasy and a powerful but not over powered MC this is for you. If you hate angst but like real complicated relationships them this is for you. If you like it when the pace takes it time and mixes action with real character interaction. If you like litrpg but hate how a chapter is used up to show a character screen and the MC's build. No character screens period because here they are uneeded and levels are simply implied and woven into the storytelling. Also sex happens but we don't have to read through awkward descriptions of sex from someone perhaps without a good idea of what real sex looks like.
So to score by categories
Character
Love the characters and the personality and depth. Main characters develop and evolve and change. They have real emotions they are complicated and quirky. They are also quite interesting and fun to learn more about.
Grammar
For the most part leaves nothing to be desired. A few typos here in there but not immersion breaking by any means. All the words are used correctly.
Style
Style is very fun and enjoyable. There's urban fantasy but there's also dimensional hopping and mythical creatures. And dungeons. But not grinding dungeons and no infinite floors and a lot of exploration. There's some slice of life moments but they are not dominant.
Story
Great for the most part. Not high stakes but the thrill of exploration and discovering the unknown really draws you in.
Looking forward to following this story for a while.
KapowneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
What can I say about Cascadia that the other reviews here don't say. Honestly, not much... The only thing I can say is the fact that I always try really hard not to give 5 star reviews to authors. I've always thought that as an author myself, a five star review feels cheap, or fake. I always want to give feedback that helps the author know you've really digested the what you've read and give feedback on what you think could be done better.
But I have to say... what a read this has been. My only frustration here is that I don't have more time to read. I started reading on Saturday (I am writing this on Monday night) and I have been thinking about getting back to it pretty much non stop. Sure there are a couple typos here and there, but the book has 1,511 pages so far... Im not gonna hold it against them. This book definitely shows me that I have a lot of distance left to go as a writer, and I plan to take some notes.
I sincerely look forward to catching up to the current chapters. Thankfully there is a TON of chapters I can look forward to reading
NatarajaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
- Style & Grammar
This is well written, no grammar, syntax nor style issues. The layout is good which makes the text pleasant to read. Everything is perfect, except for some long descriptions that slow down the action. The author could cut those by half easily. English is not my native language, so I may have missed some things...
- Story
The world building with the Watchers, the magic, the descriptions of the social status or the functioning of the city/planets/galaxy are very well written, I especially liked the scene with the bandits, but there is a big problem. It is the lack of connection between this exciting world and the Mc. He has no clear goal and just wanders around at the mercy of others, just trying to survive.
- Character
The characters are well written. We feel for Corvayne, we hate his father, we wonder about the Magus' sanity, we feel for Grunt (best bro ever), i don't have the feeling for Wick who maybe need more characterization though... that everyone hated the MC in his village is a bit cliché though, I hope a very good reason will be revealed. The problems of the MC to adapt to the city are very interesting, whether it is the social or economic aspect.
Banner CaygeonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a well written adventure that gets better as it goes. You can tell the author is improving their craft over time, and you should definitely follow along with their progress.
Grammar: The first chapter has a few issues, and they do pop you out of the flow at times. However, the author is very active on comments and seems to have implemented many of the suggestions from others as they go. It's also incredibly clear the author is taking those notes and improving their writing on subsequent chapters.
Style: I'm not versed on genre definitions, but I've seen this described as rpg lite, and that seems to be the case. It's progressive but the author has done a good job of keeping that secondary to the development of the character(s) as a person (people).
Characters: The characters start out seeming like apocalpytic 20's angsty types, but the story unfolds and more is coming out about them. You feel for them and genuinely want to know more about them. I think the author could 'be a little less miserly' (their words lol!) with the secrets at the onset and try and find more ways to give us readers more tidbits earlier on.
Story Score: The story is a really neat premise, in that it doesn't seem to have a tropey arc to follow. It's very much a the-destination-is-the-journey type vibe, and this reader is here for it. Discovery is done really well and going along for the ride, not really knowing where it's going makes for an enjoyable read.
Style Score: The first chapter is a bit heavy handed with the exposition, but it improves drastically from there. The author is taking comments and notes to heart and putting those into practice in subsequent chapters. Anytime you find an author that is working this hard on their craft, you should follow.
All in all this is an interesting world and premise with likeably characters. The author is prolifiic and hard working. Any technical issues are constantly being smooth out and getting better as they go. If you are looking for an imme
Casey BacaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Story: So far I've been intrigued where things are headed, the world or worlds are diverse and crazy. Corvayne's fish out of water predicament is pretty funny. It's still early on, so the over arching conflict is vague, but I want to see the magus return and get more into it.
Character: Corvayne being the smallest and worst warrior in a tribe of super warriors find a very different life in a regular modern-like city. Some of his fights with regular people are pretty comical and then his monster battles where he learns about all the skills he could never do in the past were fun and engaging. The girl is cute and plays the staight-man to Corvayne's weirdness. He's a bit aloof and takes everything in stride.
My favorite is still the crazy magus and can't wait to see more of him.
Style: The author's prose tends to be long winded with sentences that can stretch. If that's something that bothers you, you'll probably notice it here. The descriptions are vivid and immersive, painting a picture of all the crazy transitions that happen in the story.
At the time of this writing the author added a new prologue to test the waters. it was a flash forward action packed scene, but I do not think it is necessary.
Grammar: I noticed things early on more than later, but I think some chapters could use an additional proof reading pass. The author pumps out content for sure, sometimes with massive chapters and every now and then it falls into what I'd like to call a stream of consciousness flow. The structure breaks down a bit and I noticed some awkward pieces. Didn't stop me from enjoying the story, though.
a.c.rockatanskyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I really enjoyed getting to start this story with the prologue-- an action-packed episode that really got me interested to understand both who Corvayne is and how he got himself in this strange situation.
We then flash back to the start of his story. I appreciate that the author wanted to really get going on Corvayne's journey, which begins after his exile, but I would have liked a little more understanding of his history within his village to fully feel the effects of his leaving it all behind. However, I have a feeling that the author is going to flesh all of this out much more over time.
As a writer, Roof Monster strikes me as someone who doesn't leave many details unnoticed, so I feel confident in their slow-burn approach to build something really interesting. The paragraphs are long and detailed, which is quite evocative and helps bring Cascadia and the characters to life.
The world itself is intriguing, a mishmash of curious details and genres that I'm eager to learn more about, particularly how they all fit together. Corvayne and Wick are delightful characters that I'm enjoying getting to know better-- they work well together which is fun to read.
The LitRPG specific elements are lightly woven into the narrative, which I personally enjoy a great deal. They complement the story rather than own it, but I am excited to understand more about how and why the system works.
Overall, very entertaining and well done!