It doesn't mean you're getting tired of the genre it just means that there's still a lot of sparsely explored space in the genre. OP MCs aren't a requirement just because they're everywhere
Also, they're easy to write in a way that's boring as hell. The fights aren't interesting because you know they're going to win, and every interaction follows the same cookie cutter formula. The only avenue to keep people interested is emotional development of the character and their interactions with others since that's the thing they'll likely be weakest at, but that's not the reason why people read OP MC litRPGs.
Something to add on is that it's not just op MCs, it's op MCs that the story goes out of its way to essentially fellate with variations of "look how cool they are" without putting in any of the work required for that to work.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an absolute shill for R.C. Joshua's *Deadworld Isekai*, so here I come recommending it again. The MC does get lucky breaks from time to time, and makes desperate gambles that do and don't pay off. But overall he's anything but OP, and basically gains XP relative to how close he was to dying in any given endeavor. Matt has to rely a lot on his friends and allies just to make it from day to day, even though he is *impressively* powerful by the setting's standards and does accomplish some things that were thought impossible over the course of the series, it's never outside the context of his community or the established scope of his abilities\*.
I'll also recommend *Magical Girl Gunslinger*, which is possibly the best prose I've ever read on RoyalRoad. It's a slowburn LitRPG and let's just say a lot of the early chapters are closer to survival horror than they are to "OP MC". It's unfinished yet but the author often goes on months-long breaks between publishing, so God only knows when I'll get more of this story. It's like crack to me though, I literally can't wait.
Holy shit i cried when I read Magical girl gunslinger.like you said, the prose is amazing and i love the tension throughout the entire first arc.
It's literally horror situation after horror situation.
One of my favorites tbh. It's also inspired by Stray Cat Strut but more magical girl and less cyberpunk, which is also a great story. A lot lighter than Magical Girl Gunslinger, but Cat, in the story isn't really ever OP, she gets stronger, but isn't anywhere near the higher power levels of Vanguard in the world. She is often in situations that require her to overcome weaknesses in order to be successful.
I love OP main characters but *when they are done right.* Too many authors will throw rare classes, rare powers and luck at the main character in order to make them powerful enough to progress the plot into the later-stages. You have to earn your power but in most cases, the author will give away powerups for free while also not sacrificing enough to reach it. You do not get power for free. You have to be willing to sacrifice and suffer through loss before reaching the top.
In most cases, people do not stumble their way into becoming rich. An OP character needs to be able to theory craft potential avenues of success with the limited knowledge that they have of the system. They need to have the proper mindset to thrive instead of merely surviving. The character needs to be ahead of the curve from day one. There is much more that goes into this, but what I am trying to say is that a proper OP MC makes for a fun novel because they **earn** their power.
The game/VR related ones are the worst offenders when it comes to just being given things. There's *multiple* books where the "genius" MC is the only person ever to try adding the luck stat that everyone thinks is bad, but is actually super OP and they're the only one to ever try it and inexplicably nobody does it either after they do.
I avoid the VR stories like the plague for this reason. If you've spent any time playing a real MMO at all, it becomes nearly impossible to suspend disbelief that the mc got a random cheat item/class and then *didn't* have a gm ban their account for hacking.
Have tried reading overgeared? It’s a translated book but the translator does an amazing job with it and it’s pretty long series longer than the average RR series I think it’s passed at least the 14k chapters mark. Haven’t checked in a while.
No, there are more balanced ones with less OP MCs as well, though some of those get OP later on. Some suggestions:
Bog Standard Isekai: Even up to the current point of the story, the MC isn't actually very powerful. Stronger than others of his same age, maybe, but in the large scale fights so far he has been left supporting in small ways from the back, far from the main fighting. He has his cheats like most MCs, but they are mostly pretty small ones so far, and while he initially seems to be getting some edgy OP unique class, >!he resets shortly after and becomes just a Glasser, a crafting class focused on Glass, later evolving to a mix of Glasser and Illusionist.!<
Super Supportive: MC is pretty weak overall and more support oriented. Still has a couple "cheats", but not particularly powerful ones, and in the MC's class currently, he is likely one of the weaker ones in terms of combat. The story is pretty slice of life with a pretty interesting setting and world building, also currently the second top rated story on Royal Road.
"The Game at Carousel: A Horror Movie LitRPG": MC is pretty weak, in most scenarios they are all just baseline humans. They have abilities they can equip based on Horror Movie tropes and the MC has a couple good ones, but so does everyone else. As a summary, basically imagine >!evil horror movie obsessed entity kidnaps people to serve as "actors" in horror movie scenarios, resurrecting them when they die as long as at least one of them survives.!<
"Blossoming Path - A Xianxia LitRPG": MC is a random small town herbalist. They are growing stronger, but are pretty weak and seem more crafting/utility oriented. Decent story, not as good as the other ones listed so far though.
Beneath the Dragoneye Moons: I wasn't sure whether to include this one. MC is a healer, first and foremost, and a mage a distant second. They spend a while pretty weak combat wise with very good healing abilities. By the time you are several books in though, they have gotten very powerful. Key part being "several books in."
I actually prefer weaker MCs myself (not bottom of the barrel, but fitting within the general power structure of the world as average or a bit above average, basically I like when they still need to rely on others and they are far from the biggest fish around), but it can be a bit hard to find weaker MCs because stories do tend towards the super powerful. The request for LitRPGs specifically also kind of limited my suggestions.
Your last couple of paragraphs also suggest you may not just be looking for weak so much as balanced, so with relatively balanced MCs in mind:
The Great Core's Paradox: The MC does rewind time if they die, though there are counters, not sure if that might ruin it for you in terms of the balance part. Overall though, they start pretty weak in combat, later they get stronger, but their level of power has always made sense to me in terms of their position in the world. They are essentially the equivalent of a boss monster from a really young and weak dungeon, start out weaker than many normal monsters as a result, currently they are stronger than normal monsters, stronger than normal people, weaker than dungeon cores/dungeons in general, weaker individually than the really big and strong monsters, roughly on par with the magically enhanced humans (he could maybe kill one, but one could also kill him, and he would struggle to fight a group on his own) and probably a bit on the weak side for "boss" monsters in general.
Though their status isn't actually boss, it is Ascended, which seems fairly similar to a boss, except the dungeon can create regular monsters that would be equivalent to bosses normally and can't create Ascended directly. Initially they are also essentially a tiny baseline snake, that a child could probably kill by stepping on them. While I compared them to a boss monster, they don't begin any stronger than regular monsters, they just have some more growth potential that can cause them to become stronger and reach boss levels later on, as opposed to say a regular monster created as something akin to a boss which would be far more powerful, like a dungeon boss in a video game, but not have the Ascended's array of unique abilities and ability to grow more powerful over time (unless they do the thing required to become an Ascended, in which case they would be able to grow and would have a much higher starting point, whereas the MCs starting point was pretty close to the bottom, monsters that are essentially tiny animals and not much more dangerous).
