Stolen by the System [LitRPG, Completed]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

On the second-worst day of his life, Ted gets kidnapped from Earth, breaks his own arm, anddoesn’tget to cast magic. Worse, his father—unsatisfied with abandoning Ted fourteen years ago—has the gall to need rescuing.

Magic is everything here, and its secrets jealously guarded. To master it, Ted must throw himself at the mercy of others, or embrace the most dangerous profession of all: Spellcrafting.

His freshly ruined CompSci degree sets him up to master it, but this isn’t C++. Even the slightest mistake combining magical aspects invites Death, who with each visit exacts an ever-steeper price of power or soul.

Oh, and an eldritch power from before time itself intends to destroy the world, not that Ted minds. If this horrific world of levels and monsters deserved saving, it wouldn’t want him dead for being a Hero. But despite the inevitability of betrayal, he can’t complete his quest and make it home alone: he needs powerful allies.

What he gets is Cara, a hyperactive ranger able to bullseye a wolf in the dark from two hundred yards who can’t help but drag Ted into everyone else’s problems. Problems that threaten to bury Ted alive beneath Death’s bargain before he learns the truth:

Is his father an innocent victim, or a treacherous tyrant?

What to Expect:

- Fantasy with a dash of sci-fi

- Moral dilemmas and hard, brutal choices

- Tactical combat and system mastery over numbers going up

- A unique and flexible Spellcrafting system based on combining aspects

- Two flawed protagonists overcoming their struggles to fight for what they believe in

- Dual POV, focused on Ted's zero-to-Hero journey with smaller doses of Cara perspective

- Multiple plot threads and mysteries building to a thrilling conclusion in Volume 2

Update Schedule: Complete

Spellcoder, aka Volume 1, is available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited:Spellcoder - Stolen by the System (Book 1)

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: A. Griffin

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 301
Views: 35,089

Chapters(9 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(6)

HustonkaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Great story, well made plot and story. Great grammar and spelling. Nice 3D characters and a fun dynamic between the main character and the secondary female lead. Interesting system and relatively unique. Only complaint is the slow start but it picks up nicely. Hopefully the author will receive more attention and continue making this book! 10/10
KageroKurotakaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Stolen by the System is a refreshing take on the LitRPG and isekai genres, blending strong worldbuilding, tense survival moments and an undercurrent of mystery that keeps you hooked. It ditches the usual power fantasy cliches and instead focuses immersive storytelling that pulls you in from the start. Ted isn’t your typical overpowered hero. He’s analytical, resourceful, and flawed in a way that makes him feel real. His interactions with Cara and the elves add an extra layer of depth, showing cultural contrasts and making the world feel fully realized.
The pacing keeps things moving with each chapter bringing new challenges, unexpected twists, and solid character growth. The LitRPG mechanics are smoothly woven into the story, adding depth without ever feeling like a distraction. The writing is polished and the dialogue flows naturally. However there are a few early concepts that require a careful read, but they only add to the depth of the setting rather than bogging it down.
Overall, Stolen by the System is a smart, gripping story that balances character development, world-building, and survival elements in a way that makes it stand out.
If you enjoy progression stories that make you think, this one’s a must-read.
Style: Engaging writing, immersive descriptions, and strong pacing.
Characters: Believable, well developed characters.
Grammar: Clean polished writing with barely any errors.
Story: Well paced layered worldbuilding with compelling conflicts.
Also we love Nibbles~
Lord Turtle the firstRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
"Stolen by the System" is an engaging and well-structured LitRPG that follows Ted, your everyday guy who suddenly finds himself teleported to a new world governed by levels, stats, and magic. Faced with the brutal reality of life in this world, he has no choice but to adapt, grow stronger, and figure out how to survive—and maybe even find a way home.
The writing is clear and easy to follow, with no noticeable grammar mistakes. At times, the prose can feel a little methodical, almost like the story is being told by an AI or a highly analytical thinker, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
At its core, the story follows familiar isekai and LitRPG elements: transported to another world, learning the mechanics, numbers going up, facing new challenges, etc. It starts off at a slower pace, easing readers into the world-building and system mechanics.
Ted is a simple protagonist, neither overpowered nor immediately capable of handling his new reality. He approaches problems with logic rather than brute force.
The world is well-crafted, with an intriguing system t. While it sticks to common genre tropes, it does so in a way that’s enjoyable and immersive, making it easy for fans of isekai and LitRPG to dive right in.
"Stolen by the System" is a solid and enjoyable LitRPG with a structured approach to storytelling. It doesn’t break the mold, but it executes its premise well, making it a fun read for fans of the genre. If you like isekai, LitRPGs, and methodical character growth, this one is definitely worth a shot!
drechenauxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The story, to put it short and simple, doesn't leave anything left to be desired from a LitRPG fan.
We follow the adventures of a hero, whose father has abandoned him in the real world, only to be suddenly whisked away to another world where stats and magic are a real thing. Admittedly I've heard of this plot before, but there are many ways to make it work and I don't find anything in it to be overly repetitive. There's also a veil of mystery given the ultimate task given to our rather unwilling hero is to find his father.
He wakes up in a forest and is thankfully saved by a rather helpful or wary help, and quickly starts to get the hang of the magic system of the world.
The story is quite a page turner, I wanted to constantly know what was going on ahead.
Style: Leaves nothing to be desired, definitely good enough.
Story: Strongest aspect given the chapters give away just enough information to leave the reader wanting more.
Grammar: Couldn't find any major mistakes
Character: Up till now, the characters are a bit archetypal but that's fine as I can see them being developed later on.
visigothRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Almost skipped this one due to the middling character rating but honestly the characterization is one of the stories many strengths.
The magic system is pretty complex and interesting, it allows for alot of creativity in implimentation to the point that it has near limitless potential.
The one issue i do have though is that it can be a bit disorienting. Scenes are often times simplified to the point of incomprehansibility, so much so that i had to routinely reread action scenes in order to get a proper picture in my head of the order of events. The author does depend on the reader to make plenty of infereces for proper visualization which is a bit dissapointing since it saps the intensity from a specific scene due to the style its written in.
To be fair these complaints could just be due to my own incompetence but ive read plenty of discriptive and vivid combat scenes that take into account positioning to give a proper perspective on transitions that dont completely discombobulate me.
MonitorRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Interesting concept, decent exectution.
The book starts with the main character being kidnapped from our? At least similar to our world, and ending up in a Forest, where a System controls a lot of stuff - you cannot get better at something unless you have a skill, and there are limitations in that.
Anyways, it quickly becomes clear that something weird is going on.
The story is primarily abut discovering what this weird thing actually is and solving it. Of course, there are sidequests, which just happen to help solving the initial weirdness, or helping to make clear thay they dont know enough yet.
The story is definetly decent, if at times simplistic and repetetive. Which is kinda normal for LitRPGs, so thats not a true issue.
The style is decent, and fitting.
Grammar is good.
Characters are one of the big weaknesses here. I cant actually remember the name of the main character. He seems bland, absurdly competent at everything, and kinda passive. Its weird.
Another issue is that I dont really understand how the system works, it was not all that well explained at all.
But it is still an enjoyable read.
In summary, it has its troubles, but they can be ignored for the most part. It can develop into something fairly impressive, given time.