Shuffle of Fate [Deckbuilding Progression]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Jack is an archetypal son of Calamut—a city undergoing a technical and social revolution. Ambitious and intelligent, he embraces the progress the city has made and the wonders the future seems to hold. His own prospects rely on the quality of his first carding—the moment when otherworldly forces manifest in him abilities of profound power.

In a world routinely ravaged by apocalyptic upheaval, where change is treated as a threat, how will those who wish to buck inevitability respond?

What to expect?

I'm going to focus on characterization and world-building, as I think these facets are what make the story rich for the reader. The narrative starts off slow by LitRPG standards, this is intentional. Establishing stakes is what makes the later payoff more impactful. If you can't happily read through 30 pages without a fight scene, you won't have a great time in the early part of the story. But if you like a slower buildup, characters you start to care about, detailed world-building and then the culmination of all those elements into an intense narrative struggle, you're gonna have a good time.By my own estimation, the first 5ish chapters are a bit rough. I've improved a lot as a writer and intend to polish those up, but if you're feeling uncertainty be aware that it gets significantly smoother past that point.

Strength in the story will come through clever application of card effects, strategic acumen, and occasional use of overwhelming firepower. There won’t be anything like ‘cheat abilities’ or ridiculously overpowered cards on their own. Strong combo’s on the other hand…

You’ll have to read the story to learn about the specific mechanics of the system, but you should know that it is a veiled system! No stats, or even explicitly described card effects, or physical cards for that matter.

What does persist is the actual mechanics of card deckbuilders: drawing and discarding hands, drafting strong cards over weak ones, optimizing decks, etc. These mechanisms have profound and far-reaching implications for the society that developed around them.

Villains will be smart, threatening, and motivated; just like real life.

To address popular confusion: There is very little parkour past the early chapters. What? Would you have preferred his hobby was cooking?

Updates weekly on Tuesdays 9:15 a.m. PDT. Once I’m done accruing a backlog, this will become more often.

Average Chapter Length: ~2,500-3,000

Information

Status
Hiatus
Year
2023
Author
sixfootshuffle

Tags

ACTIONFANTASYADVENTUREMAGICGAMELITPSYCHOLOGICALHIGH FANTASYSTRATEGYPROGRESSION

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.6/ 5.0
Followers
316
Views
95,586

