Isekai Solo Adventurer Who Gains Skills Through Sex — Looking for Feedback

[txplmadara696]

I’m working on an adult isekai/progression-fantasy idea and would love quick feedback.

A promiscuous young woman dies in a flood and wakes in the body of the supposedly talentless bastard daughter of a powerful noble house. The body can’t absorb mana normally, but consensual sex lets her draw in ambient mana and inherit racial traits plus one learned skill from her partner, so she becomes a solo adventurer who can gradually build an absurdly broad toolkit.

The world has Aura knights, mages, sapient “monster” races, noble politics, and a corrupt pantheon meddling through mortal institutions. I’m mostly wondering: does the sex-to-skill mechanic feel sustainable for a long serial, and what kind of overarching plot would fit better than a generic “kill the Demon God” story?

 

[Rob_Royale]

Is this a series? She builds these skills over time?

 

[txplmadara696]

Is this a series? She builds these skills over time?

Yep! Im thinking a fairly long story. Will still aim for plenty of sex but also gonna have plenty of plot

 

[ClintonBrooks]

I’m working on an adult isekai/progression-fantasy idea and would love quick feedback.

A promiscuous young woman dies in a flood and wakes in the body of the supposedly talentless bastard daughter of a powerful noble house. The body can’t absorb mana normally, but consensual sex lets her draw in ambient mana and inherit racial traits plus one learned skill from her partner, so she becomes a solo adventurer who can gradually build an absurdly broad toolkit.

The world has Aura knights, mages, sapient “monster” races, noble politics, and a corrupt pantheon meddling through mortal institutions. I’m mostly wondering: does the sex-to-skill mechanic feel sustainable for a long serial, and what kind of overarching plot would fit better than a generic “kill the Demon God” story?

My questions are:

1. How does she find out about her ability to draw in ambient mana through consensual sex?
2. Do the others around her know she blinked in from another world, or is her entry seamless?
3. Can you explain what you mean by Racial traits? What is the purpose?
4. I understand the "one learned skill". But does she decide what skill she absorbs, or is it random?
5. Do other people/beings/creatures also have her ability to absorb these things, or is she a one-off...and why?
6. Is there an eventual end? A goal?

I think, depending on your answers above, this could be sustainable. Each new person/being/creature could be a separate episode of a long series, but they would need a minimum of 5-7k words each for the readers to feel like it was worth their effort.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Yep! Im thinking a fairly long story. Will still aim for plenty of sex but also gonna have plenty of plot

Then I would have the necessary connection be less about the sex, and more emotional. These men fall in love with her, and it creates a mental bridge between them allowing her to absorb their experiences and skills. She's more of a con artist though and the connections are largely one sided. She gains a new set of skills in each chapter until the last, when she finally meets someone worthy of her and she falls in love as well.

 

[siddharth8888]

I’m working on an adult isekai/progression-fantasy idea and would love quick feedback.

A promiscuous young woman dies in a flood and wakes in the body of the supposedly talentless bastard daughter of a powerful noble house. The body can’t absorb mana normally, but consensual sex lets her draw in ambient mana and inherit racial traits plus one learned skill from her partner, so she becomes a solo adventurer who can gradually build an absurdly broad toolkit.

The world has Aura knights, mages, sapient “monster” races, noble politics, and a corrupt pantheon meddling through mortal institutions. I’m mostly wondering: does the sex-to-skill mechanic feel sustainable for a long serial, and what kind of overarching plot would fit better than a generic “kill the Demon God” story?

Pretty good idea

 

[AlinaX]

Perhaps better if she isn’t initially promiscuous.

I’ve flirted with the idea of sex-based level-ups, but it’s an awkward one. Maybe if you’re going the isekai route, you could give her an appraisal skill, so that whenever she meets someone she can tell what kind of magical skills she could gain by having various specific kinds of sex with them.

Thus having the same kind of sex with one particular person has rapidly diminishing returns. And maybe having sex is insufficient; maybe she needs to come… and maybe she can only come when acquiring a new skill, so she’s incredibly sexually frustrated a lot of the time.

ps. Maybe no one has the power to stand up to the Demon King and the only way to save the country is for her to seduce him and thus gain his power for herself - and when she does, they both realise they’ve finally found the one person who can satisfy them indefinitely.

 

[txplmadara696]

My questions are:

1. How does she find out about her ability to draw in ambient mana through consensual sex?
2. Do the others around her know she blinked in from another world, or is her entry seamless?
3. Can you explain what you mean by Racial traits? What is the purpose?
4. I understand the "one learned skill". But does she decide what skill she absorbs, or is it random?
5. Do other people/beings/creatures also have her ability to absorb these things, or is she a one-off...and why?
6. Is there an eventual end? A goal?