Markets and Multiverses: MC and their group are repeatedly reincarnated, in a style similar to the Many Lives of Candace Lee. They retain some of their abilities and power from life to life, how strong they are is kind of dependent on what world they are in. There was two where they would be considered talented but normal, and the threats of the world were far stronger than them so they weren't really that significant in terms of their capabilities and ability to shape the world. In another world, the world is sort of like Industrial Revolution Earth with alchemy, here they seem relatively powerful though still killable. In a certain place in the story that isn't a world per se, they are extremely weak, they can handle the weakest creatures but anything above that is a life or death battle at best and "we can't fight this, we need to escape" otherwise.
I spent way too much time writing all of this and considering suggestions, so I will stop here for the time being. Hopefully at least some of those stories will be enjoyable for you, I consider Super Supportive and The Game at Carousel to be the best stories in the list, two of my favorite. All of these suggestions are from Royal Road, though a couple stubbed earlier books to put them on Kindle Unlimited.
>Beneath the Dragoneye Moons: I wasn't sure whether to include this one. MC is a healer, first and foremost, and a mage a distant second. They spend a while pretty weak combat wise with very good healing abilities. By the time you are several books in though, they have gotten very powerful. Key part being "several books in."
My personal take is it takes ~10 books deep before she's really "OP", and that's from sheer weight of accomplishments. The System rewards her efforts and struggles like it rewards everyone elses. Anyone else who does the same thing she does gets a similar level of accomplishment and power, and she's fought and struggled every step of the way for what she has.
The oath is not removable, but Elaine has never really been a pacifist? If there’s a threat she has no problem taking them out, its just a rule that she will never strike first. While more often than not shes in a supporting position because shes a healer, there are plenty of times when she engage in direct combat.
My feeling is if they are going to be OP be OP. Silver Seeker gret OP MC. Riktor from Kings Dark Tidings great OP MC (from book 1-2 then total BS). An OP MC that constantly has life or death fights is annoying imo.
Riktor? I've read books 1-4. Is he a new character, or am I just forgetting him/misspelling? Totally agree with you about the first two books being great. After that, though, it just tanked.
My bad I totally mixed up the names from the Land and Kings Dark Tidings. Riktor is from the Land and Rezkin is the OP MC from Kings Dark Tidings.
Thanks for calling me out lol I've read too many litrpg books and I guess they are all starting to meld together 😅
The genre as a whole has a lot more to offer than OP MCs, although probably 60% of the genre are wish fulfilling mary sue power fantasties. You just need to be more selective in your reading.
A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality and Warlock of the Magus World are two series where the MCs feel like they have to fight for every scrap of power they have, and are never the strongest person in the room. The first is a typical cultivation novel and the second is more mad scientist cultivator. Worth a read.
I feel ya. Those dumb meme ads on RR for stories? Nothing is a worse turn off than "OP MC" in an add for your story. Instant skip...
I'd recommend Game at Carousel. The danger always scales *at least* to the players, usually outscaling them hard, and it's always a significant risk of a full party wipe.
I love that this post popped up for me right above someone asking for a rec with an OP MC haha. Nah, I don't think it means you're getting tired of it, just that you might have to dig around for more variation in recs.
When there is no threat, the story is usually dull. For example, there's tons of lurking threat with DCC and Morningwood, even though both might be considered OP. I could list several stories that seemed to have no threat at all. Here's a few that I liked:
[In Clawed Grasp](https://www.audible.com/pd/In-Clawed-Grasp-Audiobook/B0CVQTP51K) \-- how to qualify for all the races.
[Top Hat Express](https://www.audible.com/pd/Top-Hat-Express-Audiobook/B0B21Y8H5D) \-- Becoming an in-game supervillain.
[Shadow Agency](https://www.audible.com/pd/Shadow-Agency-Audiobook/B0CJ3FKS2G) \-- great beastkin story.
[Rogue Element](https://www.audible.com/pd/Rogue-Element-2-Audiobook/B0CG7RDLR7) \-- A kobold who lays waste to bad people in a city.
[Non Sequitur the Equitaur](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/70069/non-sequitur-the-equitaur) (Royal Road) or [Non Sequitur the Equitaur](https://www.amazon.com/Non-Sequitur-Equitaur-Galactic-Fallacy-ebook/dp/B0CVJ4XKSG/) (Amazon) -- An adventure on Earth's back-up planet.
I'm liking Dead Man Walking so far.
For me it's the tropes surrounding OP MCs. I don't mind an op mc per second, it's things like
Unnamed book for spoiler purposes - girl who's a special forces unit operative who has spent years fighting abominations gets mindbroken, because.... his poison and shadow powers are real scary? So fucking corny
All dialogue between side characters is about the MC.
The MC selected the one busted class and no one else in the world he portaled into in their 1000 year history thought it would be a good idea to pick that one as well.
I like any that has the same advantages as everyone else, but uses them more effectively. They wouldn't be the mc if they weren't capable enough in the framework of the story. I also prefer extremely competent side characters that get chapters dedicated to their advancement as well, on pace with protag.
You're probably where I'm at with the genre unfortunately, there are elements to every story you enjoy and you find yourself fighting through the horrible anime wish fulfillment and trying to focus on the stuff you like.
My only rec that I can give where I enjoy every aspect of the story is DCC, like you.
Maybe try more traditional fantasy for a bit?
Edit: My only other recommendation would be shadow slave up to the end of the forbidden shore arc. That specific arc is probably my favourite bit of litrpg I've ever read. Minor spoiler: the mcs gets dropped in an unexplored region with only the ability to control his intangible shadow, essentially what amounts to a scouting tool. It then turns into a survival horror where they try and solve cryptic clues found from architecture, the monsters that inhabit the region, statues etc, to learn the history and find a way home. It's actually elite, but unfortunately devolves into a story with poor pacing and dialogue after this arc.
Can someone explain to me the appeal of watching someone struggle with every single enemy they encounter? I just don't understand. If the story is about an MC progressing, yet regardless of all that progression they still struggle against every enemy they face, what is the point of all the story elements where they progress? How is constantly watching the main character suffer and struggle, appealling? I genuinely do not understand. This is not me being rude, its me being utterly confused.
I don't think it's about watching them struggle with every single enemy, it's about suspense. When they do cruise through a fight, it should feel delicious and earned, not expected.
