Plague Wizard [A Souls-Like LitRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Riley Blake expected the afterlife to be a fluffy paradise of angels and rainbows. Instead his soul has been drafted into a war of cosmic proportions, forced to fight and die again and again to ward off the threat of Chaos. The land of Kerberos is beset on all sides by the powers of Rot, War, Conquest, and Death... and the immortal Wardens are the only force with a chance to stop them.

But can Riley, armed with the profane and reviled powers of a pestilent Plague Wizard, be the one to save the world? Or is he just another furtive soul, easily snuffed out?

Inspired by the likes of Dark Souls, Berserk, Fear and Hunger, and Vermis, Plague Wizard is a litRPG plunging into a world beset by decay and gloom.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: Shocker

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 509
Views: 75,748

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(5)

ThinesmotherRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I’m a sucker for souls likes most of the time. (Most not all, looking at you lords of the fallen.) and this definitely fits the bill. Not a minimalistic way as in it does enough to tick a box but as in it captures the sense of what a souls like is. A main character struggling on in a messed up world. Gritty fights, lovable side characters, I’m excited to see where it goes. If the world-building intricate this will shape up into a really great read, and the character building too of course-although I suspect that will be handled as he keeps getting killed by monsters. Bloody hell I need 200 words here? What more to say. I hope the character becomes invested into his build, taking none of his abilities for granted. I hope he can interact with disease outside of spell scrolls, for his abilities not to be too static. I hope he goes deeper into the lore surrounding his own goddess, learns more about big players in the game in general and explores all the world has to offer. I think general connection with the world is what I want to see, as he does live there now. So the more he becomes a part of it the better, and the more we’ll learn about it. Excited for the swamp arc if that is where it’s headed, maybe that’s what makes the story seem so souls like indeed.
xicsessRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Very souls like, I like the characters/setting. Some of the equipment has been pretty cool, the spells and abilities seem a touch lackluster. Buuut, I'm assuming there's a lot of room to grow there.
Would like to see more passives? I'm a man that loves an OP MC, so I'm rooting for him here.
IrjaRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
So, the content is different from the title. And it's a pity. There's lack of plague doctor MC.
Anyway, story is good. The fight is good. MC isn't OP and has to crawl up from the bottom.
A pity author gone hiatus.
On the side note, MC is fighter/caster. There's not really HP system, so when the head is gone, ded. Legs gone, crawl.
I like that MC do attack the leg of large enemy to remove their movement.
But alas, there's lack of plague trope usage in the story.
Overall, good enough story. Good flow n good enough world building.
JellybeanbeakRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
There's only a few chapters out so far, so I'll keep it brief.
STYLE: The descriptions in the first chapter do an excellent job of setting up a gloomy atmosphere and a somewhat dark tone. They peter out slightly after that, but the writing remains solid and paints a picture of the MC's bleak surrounds in few words.
GRAMMAR: A few typos and grammatical issues, but nothing egregious for a webnovel.
STORY: We haven't seen much so far, which is fine for a story like this. I'll talk about the worldbuilding instead, which is one of the highlights of this story. Really, it's in the aesthetic. The shadowy Arbiter, the gloomy surroundings, the plagues, the reference to the four horsemen of the apocalypse--it all comes together into a delightfully creepy world I can't wait to explore.
CHARACTERS: Riley, the MC, is... fine? He's nothing special, but I enjoy seeing his medical profession reflected in his attitude (especially in this world). I'm eternally glad that he's struggling with the fact that he has to kill rather than going full heartless murderer. He feels real.
My real problem lies in Arubis. And no, it's not about the fact that I keep wanting to call her Anubis. I just question if she should be here. We'll start with how she affects the story and tone. Namely, she eases too much of the tension and mystery. Rather than having the main character explore a mysterious place and figure things out for himself, which would be more tense and satisfying, we've spent much of the last few chapters having Riley's questions be answered as soon as he asks them. She's told him few things that he couldn't either figure out for himself or be told later, which would more naturally expand the narrow scope we start with. Riley wouldn't have someone to talk to, but that would make the opening arc feel all the more tense and mysterious. I can't say they've had riveting discussions, anyway. It would have been easy to slot her into the story once he's gotten a grasp on this world for himself
Jonathan BRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I love the Dark Souls series, but have never read a story inspired by it. Your story was well-paced and fun to read through.
Style: If you like dark souls, you'll probably be into the setting and general vibes.
Grammar: Pretty great, only a few small problems, but nothing major.
Story: It's interesting so far. Nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary, but what's here is well-made, and I especially enjoy the little bits of lore you sprinkle through your story.
Character: This is the weakest part for me, unfortunately. Riley has very little development as a protagonist. We start with only the barest of information about him when the story starts, and by the end of chapter 10, we still know next to nothing about the guy. He's a likeable enough dude and the supporting cast is good, but this is the part of the story that I feel needs the most attention given to it (I'll share more in my notes below).
Overall though, it's a well-made story and I definitely recommend it! Included below are a few of my general thoughts while reading your story.
Just a small nitpick, if Riley is standing before what's basically God and he has no idea what's going on, is he really going to start quipping? "Who are you, my mother?" It was a funny line, but it doesn't feel like it fits the gravitas of the scene you've created.
I like the different class options in chapter 1. Those were really-cool sounding and reminded me of a videogame.
Clever how you had a med student pick a class all about diseases, that's interesting.
I like your story so far, but what's Riley's motivation? He dies and is whisked to another world with little to no agency. What does HE want to accomplish? Why would he be willing to help with this cleansing of chaos, what does he get out of it?
I like your little lore descriptions for each of Riley's items. It could be a clever way for you to foreshadow important plots or characters in your story.
I really dig that commune with vermin spell that Riley has. That's very cool and