Stumbling Up: A Loser's Guide to Progression by Reck Well

Celestial Twins Gemini w/CJ Astrea

A LitRPG tutorial with a 5% survival rate is brutal. We sit down with CJ to talk about The Celestial Twins, starting with the tower-clearing Weave system, then digging into why this story hits harder than a typical system apocalypse power trip. We get into why CJ chose twin main characters instead of a single overpowered lone wolf. He breaks down why sibling bonds and found family can create deeper stakes without losing the progression fantasy dopamine. We also talk character dynamics that feel lived-in. We close with a roadmap for where The Celestial Twins is headed, what Earth looks like after the tutorial, and a preview of CJ’s grimdark project The Gentle Blade. If you like LitRPG, GameLit, progression fantasy, and honest conversations about resilience, hit play, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/IOWPod] You can connect with me here: Website [https://iowpod.com/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@iowpod] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@IOWPodcast] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/iowpodcast] You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my website to get episode reminders, access to unedited episodes, a monthly list of upcoming titles and the chance at a free book from each author I interview.

Grand System Vending w/Ryan Maxwell

A single system message can turn the modern world into a death trap, and Ryan Maxwell doesn’t flinch from what that would actually look like. We talk through the core idea behind Grand System Vending: Earth gets a mana core after joining an intergalactic federation, monsters start spawning with zero warning, and vending machines become the new lifeline. Survival gear, food, and tools come from unmanned magical storefronts, and monster cores become the currency that forces everyone to engage with the LitRPG system or fall behind.  We explore how normal people react to sudden violence and why the unglamorous details matter. Bodies in the streets, resource scarcity, worn-out clothing, shelter, power failures, and the challenge of supporting hundreds to thousands of survivors turn worldbuilding into an everyday logistics problem, not just a combat loop.  We get into magic design with chakra-inspired systems, alignment constraints, and patrons that are “godlike” only because they’ve had millennia to level into absurd power. We also talk audiobooks, including working with narrator Steve Campbell and how a great performance can transform emotional scenes.  If you enjoy LitRPG, GameLit, post-apocalyptic fantasy, and grounded system-driven worldbuilding, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a LitRPG friend, and leave a review with the weirdest thing you’d try to buy from a survival vending machine. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/IOWPod] You can connect with me here: Website [https://iowpod.com/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@iowpod] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@IOWPodcast] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/iowpodcast] You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my website to get episode reminders, access to unedited episodes, a monthly list of upcoming titles and the chance at a free book from each author I interview.

Library System Reset and Somnia Online w/KT Hanna

A universal library is the only thing standing between reality and a hungry kind of chaos magic that creates worlds, then devours them to start over. Insert Library System Reset, a series where a human from Earth gets pulled into a failing cosmic system, finds the sabotage, and has to reopen the library branch by branch before the whole structure collapses. KT walks us through the craft choices that make the setting click: Lynx, the library system’s avatar, who shows up as a magic “cat” and then shifts into human form, plus the deliberate breadcrumbs she plants so reveals feel earned instead of random. We also get deep into the mechanics that power the story’s progression fantasy feel, from bookworms and night owls that literally turn magic into writing tools, to affinity design where “fire creation” and “fire extinguishing” are separate disciplines with strategic combinations. Then we zoom out to the rest of her catalog for anyone hunting a new series: Somnia Online for VRMMO nostalgia and raid culture, Last Chance for an urban fantasy LitRPG twist where the system resurrects you and owns you, and Darling for readers who want a twisted Peter Pan horror retelling from Wendy’s perspective. If you like system glitches, high-stakes worldbuilding, and stories that treat magic like infrastructure, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves LitRPG audiobooks, and leave a review with the wildest “system rule” you’ve ever seen in fiction. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/IOWPod] You can connect with me here: Website [https://iowpod.com/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@iowpod] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@IOWPodcast] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/iowpodcast] You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my website to get episode reminders, access to unedited episodes, a monthly list of upcoming titles and the chance at a free book from each author I interview.

Chrysalis and Book of the Dead w/RinoZ

Anthony wakes up as a giant ant and somehow that’s the start of one of the funniest monster-led LitRPGs around. We sit down with RinoZ to get specific about why Chrysalis works: the decision to keep Anthony fully monstrous, the joy of a globe-spanning dungeon that gets wilder the deeper you go, and the progression-fantasy promise that every evolution actually changes what the character can do. We also talk about the series’ comedic engine, from ant culture to the kind of puns you can only justify when your main character is literally named Anthony.  From there, we switch gears into Book of the Dead, a much darker LitRPG built around one clear idea: necromancy should feel earned. RinoZ breaks down a system where stats are revealed through ritual, not floating UI screens, and where raising the dead is messy, technical work with time costs and real limitations. If you’ve ever been pulled out of a story by “say one word and the skeleton army appears” style necromancy, you’ll appreciate the emphasis on preparation, magical weaving, and consequences, plus the bigger plot tension of an illegal class assigned on an awakening day.  If you enjoy LitRPG, isekai, progression fantasy, or craft talk from a working author, subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a fellow dungeon diver, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find the show. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/IOWPod] You can connect with me here: Website [https://iowpod.com/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@iowpod] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@IOWPodcast] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/iowpodcast] You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my website to get episode reminders, access to unedited episodes, a monthly list of upcoming titles and the chance at a free book from each author I interview.

Beers & Beards w/JollyJupiter

A brewer dies, wakes up as a dwarf, and finds out the most famous beer culture in the world is stuck drinking terrible “sacred” ale. He then decides to begin his quest to bring the dwarves better beer. The challenge ahead is that the dwarves that brew the "sacred" ale consider it sacrilege and will do whatever they can to stop him. We talk about what makes a cozy LitRPG work when your hero isn’t a fighter: crafting progression, brewing mechanics, and the tricky job of making stats feel meaningful on the page. JollyJupiter also shares why he leaned hard into classic dwarf mythos, including female dwarves with beards, clan culture, and found family vibes. To close, Jupiter teases Dropship Cultivation, his Royal Road serial that maps cultivation systems onto Lovecraft-style cosmic horror, featuring an eldritch Canadian along for the ride. If you like LitRPG, progression fantasy, cozy crafting stories, and fantasy brewing, you’ll feel right at home. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves dwarves, and leave a review. What’s the first drink you’d try in a dwarf brewery? Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/IOWPod] You can connect with me here: Website [https://iowpod.com/] Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@iowpod] Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@IOWPodcast] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/iowpodcast] You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my website to get episode reminders, access to unedited episodes, a monthly list of upcoming titles and the chance at a free book from each author I interview.