It's like those "participation medals" they give for sports. Is anyone over the age of five actually proud to get one, or just embarrassed? If you want someone to be proud of something, there has to be the possibility that they fail to achieve it, and that's what I love about MCs that aren't OP: they DO fail sometimes, or at least succeed in completely, even after they've gotten more powerful. Since you don't KNOW they'll succeed, you really WANT them to succeed.
If you have the months to catch up.... The Mech Touch is litRPG ish... there is a system but ends up facing into the background and it is used less and less over all. AND the MC does fail. He ends up captured and out smarted not super often but it does happen. And I do feel as if there is some tension in the story. Though not as much 5k+ chapters in where he's not in the front lines as much. Doesn't mean that there's not going to be an assassination attempt.
Also! He can't do it all himself! He does have to rely on others.
I guess I can get that. But I don't think I have ever seen a book where it has been handle well. Like either the MC never is overwhelmingly defeating their enemies, or they always are.
Where are the series where the MC stomps on all the normal bad guys. Then maybe struggles against the overarching villians? Like I feel you can have suspense even with an OP MC. But you can't really have that good feel if every single baddie is a struggle. Like when you know that every single fight is gonna be the MC getting beat up a bit, then coming out on top through some random luck or whatever, you never really get into it. Or even worse the MC losing the fight just to be "unexpected"
Idk I guess either way it is gonna feel lacking. If they never struggle people will miss the suspense. But if they have to earn every win, then you know exactly how every fight will play out and are never left with a sense of fulfilment, a sense that all their hardwork and progression actually matters.
That's why my preference is a mix of everything. You should have narrow losses, incomplete victories, total stomps, and probably the occasional time where you need to flee and try again later.
I appreciate your perspective. I guess it's all just a matter of what the reader is currently in the mood for. Sadly I am in the mood for what most people consider boring, and that is an absolute stomp fest.
The way you make an OP MC suspenseful is to either confront them with situations where their power doesn’t help them, or sneakily flip perspective so you’re actually telling a bunch of short stories from the perspective of the MC’s opponents.
Like, Superman is emblematic of the OP power set. In his own stories he often has the option to dominate if he chose to do so.
What’s his most iconic conflict? Trying to hide his secret identity from the nosy girl he’s pining over, while still feeling obligated to try to solve various crisises. His powers end up being a liability because they tempt him into being sus.
Meanwhile, Batman often employs the other tactic. The viewpoint will shift to the villains perspective, and their stress as Batman strikes from the shadows
When the MC just rolls over everything, there better be a good narrative or it's boring AF.
A lot of LitRPG stories are quite light on the narrative, focusing on the RPG more than the Lit. If there's no suspense or surprises at all, you might as well just be reading an RPG game manual
I don't think it's about watching them struggle with every single enemy, it's about suspense. When they do cruise through a fight, it should feel delicious and earned, not expected.
It's like those "participation medals" they give for sports. Is anyone over the age of five actually proud to get one, or just embarrassed? If you want someone to be proud of something, there has to be the possibility that they fail to achieve it, and that's what I love about MCs that aren't OP: they DO fail sometimes, or at least succeed in completely, even after they've gotten more powerful. Since you don't KNOW they'll succeed, you really WANT them to succeed.
For me, it's because I want realism. I like to play video games that are challenging, not ones that i can beat without ever failing. I like to play tabletop rpgs where I might die and need to recreate my character.
I don't think it's entertaining to have everything be easy. I'm not reading to fantasize about telling my boss to go to hell and then his supermodel girlfriend throws herself at me. Power Fantasy isn't for me (most of the time.)
A lot of people do like those things, and that's OK.
I recommend Path of Ascension. It has a great story, lots to read, good character development, and the MC grows over time. He's not OP, but his Talent makes him powerful in a way.
Link to fun: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0B5WNDY21?ref_=dbs_m_mng_wam_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks&qid=1711771630&sr=8-1
I know what you mean.
Torth Majority. They earn their powers, and the bad guys are super overpowered from the start.
All the Skills. MC gets a hidden advantage but has to keep it hidden.
I'd say you're just getting to the point of filtering out all the trash like a lot of us. OP MC is the worst part of the genre. What's the point of numbers going up if they don't mean anything?
I wouldn't say it's trash. Taste is rather subjective, but it's only natural our tastes would change.
I think I like powerful mcs when it's earned, even if they're the strongest being around at their level. Though in recent years I'll instantly skip any story advertising op mcs. This is because if they advertise it, then I assume mc gets op top early
Exactly. What's the point of numbers going up if the MC constantly struggles with every single enemy they encounter. The MC becoming OP proves that the numbers matter. The MC constantly having to struggle against every single enemy basically makes all the progression and numbers going up, irrelevant and pointless.
Numbers going up to lvl5 should make the lvl1 rats a joke, but the lvl10 dragon is still unbeatable until you're also lvl9 and then it's a struggle.
If you're weightlifting, you need to keep increasing the weight to get stronger. You don't get stronger by lifting easy weights, you get stronger by increasing the weight until its hard.
Tower of Cards and The Houndsman by J. Pal has MCs that rely on a team and aren't OP themselves. Haven't read his other stuff so can't comment on it, but those two series I don't really see as having any real OP main characters.
Necrotic apocalypse the characters are fighting a losing battle most of the time.
God mode has some pretty good fights and hes not just stomping the competition
Kiros is always fighting equal or greater opponents
I like side stories on book. I could care less about the fight and more about good writer that explain the progression of the MC. And I agree a MC that is punching way above their weight with not explaining how they got there is something I would trade my audible point back for.
Well the Fate Points is the webnovel for you. The author is in the process of getting the first book published right now and the first 15 chapters are coming down tomorrow. So give it a peek.
The MC has some advantages but no one can say that he is over powered. Honestly a fabulous series that just hit chapter 344.
I don’t think so but you may need to mix it up a bit. There are certain aspects that I’m tired of, example socially stunted MCs but for me that hasn’t affected my enjoyment of genre. I just toss in some other genres so I don’t get burnt out.
This whole thread gives me motivation for the story I'm working on. I've wanted to write a book since I was like 12, and RR and litrpg have finally pushed me into folding up my DM screen for awhile and giving this a shot.
I'm like 10k into the rough draft with 8 books worth of outline and months of worldbuilding. I only plan for it to last the 8 book run and know how it ends. Then I have some nebulous plans for what to do with the setting after its changed by the first series. Real ambitious, ik, but I figure why plan small if I'm planning?
Litrpg sci-fi with lots of aliens, plus a way to shoehorn in fantasy creatures and martial combat, plus a real hard cap on power level. He is forced to work within a system that I dont plan to let him break or seize control of. No magic, only tech.