Chapters(47 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

  • vegizombieRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    A lot of the blurb is around card building, but I honestly feel like that glosses over the strong points of this series. TL;DR: World building and characterization.
    The style and grammar are really good, it reads like a published work (and not the junk you find in airport stores). I think only Peculiar Soul holds up to the same standard of the works I've tried on the site. It's a refreshing change of pace, even if I don't normally find this gets in my way too much.
    Characters are very well fleshed out, with actual thought behind them and how they live. They don't just exist for the main character to interact with, but are their own person and have their own character.
    Story is starting off slow but it has promise. I kind of wish you can skip this category on early reviews as it's one of the harder ones to get a feel for.
    The real place this shines though is the world building. The characters are a part of this, but they don't fully cover how fleshed out things feel. From how society might be organised around the magic system, to the small things in how the city might be organised, or what general utilities might be available for cleaners, cooks, and other oft ignored professions to use.
  • snennezRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    What a great start, set up an interesting world with a character that attempts to think for himself. I like how the story is framed and the events that have taken place so far seem natural and flow well rather than feel "designed." The main character seems not be a dundering idiot and also appears to have emapthy, which is rare ig. Other characters seem real, and not just an extension of the main character's objectives.
    Keep it up
  • Chris RobertsRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Book one was just finished and this felt like, with an edit pass, a publishable book.  The closest comparison I have would be foundryside, since the themes of progress in a fantasy world are very central.  The main character has a well developed personality.
    The world had a deep and interesting magic system that felt much more organic and real than you normally see on this site.  Deck building systems are rare, though becoming more common in this site, but this was clearly the best I've seen.  Most feel like a, in my opinion, weird game system plastered on top of a generic fantasy world.  This felt well fleshed out and real.
    Unlike many stories in this site I don't recall ever noticing weird grammatical errors.  In general the story felt tight except for one easily excised plot thread.  There was a clear plot arc from beginning to end.
    I highly recommend reading this book.
  • FrostivusRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Deckbuilding stories are hard to come by, but this one pulls out all the stops to make a living, breathing world! Each chapter, there's a little excerpt that slowly paints the world with new detail.
    It's not a standard-fare progression fantasy that most other stories on Royal Road usually are. Cards also aren't treated like a game, but are incorporated organically in meaningful and sensible ways. It's both an enigma and a foundation of their society. Don't expect numbers and stat screens. You'll see their powers, and will have to infer what they do. In fact, the only time a card ever appears fully tangible in this story so far is
    once, and the MC actually made it himself.
    Characters have quirks and personalities that jump out the screen. The main character himself is an intelligent and analytical person with an entertaining internal voice. Personally, there is a character in there that has an obvious romance with him which I find adorable. How often do you find that in RR?
    The story so far is simple and a bit of a slow burn, but it feels more like the author is trying to peel away at the world and its history first, as the main MC explores more of how it is. There's talk about faraway noble houses and dangerous frontier regions.
    The grammar is immaculate, and the prose is like the author has unlocked some higher realm of English mastery, because each sentence is a treat, and there is hardly ever a throwaway phrase that lands awkwardly. The only gripe to this is at times, everything gets too descriptive. For example, the dialogue does a really good job at layering the emotions and intent behind it, but then there is a follow-up that repeats all of it which I didn't really need.
    Will be keeping an eye on this!
  • RadicalTurnipRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    There are only about a dozen chapters when I write this review, but so far it's a great story. The MC isn't just handed every advantage (though he is handed a few), but is clever and seems persistent.
    The world feels like it has actually existed for a long time, and isn't just a new sandbox. The current state of the world logically follows the previous state of the world, and is informed by the "magic" system in place. There are enough hints that I am confident that there is a lot more to the world than what the MC knows, but he is trying to find out more.
    People other than the MC act like people, and are also clever, careful, and thoughtful. The world is the way it is not just because of the history and magic system, but because people are acting like people. In some ways (or some instances) they are charitable to each other, and in other ways they want to keep advantages to themselves or their clan. The other characters in the story so far are interesting and unique, and have depth that goes beyond stereotypes.
  • Rookie12Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This review is based on seven chapters plus the prologue that were available at the time.
    Before you, we have a story with a unique magic setting. Some people in this setting have the ability to wield magic cards that work on a limited basis (for example, once per day). Depending on your lifestyle, you may get different variations of these cards, and there is apparently a way to buy or obtain these magic cards that are then bound to their user.
    Story: The story is split into two parts. I am unsure if the MC in the prologue is the same as in the main story, so I will treat them as different. The prologue is filled with action and suspense, while the main story so far comes off as more of a slice-of-life story, where the MC is anxiously maneuvering toward his goal of obtaining the precious magical cards so he could be set off for life. And to have a thrill of adventure, of course.
    Style: The author mentioned that he is not a parkour person, but despite this, they managed to craft quite a story involving it that actually feels real and has dangerous stakes at the merest mistake.
    Worldbuilding: The extensive and small amounts of information posted at the start of every chapter allow us to better visualize the world around us. The lore is here, and the working political system and difference in quality of magic cards allow for the continuation of an interesting plot.
    Grammar. I am not a native English speaker, but so far I have not found any critical mistakes that would distract me from reading. The author takes their writing very seriously.
    Character: I liked the MC of the main story, the relatively low stakes allowed me to be engaged. The prologue feels more abrupt; we are thrown straight into action with no apparent follow-up. It does tie into the main story, but so far it has not really answered things. The side characters are plentiful, and the street slang that some of the characters are using feels like something that real people would say.
    All in all, if you are
  • WokesheepleRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    As of this review there is only one chapter out. I'm hooked already, there are already a ton of good worldbuilding on both the magic system, and the general society, all woven fluidly into the story. No need for an infodump, ita a super easy read and I'm curious about all kinds of things. I hope to see where this goes as the story is updated.
  • discussRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Prose seems a step above the usual more purely practical RR stuff, especially the first chapter. I'd like to see the writer do more of that writerly stretching, cuz I liked it.
    It's hard to opine on worldbuilding and characterization this early but I only see good signs so far: there are clear strong interesting base traits to easily build on. The worldbuilding in particular stands out already and it has barely began. But maybe I just have a soft spot for just-pre-industrial-ish type settings.
    Anyway, you should read it.
  • highblast21Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    You thought card plays are two people sitting opposite of each other showing cards and looking smug about it?
    Not this one boi! Very cool inserts of card play in an adventure genre. Awesome world building, and a very technical( sometimes a bit too nerdy) theory crafting but badass application!
    Highly recommended for those who like adventure and complicated stories with a bit of twists.
  • kanundraRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Opening.
    I know the prologue is just supposed to entice us into the world and give us something to really dig and feel. I question the character in here, is it past, future, or present, will or when will we get to know. Really does make us want to read on, and of course just ends there like most prologues do. But I did read on.
    Story.
    I really liked the opening passages, I think when they’re thought out as well as these are, they add dimensions to a story and world that sometimes just doesn’t come across quite as well in the story itself. They’re titbits of info that we then get used to and crave as insights to the family, story and world. This is nice and develops along with the story.
    Style.
    The authors’ got a story they want to tell and are doing it really well, the mystery about the system and how it all works, and why is of course what makes it interesting as much as the characters. They know how most of it works so they really wouldn’t sit and explain it to anyone. So it unfolds as it’s needed and is used. That’s one thing that can take a bit more time for the author to work in and for us to read enough to get where its going. Although I have questions, etc, I think they’re answered neatly and at the right times without the info dumping, and spoiling of the actual story, it would get in the way.
    Grammar.
    I never noticed much pointed out maybe one stray . in the midst. There are a few repeats, and filters used, which I think would totally be tightened up on a finished edit pass. As said get it out first, that’s more important, and the rest will really shine later. It’s not that far off at all, and I think because it really is, those last few details just stood out that little bit to me. It’s almost there  which is a rarity with some.
    Characters.
    Jack and his friends, they’re great, there’s this natural banter, and yet this serious side to life with and around them that’s addressed in really subtle ways, that fits. They’re very real people
    Closing.
    This really