Welcome!

Hey everyone! It’s me, your favorite author! I’m very excited to introduce you to my very own blog, which I’ve affectionately dubbed, “From the Bean Bag of Aaron Oster.”

The incredibly original name came about as I do much of my writing on my amazing bean bag chair, as it provides the perfect combination of comfort and conforming to my body. The bean bag I’m currently sitting on is the Yogibo Short, so if you want to have your body hugged by the same bean bag as a famous author, then click here.

In this blog, I’ll be presenting a wide variety of various content. There’s no real rhyme or reason to anything I do, so these blog posts will mimic that and will vary based on my mood. Expect to find things like top five and top ten lists; movie reviews; video game reviews; thoughts on books I’m reading and many other, exciting things.

I can’t tell you to expect much, but I can tell you that you’ll receive a boatload of my sardonic wit and humor, as well as my unabashed and honest opinion on everything under the sun. I hope you enjoy!

Top 5 Overused LitRPG Tropes

We all know and love LitRPG books (If you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t be on this site or reading this post.) They provide the awesome and fantastical worlds of sci-fi and fantasy books, and they also throw in fun and exciting elements that really change up the genre. However, no genre of books is without its tropes and clichés. Join as us we count down the top 5 overused tropes in the LitRPG genre!

5. Hot Women Everywhere – It usually appears as though the protagonist can’t go for two minutes without running into some attractive woman. It seems as though normal, average women simply don’t exist in LitRPG books. Either that, or the ugly women are all being hidden away where their hideous visages can’t affront the eyes of the protagonist.

4. The Comic Relief/Expositor – In many LitRPG books, the protagonist wakes up in a mysterious world, with no idea of how they got there, or what the world is like. After coming to the shocking realization that they aren’t in a dream, they then run into a character that introduces the game world, talks about its rules and history, and generally provides exposition throughout the story. No real explanation is given for why every person needs an animal companion, human sidekick, or familiar. They’re just… there. These characters also usually function as comic relief. After all, what would mowing down an entire group of people (who probably all had lives, families, and motivations of their own) be like, without a wise-cracking quip to diminish the psychological trauma and abject horror of committing mass murder?

3. The Secret Item/Class/Power – In almost every LitRPG book, the protagonist starts off incredibly weak and fragile, with those around them capable of killing them with a flick of the finger. To counteract this, the protagonist always uncovers some item, or sub-class that has long since been lost to history and that no one (not even the all-powerful gods that actually rule the world) has heard of for centuries. How the protagonist stumbles into this power, no one knows, but if you’re reading a LitRPG book, expect to run into this a lot.

2. Harems – No. Just no. Please, for the love of God, stop putting harems in your books. They’re unrealistic, add nothing to the plot, and are just plain stupid. Please keep your fantasies limited to your subreddits.

1. The OP Main Character – Finally, we get to the most overdone, overused, and ever-present trope in all of LitRPG: overpowered main characters. This isn’t restricted to only LitRPG books, as it can be found everywhere, from comic books (think Superman) to manga and anime (do Goku and One Punch Man ring a bell?) There’s a reason why they’re so common. People don’t like to see the main character lose. However, OP characters can be incredibly frustrating at times. How can you ever grow as a person if you never lose? What’s the point of establishing characters or gods that you claim are unbeatable, if the MC just comes along and creams them? Sometimes, (read, every time) it’s good to establish a character that the MC simply can’t beat, as it’s a great time to teach humility, puts the MC’s thinking into perspective, and more accurately reflects the actual world in which we live. The MC can’t continue to grow as a character if they never lose, and losing a fight every now and then (you obviously don’t want to make your MC a wimp) can lead to great introspection and character development for your MC.

Book Update: Buryoku, Book 1 (Title TBA)

Book Update: Buryoku

Hey all! I just wanted to give you an update on my upcoming series, Buryoku! This story diverges a bit from the literary style of Rise to Omniscience, as it’s not a LitRPG, and it will be more of a cultivation series.

After working on the first book for nearly a month, I have finally completed the first draft, and have sent out the draft to some beta readers and will use that information to get ready for the final draft. Once that is done, the book will be sent out to the editor and then it will be sent out to you guys! I’m hoping to have the book released in September, to stay tuned!

I also have an amazing artist, Lukasz Poduch, who’s doing some character artwork, keep your eyes peeled for that as well! Lukasz also works for CD Projekt Red (makers of the incredible Witcher series, and the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077) and you can check out more of his work here.

Enjoy!

Monster Hunter World Review

Although Monster Hunter World originally came out in January 2018, I’m writing this review now because A. The Iceborne DLC is coming out in September, and B. This game more than any influenced my imagination for the creation of monsters. (There’s also the fact that I didn’t have a blog before this.) Anyway, if you haven’t yet played it, spoilers are too follow. Enjoy the review!

Version played: PS4 (Standard)

As you may have guessed, I am an avid gamer. Starting at the ripe old age of six when I received my first Gameboy and played Pokémon Yellow for this first time, I was immediately hooked. It wasn't until I was well into my teenage years that I finally began playing console games after I bought myself a PS4.

Of all the video games I've played over the years, there is one that stands out as the greatest: Monster Hunter World. I received the game as a gift from my brother right after it came out, and I have logged more individual hours in this game than any other.

For those of you who do not know what it is, Monster Hunter World is a game in which you hunt monsters and harvest their organs to strengthen yourself. No, not in a creepy witchcraftian ceremony where you sacrifice their hearts to the gods of blood, but in the slightly less creepy way of using their body parts to craft weapons and armor.
In case you're wondering, I believe that I had to kill around twenty of the same monster before I had enough parts to craft the weapon of my choice: the Insect Glaive, all the way to its final iteration in that specific tree. And yes, while it may seem cruel to continuously track down and murder monster after monster, all for the sake of a better weapon, don't think too hard about it. The weapons and armor are bad ass, and that's all that matters.
The game itself boasts an open world set in specific regions, each a different landscape, and each containing their own breeds of monsters. As you progress through the game, you will unlock new regions, and the challenges will obviously grow tougher. But, the harder the monster is to kill, the better the weapons and armor you'll be able to make from their corpses.

I believe that my single greatest inspiration for Rise to Omniscience, came from this game. The idea of having characters go around and kill high-level Beasts, using their cores to advance their own power just spoke to me, and creating ever more terrifying and bad ass looking Beasts is something that I enjoy immensely.

If you're a gamer and enjoy monster slaying as much as I do, then I can't recommend this game enough. Sure, in the beginning when you have to fight the Anjanath, or are forced to face Nergigante you'll want to throw your controller through the screen, (I almost did) but after you finally kill them (Nergigante took me about 15 tries the first time), the sense of accomplishment will be immense.
And don't worry, I paid Nergigante back by killing it a further 57 times over two separate games to craft the coolest looking armor. I also took immense pleasure in driving that wretched race closer to extinction for all the times I died facing it the first time.

In conclusion, just buy the freaking game. They're coming out with their first DLC this September, and I can hardly wait to kill a whole new breed of monster.