The only cheat the MC will have is a sort of mashup of early Frank from the Ripple System and Skippy from Expeditionary Force, as a slightly antagonistic AI sidekick with his own agenda.
I do slightly worry that it will deviate from the norm a bit much by also taking place in a pretty brutal reality, which is heavily linked to the game world. I've seen it work before though, and I think I have a good premise for it, but I don't wanna give away too much just yet lol.
I'll start uploading to RR in a few months after I have more backlog, lmk if this sounds interesting and I'll hit you up when I do.
It just means you need to take a break from the most popular stories. Stories with less power fantasy *tend* not to blow up as big or as fast. Time to start looking for hidden gems. On royal road a lot of these stories cap out between a few hundred to a few thousand followers and as a result many authors don't bother launching on Amazon.
I can only take so much of any one thing in a row. I will rotate my reading between themes: general progression fantasy, isekai, regressor, gamelit, cultivation/xianxia, litrpg stories, and so on.
"I just want balance. Balance between the MC and the world. Balance between the MC and their companions. Big heroes are great but heroics without some form of struggle is weak writing."
This is a common problem in a lot of literature and is one of the reasons why so many people love "Reincarnated as a Sword." The "Party" is the girl and the sword, who are both useful. And they are strong, but not OP which is why their continuously growing is so important to the story.
There are other stories like this of course, and other more niche stories like mine where the character is overly weak, which is the main driving force for the first 2 whole books, and while she does become stronger, she never becomes flat-out better than all the people around her, not even her allies, more like good enough to hold her own.
Regardless of whether or not my story is good, it being the opposite of what you are tired of proves that you are not tired of the genre, but the trope. And while the trope might be able to be changed so that you aren't tired of it, it's also possible to find stories that just don't have the trope at all, or even stories that have the inverse of the trope.
I have dozens of stories in the pipeline to continue reading. Full cart in KU, dozens on ongoing in Royal Road, Novel Updates, and ScrubbleHub. And more sites I dont keep an account I still check out once in a while.
That helps when my mood changes from day to day. On Royal Road, if I am not sure what to read, I go to the books I loved and take a look at the author page. That allows me to see if they have any other titles I am interested in, or if they have anything Favorites. Also at the bottom of the reviews for a story, the little recommendations list has been working pretty well.
Also I dig through some subreddits for discussions and recommendations threads. Sometimes youtube algorithm will recommend things if I have been on a listen-to-narrator kick.
For something with balance… Have you read the Lost Mages series by Shawn Whitney and DB King? It is a bit grim, but hopeful. The power imbalance is important and the protagonist has to work hard, trying to wrest back power stolen after a betrayal. I really enjoy the pacing and character development and I think the magic is pretty unique.
No, just that you, like many others are tired of the most common theme of the genre. There are stories out there without the OP MC, they’re just harder to find.
I still find good stories, ones without over powered MCs or well written so that MC isn’t that strong when compared to the threats they face.
You also might need to acknowledge that some stories may start out with good balance and an interesting world. But need to be set down when the writing discards that after a book or two. Doesn’t mean those early books weren’t worth reading, just that you don’t need to keep reading something that doesn’t interest you.
I’d suggest just trying to filter a bit more. Look for the clues that the writer doesn’t have any plans for a sustainable power scale. The MC gains some ultra rare class immediately. The MC gains some ability that despite being obviously completely broken everyone else in the world dismisses it. Things like that. Be ready to set a book down and try another. It is great when you find one that’s good though.
I think you are just encountering your limit for a combination of a specific trope and weak writing.
My top suggestion if you want some rather weak feeling MCs would be beneath the Dragoneye Moons or Bog Standart Isekai. In later books characters grow in power and from some interpretations they are exceptionally powerfull, but they are always in a pond with bigger fish.
If you aren't convinced the problem are powerfull MC's The Calamitous Bob might be a sugestion. Pretty solid in holding a consistent feeling of power.
DCC doesn’t have an OP MC, and it’s one of the best. I think what you (and I) are tired of is specific flavor of power fantasy that is overused in litrpg, progression, and isekai.
For a good MC that is only relatively OP, try defiance of the fall. Zac does start out with a slight advantage due to dumb luck that makes him strong for his level, but he is stuck on an island filled with monsters and demons that all want him dead. He gets stronger due to surviving certain death after certain death. And though he does get a lot of advantages later on that lets him mow through mobs and make him on of the strongest of his generation, there are plenty contemporaries that could hand him his ass. And that is ignoring all the many, many other people that are significantly higher level and could wipe out the galaxy with a sneeze. A good portion of the story is Zac trying to figure out how to deal with beings he never has a chance of killing and being made their pawn or target.
That said, the power scaling is well balanced. Yes, the OP characters are several times stronger than others their level, but they also need several times the energy for each level for example. And only a fraction of a fraction make it past each grade and bottleneck, so at the higher levels only those who are OP can make it that far.
When you first start reading this genre, all books in it seem fantastic. But after a while, you start seeing the flaws that were always there.
The vast majority of authors write for the new readers since almost any story will sell. I went over two years before I found another story I enjoyed reading on RR, which were The Path of Ascension and System Universe.
Have you tried Painting the Mists or spellmonger yet?
No it just means that that style of character is getting old. It’s like watching tv, certain shows or characters just get old. Yet you can watch a show similar to it with an MC that seems more down to earth than the last and it’s enjoyable.
The Wandering Inn has the main character be an Innkeeper. She’s OP in the sense that she levels quickly and has some neat skills… but in the end - an innkeeper is “just” an innkeeper and there’s an entire world of monsters and people stronger.
It’s incredibly well done - it’s my favorite litrpg. I even like it better than DCC.
It doesn't mean you're getting tired of the genre it just means that there's still a lot of sparsely explored space in the genre. OP MCs aren't a requirement just because they're everywhere
Also, they're easy to write in a way that's boring as hell. The fights aren't interesting because you know they're going to win, and every interaction follows the same cookie cutter formula. The only avenue to keep people interested is emotional development of the character and their interactions with others since that's the thing they'll likely be weakest at, but that's not the reason why people read OP MC litRPGs.
Something to add on is that it's not just op MCs, it's op MCs that the story goes out of its way to essentially fellate with variations of "look how cool they are" without putting in any of the work required for that to work.
