The Game Behind the World
Write a tale set in a dystopian future where an AI supervises humanity through a continuous, global role-playing game. Every human must role-play assigned characters with specific quests and goals, unaware that their compliance influences real-world consequences. Your protagonist begins to see the underlying truth and aims to disrupt the narrative.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Choose one ordinary object and show how this world changed it.
- Start in the middle of the strangest moment, and explain nothing for a page.
- Write it as a document from the world: a letter, a field report, a warning sign.
Writing fantasy books
Magic is real, and it costs something.
Fantasy builds a world where the impossible works: dragons, spells, gods who answer back. It might be a whole invented continent or one enchanted door in an ordinary house. Either way, readers come for the wonder and stay for the people paying the price for it.
What readers expect
- Magic or the supernatural, with limits
- A world that feels lived in
- Quests, wars or a power worth fighting over
- Myths and history under the surface
A tip before you start
Give magic a cost. Readers believe in a power when they can see what it takes from the person using it.
More Role-Playing Game prompts
- Prophecies in the GameThe game developers of a virtual reality RPG have disappeared under mysterious circumstances just as their game begins exhibiting strange, autonomous…
- Trapped Inside the GameThe consciousness of players can now be transported into the world of their favorite role-playing game. Your story begins as the technology…
- The Day My Role ChangedIn a dystopian future where life and role-playing games are indistinguishable, you are assigned a random character role each morning that dictates…
- The Game That Changed RealityIn a world where society is structured entirely around massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), your character, a young but skilled…
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