Magus ex Machina [Cyberpunk-Fantasy LitRPG] (250k+ words complete!)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

What does a wild robot do with the gift of magic? Go on an adventure! In the far future of techno-feudalism, the robot bartender Tapper serves a tiny junkyard village that saved him from the scrapheap. Trapped on an endless expanse of flat pavement by mutant raiders and corporate debt, both equally as dangerous, the villagers toil away for their meager survival until Tapper starts to glitch. A strange program tells him to [Level up!] and [Choose a class], forcing Tapper to work outside the constraints of his programming. Tapper starts to think, and ask questions. Important questions like, "Can I serve magic potions shaken or stirred?" and "How many experience points is a middle manager worth?" Questions that draw the attention of corporate overlords and reality-warping cults that want Tapper's magic for themselves, but they underestimate how far a good robot will go to protect his people. He's programmed with a million-and-one bar trivia factoids, and zero clue of what he's doing. Join Tapper and his friends for hope, adventure, and customer service in a cyberpunk dystopia! What to expect: - Slow but steady growth- Hope in cyberpunk capitalism- Mix of ADVENTURE and community building- Point of view from a robot and their teammates- Wide cast of characters, including LGBTQIA+ people- A mysterious system, based off my own homebrew TTRPG- Violent scenes are brief, sensitive content is mentioned but not shown Updates every other Thursday, with a bonus chapter posted for every three reviews my story gets! And this is my first fiction, so any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: KaJaHa

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 753
Views: 154,125

What readers say about Magus ex Machina [Cyberpunk-Fantasy LitRPG] (250k+ words complete!)

“Investing at 661 followers Looking forward to seeing you on the front page This review is being made after finishing Chapter 1 / Will update after further reading Novel litrpg spin with a cyberpunk *hopefully* optimistic rebirth renewal transcendence pitch…”
seekerofthedaoRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“The beginning is a little slow, but everything else has been great. Tapper is a fun take on robot sentience, without it quite being different personalities. The other characters are distinct, and the world is interesting with lots of interesting seed ideas…”
JazzyVibrantRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

seekerofthedaoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Investing at 661 followers
Looking forward to seeing you on the front page
This review is being made after finishing Chapter 1 / Will update after further reading
Novel litrpg spin with a cyberpunk *hopefully* optimistic rebirth renewal transcendence pitch
It speaks to me as a fan of nonduality between samsara and nirvana
JazzyVibrantRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The beginning is a little slow, but everything else has been great. Tapper is a fun take on robot sentience, without it quite being different personalities. The other characters are distinct, and the world is interesting with lots of interesting seed ideas sprinkled everywhere. I want to see more of the magic!
I just wish we had seen more of it by the end of Book 1, feels like the story has barely started. Especially since a cyberpunk story that isn't in the big city is a new take!
Style score: The bits of pseudo medieval fantasy talk that start leaking out for Adventure are cute
Grammar score: Mostly small things
Story score: The story spends a bit too long on establishing the people and the system, maybe just starting the story a little later would help. But once it gets going, I really like it!
Character score: Tapper is way too timid at first, but his enthusiastically naive attitude shift is fun. I'm still holding out judgement on whether Kakisi becomes a "sarcastic" pet or not. So far he's like a Pokemon. Phanya radiates big sister energy, and I hope that she learns to enjoy herself a little more. Ricky is... a teenager, I think? And either a nerd or a brat. Steffo is a big ol' bear.
KittyJinglesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A coming of sentience story for a dapper bartending bot. Life in a junkyard is gross and rough, but the people of Fabletown are trying their best not to be ground down by the corporations that exploit them. The broken robot is fixed to help them and learning about the town and the system through its slow rise to understanding is has been a fun adventure so far
LuckyCandy1776Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story has me gripped.
From the varied cast of humans, numen, and AIs to the bosses' lifestyles, the care put into the tale is evident. The viewpoint of the readers and the characters is steadily expanding as the story continues, to grant a broader view of the society in which our protagonists live their lives.
The very first chapter was a confounding scene of waking up in a futuristic society. Tapper's sapience advances slower than I had expected before I started the book. Our robot gradually becomes comfortable operating around and then outside of his maker's limiting programming.
While Tapper faces the challenges that show him how to be a person, the human characters gradually develop their own stories, becoming more than just Tapper's "proprietors."
So far the story has been told in a spiral - hometown, enemies, glimpse of larger foe, back to hometown.
The magic in this universe is rather oddball – and sometimes operates on video game logic. This is intentional, and the creative use of magic is essential to our Machine Mage's growth.
Tapper's changing understanding affects how deep the story goes into the supporting characters' mental and emotional states.
As for grammar errors, I rarely noticed any and those I did were not infuriating.
Overall: 5 ⭐
Style: 3.5⭐
Story: 5⭐
Grammar: 4⭐
Character: 4.5⭐
(Included because the site seems to be showing the wrong rating after I hit Submit)
Panel BirdRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Very fun story. I really like it's interpretation of robots, it portrays them on the spectrum from people to nonpeople, but always with their set of directives both binding them and serving as the basis of their identity. (Shout out to Tapper, my man just wants to be a bartender...)
As a bonus, the setting is both immediately understandable and vivid. Corporate dystopia scrapyard is pretty standard, but the people struggling in it are real and alive.
It's a fun read! Check it out if you like robot characters doing both introspection and cool deeds.
WS WildcardRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If you're looking for action on every page look elsewhere. Having said that this has an interesting mix of cyberpunk and dungeon delving. System mechanics and hi-tech. This is not something I would normally read myself but author seems to be keeping the pace going fairly well. The characters have thought out roles so far. I don't really have any complaints.
NanotrexsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The first few chapters were a little boring for me and almost made me drop the book but I'm glad I didn't. The mage in the machine is a interesting book and has a relatively unique take on a machine mc. I really enjoy all the company related programming that constantly pop up and I believe the interaction between the mc and his programming is just something that isn't done very well in most other books.
The system is also not too intrusive and exp gain is quite reasonable. Only issue I have with it is the dice checks that I do not understand.
OrangeShotgunRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
its honestly one of the better reads ive found on this site the main character is a bartending robot experiencing the world with the benefits of a system and budding emotion the story is well written and paced. i highly recommend it to anyone looking for a witty protagonist in a cyberpunk world
wundasRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I'm a fan of the genre and this is turning into a very good first effort by the author. I do find myself as confused as Trapper sometimes, but like Trapper I expect things to get clearer. Some grammar stuff but that is not something I worry about. Not of it enough to distract.
Give it a try.
DatateqRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
This was alright, but there were a lot of parts that was confusing due to the POV of the MC. I found the MC mannerisms to be pretty strange for a robot, especially the neurotic behavior regarding slime. The world building aspect was pretty decent, though I was really confused by the so-called dungeon and how the regular people interacted with it vs the MC. I found the epilogue to be the most confusing bit, who even were those guys? I get that seeing things from the perspective of the MC will be a bit off due to the premise, but sometimes it really made it hard to connect with the story. It isn’t bad, just not for me. Thanks for sharing your time and creativity.