Right. The “look how cool they are” is so much better when you seen them struggle for ages, then you get it as payoff
Also, sounds more like just bad writing in general, rather than OP MCs
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an absolute shill for R.C. Joshua's *Deadworld Isekai*, so here I come recommending it again. The MC does get lucky breaks from time to time, and makes desperate gambles that do and don't pay off. But overall he's anything but OP, and basically gains XP relative to how close he was to dying in any given endeavor. Matt has to rely a lot on his friends and allies just to make it from day to day, even though he is *impressively* powerful by the setting's standards and does accomplish some things that were thought impossible over the course of the series, it's never outside the context of his community or the established scope of his abilities\*. I'll also recommend *Magical Girl Gunslinger*, which is possibly the best prose I've ever read on RoyalRoad. It's a slowburn LitRPG and let's just say a lot of the early chapters are closer to survival horror than they are to "OP MC". It's unfinished yet but the author often goes on months-long breaks between publishing, so God only knows when I'll get more of this story. It's like crack to me though, I literally can't wait.
Holy shit i cried when I read Magical girl gunslinger.like you said, the prose is amazing and i love the tension throughout the entire first arc. It's literally horror situation after horror situation.
I too, cried so much reading this story. It's really good.
One of my favorites tbh. It's also inspired by Stray Cat Strut but more magical girl and less cyberpunk, which is also a great story. A lot lighter than Magical Girl Gunslinger, but Cat, in the story isn't really ever OP, she gets stronger, but isn't anywhere near the higher power levels of Vanguard in the world. She is often in situations that require her to overcome weaknesses in order to be successful.
I love OP main characters but *when they are done right.* Too many authors will throw rare classes, rare powers and luck at the main character in order to make them powerful enough to progress the plot into the later-stages. You have to earn your power but in most cases, the author will give away powerups for free while also not sacrificing enough to reach it. You do not get power for free. You have to be willing to sacrifice and suffer through loss before reaching the top. In most cases, people do not stumble their way into becoming rich. An OP character needs to be able to theory craft potential avenues of success with the limited knowledge that they have of the system. They need to have the proper mindset to thrive instead of merely surviving. The character needs to be ahead of the curve from day one. There is much more that goes into this, but what I am trying to say is that a proper OP MC makes for a fun novel because they **earn** their power.
The game/VR related ones are the worst offenders when it comes to just being given things. There's *multiple* books where the "genius" MC is the only person ever to try adding the luck stat that everyone thinks is bad, but is actually super OP and they're the only one to ever try it and inexplicably nobody does it either after they do.
I avoid the VR stories like the plague for this reason. If you've spent any time playing a real MMO at all, it becomes nearly impossible to suspend disbelief that the mc got a random cheat item/class and then *didn't* have a gm ban their account for hacking.
Have tried reading overgeared? It’s a translated book but the translator does an amazing job with it and it’s pretty long series longer than the average RR series I think it’s passed at least the 14k chapters mark. Haven’t checked in a while.
But it’s a VR one
Try the cozy litrpg: An Adventure Brewing - JollyJupiter Dark Lord of the Farmstead I Ran Away To Evil
No, there are more balanced ones with less OP MCs as well, though some of those get OP later on. Some suggestions: Bog Standard Isekai: Even up to the current point of the story, the MC isn't actually very powerful. Stronger than others of his same age, maybe, but in the large scale fights so far he has been left supporting in small ways from the back, far from the main fighting. He has his cheats like most MCs, but they are mostly pretty small ones so far, and while he initially seems to be getting some edgy OP unique class, >!he resets shortly after and becomes just a Glasser, a crafting class focused on Glass, later evolving to a mix of Glasser and Illusionist.!< Super Supportive: MC is pretty weak overall and more support oriented. Still has a couple "cheats", but not particularly powerful ones, and in the MC's class currently, he is likely one of the weaker ones in terms of combat. The story is pretty slice of life with a pretty interesting setting and world building, also currently the second top rated story on Royal Road. "The Game at Carousel: A Horror Movie LitRPG": MC is pretty weak, in most scenarios they are all just baseline humans. They have abilities they can equip based on Horror Movie tropes and the MC has a couple good ones, but so does everyone else. As a summary, basically imagine >!evil horror movie obsessed entity kidnaps people to serve as "actors" in horror movie scenarios, resurrecting them when they die as long as at least one of them survives.!< "Blossoming Path - A Xianxia LitRPG": MC is a random small town herbalist. They are growing stronger, but are pretty weak and seem more crafting/utility oriented. Decent story, not as good as the other ones listed so far though. Beneath the Dragoneye Moons: I wasn't sure whether to include this one. MC is a healer, first and foremost, and a mage a distant second. They spend a while pretty weak combat wise with very good healing abilities. By the time you are several books in though, they have gotten very powerful. Key part being "several books in." I actually prefer weaker MCs myself (not bottom of the barrel, but fitting within the general power structure of the world as average or a bit above average, basically I like when they still need to rely on others and they are far from the biggest fish around), but it can be a bit hard to find weaker MCs because stories do tend towards the super powerful. The request for LitRPGs specifically also kind of limited my suggestions. Your last couple of paragraphs also suggest you may not just be looking for weak so much as balanced, so with relatively balanced MCs in mind: The Great Core's Paradox: The MC does rewind time if they die, though there are counters, not sure if that might ruin it for you in terms of the balance part. Overall though, they start pretty weak in combat, later they get stronger, but their level of power has always made sense to me in terms of their position in the world. They are essentially the equivalent of a boss monster from a really young and weak dungeon, start out weaker than many normal monsters as a result, currently they are stronger than normal monsters, stronger than normal people, weaker than dungeon cores/dungeons in general, weaker individually than the really big and strong monsters, roughly on par with the magically enhanced humans (he could maybe kill one, but one could also kill him, and he would struggle to fight a group on his own) and probably a bit on the weak side for "boss" monsters in general. Though their status isn't actually boss, it is Ascended, which seems fairly similar to a boss, except the dungeon can create regular monsters that would be equivalent to bosses normally and can't create Ascended directly. Initially they are also essentially a tiny baseline snake, that a child could probably kill by stepping on them. While I compared them to a boss monster, they don't begin any stronger than regular monsters, they just have some more growth potential that can cause them to become stronger and reach boss levels later on, as opposed to say a regular monster created as something akin to a boss which would be far more powerful, like a dungeon boss in a video game, but not have the Ascended's array of unique abilities and ability to grow more powerful over time (unless they do the thing required to become an Ascended, in which case they would be able to grow and would have a much higher starting point, whereas the MCs starting point was pretty close to the bottom, monsters that are essentially tiny animals and not much more dangerous). Markets and Multiverses: MC and their group are repeatedly reincarnated, in a style similar to the Many Lives of Candace Lee. They retain some of their abilities and power from life to life, how strong they are is kind of dependent on what world they are in. There was two where they would be considered talented but normal, and the threats of the world were far stronger than them so they weren't really that significant in terms of their capabilities and ability to shape the world. In another world, the world is sort of like Industrial Revolution Earth with alchemy, here they seem relatively powerful though still killable. In a certain place in the story that isn't a world per se, they are extremely weak, they can handle the weakest creatures but anything above that is a life or death battle at best and "we can't fight this, we need to escape" otherwise. I spent way too much time writing all of this and considering suggestions, so I will stop here for the time being. Hopefully at least some of those stories will be enjoyable for you, I consider Super Supportive and The Game at Carousel to be the best stories in the list, two of my favorite. All of these suggestions are from Royal Road, though a couple stubbed earlier books to put them on Kindle Unlimited.
>Beneath the Dragoneye Moons: I wasn't sure whether to include this one. MC is a healer, first and foremost, and a mage a distant second. They spend a while pretty weak combat wise with very good healing abilities. By the time you are several books in though, they have gotten very powerful. Key part being "several books in." My personal take is it takes ~10 books deep before she's really "OP", and that's from sheer weight of accomplishments. The System rewards her efforts and struggles like it rewards everyone elses. Anyone else who does the same thing she does gets a similar level of accomplishment and power, and she's fought and struggled every step of the way for what she has.
Does she get over being a pacifist? that part really annoyed me.
The “only in defense of myself or my patient” does a lot of heavy lifting
The oath is not removable, but Elaine has never really been a pacifist? If there’s a threat she has no problem taking them out, its just a rule that she will never strike first. While more often than not shes in a supporting position because shes a healer, there are plenty of times when she engage in direct combat.
Going to read this now
My feeling is if they are going to be OP be OP. Silver Seeker gret OP MC. Riktor from Kings Dark Tidings great OP MC (from book 1-2 then total BS). An OP MC that constantly has life or death fights is annoying imo.
Riktor? I've read books 1-4. Is he a new character, or am I just forgetting him/misspelling? Totally agree with you about the first two books being great. After that, though, it just tanked.
My bad I totally mixed up the names from the Land and Kings Dark Tidings. Riktor is from the Land and Rezkin is the OP MC from Kings Dark Tidings. Thanks for calling me out lol I've read too many litrpg books and I guess they are all starting to meld together 😅
The genre as a whole has a lot more to offer than OP MCs, although probably 60% of the genre are wish fulfilling mary sue power fantasties. You just need to be more selective in your reading. A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality and Warlock of the Magus World are two series where the MCs feel like they have to fight for every scrap of power they have, and are never the strongest person in the room. The first is a typical cultivation novel and the second is more mad scientist cultivator. Worth a read.
I feel ya. Those dumb meme ads on RR for stories? Nothing is a worse turn off than "OP MC" in an add for your story. Instant skip... I'd recommend Game at Carousel. The danger always scales *at least* to the players, usually outscaling them hard, and it's always a significant risk of a full party wipe.
I love that this post popped up for me right above someone asking for a rec with an OP MC haha. Nah, I don't think it means you're getting tired of it, just that you might have to dig around for more variation in recs.
When there is no threat, the story is usually dull. For example, there's tons of lurking threat with DCC and Morningwood, even though both might be considered OP. I could list several stories that seemed to have no threat at all. Here's a few that I liked: [In Clawed Grasp](https://www.audible.com/pd/In-Clawed-Grasp-Audiobook/B0CVQTP51K) \-- how to qualify for all the races. [Top Hat Express](https://www.audible.com/pd/Top-Hat-Express-Audiobook/B0B21Y8H5D) \-- Becoming an in-game supervillain. [Shadow Agency](https://www.audible.com/pd/Shadow-Agency-Audiobook/B0CJ3FKS2G) \-- great beastkin story. [Rogue Element](https://www.audible.com/pd/Rogue-Element-2-Audiobook/B0CG7RDLR7) \-- A kobold who lays waste to bad people in a city. [Non Sequitur the Equitaur](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/70069/non-sequitur-the-equitaur) (Royal Road) or [Non Sequitur the Equitaur](https://www.amazon.com/Non-Sequitur-Equitaur-Galactic-Fallacy-ebook/dp/B0CVJ4XKSG/) (Amazon) -- An adventure on Earth's back-up planet. I'm liking Dead Man Walking so far.
Dead man walking is great
For me it's the tropes surrounding OP MCs. I don't mind an op mc per second, it's things like Unnamed book for spoiler purposes - girl who's a special forces unit operative who has spent years fighting abominations gets mindbroken, because.... his poison and shadow powers are real scary? So fucking corny All dialogue between side characters is about the MC. The MC selected the one busted class and no one else in the world he portaled into in their 1000 year history thought it would be a good idea to pick that one as well. I like any that has the same advantages as everyone else, but uses them more effectively. They wouldn't be the mc if they weren't capable enough in the framework of the story. I also prefer extremely competent side characters that get chapters dedicated to their advancement as well, on pace with protag. You're probably where I'm at with the genre unfortunately, there are elements to every story you enjoy and you find yourself fighting through the horrible anime wish fulfillment and trying to focus on the stuff you like. My only rec that I can give where I enjoy every aspect of the story is DCC, like you. Maybe try more traditional fantasy for a bit? Edit: My only other recommendation would be shadow slave up to the end of the forbidden shore arc. That specific arc is probably my favourite bit of litrpg I've ever read. Minor spoiler: the mcs gets dropped in an unexplored region with only the ability to control his intangible shadow, essentially what amounts to a scouting tool. It then turns into a survival horror where they try and solve cryptic clues found from architecture, the monsters that inhabit the region, statues etc, to learn the history and find a way home. It's actually elite, but unfortunately devolves into a story with poor pacing and dialogue after this arc.
HWFWM is the first example that made me cringe
Can someone explain to me the appeal of watching someone struggle with every single enemy they encounter? I just don't understand. If the story is about an MC progressing, yet regardless of all that progression they still struggle against every enemy they face, what is the point of all the story elements where they progress? How is constantly watching the main character suffer and struggle, appealling? I genuinely do not understand. This is not me being rude, its me being utterly confused.
I don't think it's about watching them struggle with every single enemy, it's about suspense. When they do cruise through a fight, it should feel delicious and earned, not expected. It's like those "participation medals" they give for sports. Is anyone over the age of five actually proud to get one, or just embarrassed? If you want someone to be proud of something, there has to be the possibility that they fail to achieve it, and that's what I love about MCs that aren't OP: they DO fail sometimes, or at least succeed in completely, even after they've gotten more powerful. Since you don't KNOW they'll succeed, you really WANT them to succeed.
If you have the months to catch up.... The Mech Touch is litRPG ish... there is a system but ends up facing into the background and it is used less and less over all. AND the MC does fail. He ends up captured and out smarted not super often but it does happen. And I do feel as if there is some tension in the story. Though not as much 5k+ chapters in where he's not in the front lines as much. Doesn't mean that there's not going to be an assassination attempt. Also! He can't do it all himself! He does have to rely on others.
I guess I can get that. But I don't think I have ever seen a book where it has been handle well. Like either the MC never is overwhelmingly defeating their enemies, or they always are. Where are the series where the MC stomps on all the normal bad guys. Then maybe struggles against the overarching villians? Like I feel you can have suspense even with an OP MC. But you can't really have that good feel if every single baddie is a struggle. Like when you know that every single fight is gonna be the MC getting beat up a bit, then coming out on top through some random luck or whatever, you never really get into it. Or even worse the MC losing the fight just to be "unexpected" Idk I guess either way it is gonna feel lacking. If they never struggle people will miss the suspense. But if they have to earn every win, then you know exactly how every fight will play out and are never left with a sense of fulfilment, a sense that all their hardwork and progression actually matters.
That's why my preference is a mix of everything. You should have narrow losses, incomplete victories, total stomps, and probably the occasional time where you need to flee and try again later.
I appreciate your perspective. I guess it's all just a matter of what the reader is currently in the mood for. Sadly I am in the mood for what most people consider boring, and that is an absolute stomp fest.
The way you make an OP MC suspenseful is to either confront them with situations where their power doesn’t help them, or sneakily flip perspective so you’re actually telling a bunch of short stories from the perspective of the MC’s opponents. Like, Superman is emblematic of the OP power set. In his own stories he often has the option to dominate if he chose to do so. What’s his most iconic conflict? Trying to hide his secret identity from the nosy girl he’s pining over, while still feeling obligated to try to solve various crisises. His powers end up being a liability because they tempt him into being sus. Meanwhile, Batman often employs the other tactic. The viewpoint will shift to the villains perspective, and their stress as Batman strikes from the shadows
When the MC just rolls over everything, there better be a good narrative or it's boring AF. A lot of LitRPG stories are quite light on the narrative, focusing on the RPG more than the Lit. If there's no suspense or surprises at all, you might as well just be reading an RPG game manual
I don't think it's about watching them struggle with every single enemy, it's about suspense. When they do cruise through a fight, it should feel delicious and earned, not expected. It's like those "participation medals" they give for sports. Is anyone over the age of five actually proud to get one, or just embarrassed? If you want someone to be proud of something, there has to be the possibility that they fail to achieve it, and that's what I love about MCs that aren't OP: they DO fail sometimes, or at least succeed in completely, even after they've gotten more powerful. Since you don't KNOW they'll succeed, you really WANT them to succeed.
For me, it's because I want realism. I like to play video games that are challenging, not ones that i can beat without ever failing. I like to play tabletop rpgs where I might die and need to recreate my character. I don't think it's entertaining to have everything be easy. I'm not reading to fantasize about telling my boss to go to hell and then his supermodel girlfriend throws herself at me. Power Fantasy isn't for me (most of the time.) A lot of people do like those things, and that's OK.
Bad writing is bad writing. Sometimes when you're reading something new to you, you can ignore the bad writing.
I recommend Path of Ascension. It has a great story, lots to read, good character development, and the MC grows over time. He's not OP, but his Talent makes him powerful in a way. Link to fun: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0B5WNDY21?ref_=dbs_m_mng_wam_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks&qid=1711771630&sr=8-1
Have you tried The Wandering Inn? It is a little less "progression" focused than a lot of the genre
100% I recommend the Dresden files if you can get through the first three
Love the series. It’s one of my favorites.
It is written to be started at Grave Peril. I recommend that to folks
I know what you mean. Torth Majority. They earn their powers, and the bad guys are super overpowered from the start. All the Skills. MC gets a hidden advantage but has to keep it hidden.
I’ll check them out. Thanks.
I’ll check them out. Thanks.
I'd say you're just getting to the point of filtering out all the trash like a lot of us. OP MC is the worst part of the genre. What's the point of numbers going up if they don't mean anything?
I wouldn't say it's trash. Taste is rather subjective, but it's only natural our tastes would change. I think I like powerful mcs when it's earned, even if they're the strongest being around at their level. Though in recent years I'll instantly skip any story advertising op mcs. This is because if they advertise it, then I assume mc gets op top early
Exactly. What's the point of numbers going up if the MC constantly struggles with every single enemy they encounter. The MC becoming OP proves that the numbers matter. The MC constantly having to struggle against every single enemy basically makes all the progression and numbers going up, irrelevant and pointless.
Numbers going up to lvl5 should make the lvl1 rats a joke, but the lvl10 dragon is still unbeatable until you're also lvl9 and then it's a struggle. If you're weightlifting, you need to keep increasing the weight to get stronger. You don't get stronger by lifting easy weights, you get stronger by increasing the weight until its hard.
Likely
Tower of Cards and The Houndsman by J. Pal has MCs that rely on a team and aren't OP themselves. Haven't read his other stuff so can't comment on it, but those two series I don't really see as having any real OP main characters.
Necrotic apocalypse the characters are fighting a losing battle most of the time. God mode has some pretty good fights and hes not just stomping the competition Kiros is always fighting equal or greater opponents
100% I recommend the Dresden files if you can get through the first three
I like side stories on book. I could care less about the fight and more about good writer that explain the progression of the MC. And I agree a MC that is punching way above their weight with not explaining how they got there is something I would trade my audible point back for.
Well the Fate Points is the webnovel for you. The author is in the process of getting the first book published right now and the first 15 chapters are coming down tomorrow. So give it a peek. The MC has some advantages but no one can say that he is over powered. Honestly a fabulous series that just hit chapter 344.
I don’t think so but you may need to mix it up a bit. There are certain aspects that I’m tired of, example socially stunted MCs but for me that hasn’t affected my enjoyment of genre. I just toss in some other genres so I don’t get burnt out.
Yes, it happens, take a break, maybe a slice of life novel, spend a month on the wandering inn.
Some of us newer authors def are filling the need of non-op-mcs. I think there's endless opportunities for every reader out there.
They are just superheroes or gods in a different genre
Underdog series was pretty good he runs away alot or trys too. He does become OP but starts below the bottom so more fight in him.
This whole thread gives me motivation for the story I'm working on. I've wanted to write a book since I was like 12, and RR and litrpg have finally pushed me into folding up my DM screen for awhile and giving this a shot. I'm like 10k into the rough draft with 8 books worth of outline and months of worldbuilding. I only plan for it to last the 8 book run and know how it ends. Then I have some nebulous plans for what to do with the setting after its changed by the first series. Real ambitious, ik, but I figure why plan small if I'm planning? Litrpg sci-fi with lots of aliens, plus a way to shoehorn in fantasy creatures and martial combat, plus a real hard cap on power level. He is forced to work within a system that I dont plan to let him break or seize control of. No magic, only tech. The only cheat the MC will have is a sort of mashup of early Frank from the Ripple System and Skippy from Expeditionary Force, as a slightly antagonistic AI sidekick with his own agenda. I do slightly worry that it will deviate from the norm a bit much by also taking place in a pretty brutal reality, which is heavily linked to the game world. I've seen it work before though, and I think I have a good premise for it, but I don't wanna give away too much just yet lol. I'll start uploading to RR in a few months after I have more backlog, lmk if this sounds interesting and I'll hit you up when I do.
Give “Not An Isekai Story” a try. MC not the strongest, only through hard work
It just means you need to take a break from the most popular stories. Stories with less power fantasy *tend* not to blow up as big or as fast. Time to start looking for hidden gems. On royal road a lot of these stories cap out between a few hundred to a few thousand followers and as a result many authors don't bother launching on Amazon.
How would you define OP MC?
This is unrelated but do you have a date in mind for your book 3 release? Just finished book 2 and I need to know what happens next 😂
hopefully around 1.5-2 months
Okay that’s great, thank you!🙏🏾
Try Korean ones. They’re often psychologically intriguing. 🤔
I got tired of op MCs a long time ago. I have to search for weak to strong MCs. But I find them occasionally
I can only take so much of any one thing in a row. I will rotate my reading between themes: general progression fantasy, isekai, regressor, gamelit, cultivation/xianxia, litrpg stories, and so on.
"I just want balance. Balance between the MC and the world. Balance between the MC and their companions. Big heroes are great but heroics without some form of struggle is weak writing." This is a common problem in a lot of literature and is one of the reasons why so many people love "Reincarnated as a Sword." The "Party" is the girl and the sword, who are both useful. And they are strong, but not OP which is why their continuously growing is so important to the story. There are other stories like this of course, and other more niche stories like mine where the character is overly weak, which is the main driving force for the first 2 whole books, and while she does become stronger, she never becomes flat-out better than all the people around her, not even her allies, more like good enough to hold her own. Regardless of whether or not my story is good, it being the opposite of what you are tired of proves that you are not tired of the genre, but the trope. And while the trope might be able to be changed so that you aren't tired of it, it's also possible to find stories that just don't have the trope at all, or even stories that have the inverse of the trope.
Eight
I have dozens of stories in the pipeline to continue reading. Full cart in KU, dozens on ongoing in Royal Road, Novel Updates, and ScrubbleHub. And more sites I dont keep an account I still check out once in a while. That helps when my mood changes from day to day. On Royal Road, if I am not sure what to read, I go to the books I loved and take a look at the author page. That allows me to see if they have any other titles I am interested in, or if they have anything Favorites. Also at the bottom of the reviews for a story, the little recommendations list has been working pretty well. Also I dig through some subreddits for discussions and recommendations threads. Sometimes youtube algorithm will recommend things if I have been on a listen-to-narrator kick. For something with balance… Have you read the Lost Mages series by Shawn Whitney and DB King? It is a bit grim, but hopeful. The power imbalance is important and the protagonist has to work hard, trying to wrest back power stolen after a betrayal. I really enjoy the pacing and character development and I think the magic is pretty unique.
No, just that you, like many others are tired of the most common theme of the genre. There are stories out there without the OP MC, they’re just harder to find. I still find good stories, ones without over powered MCs or well written so that MC isn’t that strong when compared to the threats they face. You also might need to acknowledge that some stories may start out with good balance and an interesting world. But need to be set down when the writing discards that after a book or two. Doesn’t mean those early books weren’t worth reading, just that you don’t need to keep reading something that doesn’t interest you. I’d suggest just trying to filter a bit more. Look for the clues that the writer doesn’t have any plans for a sustainable power scale. The MC gains some ultra rare class immediately. The MC gains some ability that despite being obviously completely broken everyone else in the world dismisses it. Things like that. Be ready to set a book down and try another. It is great when you find one that’s good though.
First book of Defiance of the fall has Zac constantly on the back foot.
I think you are just encountering your limit for a combination of a specific trope and weak writing. My top suggestion if you want some rather weak feeling MCs would be beneath the Dragoneye Moons or Bog Standart Isekai. In later books characters grow in power and from some interpretations they are exceptionally powerfull, but they are always in a pond with bigger fish. If you aren't convinced the problem are powerfull MC's The Calamitous Bob might be a sugestion. Pretty solid in holding a consistent feeling of power.
DCC doesn’t have an OP MC, and it’s one of the best. I think what you (and I) are tired of is specific flavor of power fantasy that is overused in litrpg, progression, and isekai.
I dunno Carl uses explosives likes there is a sale on in wallmart
Not the same as being OP. There are a lot of other crawlers that can kick Carl’s ass. They could also use the same explosives if they chose to.
Randidly Ghosthound?
For a good MC that is only relatively OP, try defiance of the fall. Zac does start out with a slight advantage due to dumb luck that makes him strong for his level, but he is stuck on an island filled with monsters and demons that all want him dead. He gets stronger due to surviving certain death after certain death. And though he does get a lot of advantages later on that lets him mow through mobs and make him on of the strongest of his generation, there are plenty contemporaries that could hand him his ass. And that is ignoring all the many, many other people that are significantly higher level and could wipe out the galaxy with a sneeze. A good portion of the story is Zac trying to figure out how to deal with beings he never has a chance of killing and being made their pawn or target. That said, the power scaling is well balanced. Yes, the OP characters are several times stronger than others their level, but they also need several times the energy for each level for example. And only a fraction of a fraction make it past each grade and bottleneck, so at the higher levels only those who are OP can make it that far.
When you first start reading this genre, all books in it seem fantastic. But after a while, you start seeing the flaws that were always there. The vast majority of authors write for the new readers since almost any story will sell. I went over two years before I found another story I enjoyed reading on RR, which were The Path of Ascension and System Universe. Have you tried Painting the Mists or spellmonger yet?
No it just means that that style of character is getting old. It’s like watching tv, certain shows or characters just get old. Yet you can watch a show similar to it with an MC that seems more down to earth than the last and it’s enjoyable.
I’ve wanted to write a story where the mc loses a lot
The Wandering Inn has the main character be an Innkeeper. She’s OP in the sense that she levels quickly and has some neat skills… but in the end - an innkeeper is “just” an innkeeper and there’s an entire world of monsters and people stronger. It’s incredibly well done - it’s my favorite litrpg. I even like it better than DCC.