I think, depending on your answers above, this could be sustainable. Each new person/being/creature could be a separate episode of a long series, but they would need a minimum of 5-7k words each for the readers to feel like it was worth their effort.

1. it's random like she has a hookup and feels mana after but takes a few times to solidify the link in her mind.
2. no. she basically wakes up in a just now dead girl's body with no time gap. she deflects and behavior questions by saying her head hurts or soemthing. at least in early arcs. she may tell close friends later.
3. I mean like sex with a goblin gives maybe a light dexterity boost while an orc would give more strength and an elf may give more dex than a goblin or maybe intelligence.
4. it's random from any skill the partner has. and it is a copy skill, doesn't take it away from partner
5. no she is a one off. basically im thinking she is a demigod whose mom is a celestial being that was created with the dying powers of a primordial life goddess to correct the pantheon of gods who have been corrupted over time. so our MC has this power cause of that.
6. yeah I'm thinking of making it her growing stronger, learning to like the new world, finding new family (like her adventuring group), solving the bastard daughter's family history, then fixing the corrupt gods.

Thanks for the questions! helped me think some things through. I'm thinking this will be a longer series and it won't be necessarily one partner per chapter or something. I'm thinking something more overarching plot.

Then I would have the necessary connection be less about the sex, and more emotional. These men fall in love with her, and it creates a mental bridge between them allowing her to absorb their experiences and skills. She's more of a con artist though and the connections are largely one sided. She gains a new set of skills in each chapter until the last, when she finally meets someone worthy of her and she falls in love as well.

This is an interesting thought but i'm more thinking the sex is flavor and how she gets stronger so it's central but the plot itself isn't solved by sex nor is romance the goal. Maybe like AlinaX said it's about her needing to come to get the benefit. Thanks for the input!

Perhaps better if she isn’t initially promiscuous.

I’ve flirted with the idea of sex-based level-ups, but it’s an awkward one. Maybe if you’re going the isekai route, you could give her an appraisal skill, so that whenever she meets someone she can tell what kind of magical skills she could gain by having various specific kinds of sex with them.

Thus having the same kind of sex with one particular person has rapidly diminishing returns. And maybe having sex is insufficient; maybe she needs to come… and maybe she can only come when acquiring a new skill, so she’s incredibly sexually frustrated a lot of the time.

ps. Maybe no one has the power to stand up to the Demon King and the only way to save the country is for her to seduce him and thus gain his power for herself - and when she does, they both realise they’ve finally found the one person who can satisfy them indefinitely.

I'm curious with why you say not initially promiscuous? I've been thinking since i posted and i think this is part of my idea bastard daughter is basically powerless and weak and has a body that doesn't accept mana normally. bastard daughter never found this out because of her emotional trauma growing up as the bastard daughter and her step mom and older siblings were cruel so she never got to a spot where she felt comfotable enough in her body to feel like anyone could be into her. Whereas when our MC from earth takes over her body, the promiscuity, confidence, demeanor of the MC unlocks the potential of the bastard daughter's body. Thoughts? would you still recommend the not initially promiscuous?

and the diminishing returns is an amazing idea. helps also not overpower her. I'm thinking it works both on the individual partner and the race. So more sex with one individual means she gains exponentially less each time. Same with race. like if her first sex with an elf gave her +5 dex, maybe her 10th time with an elf gives nothing or like +0.1 dex. It's shaky and needs fleshing out but thanks for the idea! Also maybe gives a reason for her to have sex cause she wants to and not always a means to an end. and shows she likes a person more than the next random person. the need to come is a good one too. i think it makes sense that to accept this supernatural thing, her body and mind have to be at their most open and vulnerable

I'm not sure about the demon king. i want a demon king but maybe demons are just people and are just misunderstood and she helps bridge the gap but i'm not thinking of a singular romance. I prefer her to stay independent and untethered romantically.

Thanks for your perspective! Gave me some good ideas and things to think through.

 

[FromManyOne]

Can she sleep with the same person twice to copy two skills? Say she has an affair with the Guildmaster of the Thieves' Guild. Does the twentieth time they fuck mean she's now a master thief?

Who decides what a "skill" is? Is lockpicking a skill, or a more general "defeat locks" skill that includes shimming and safecracking? Is "fighting" one skill, or is "martial arts" one skill, or is "kicking" one skill, or is "back kick in the style of Shaolin Kung Fu" the skill, and you'd also have to learn spin kicks and flying kicks and so forth separately?

Sorry, rules lawyer.

 

[AlinaX]

Maybe if she has sex with a level 20 lockpicker, she becomes a level 1 lockpicker. Or if she’s level 14, say, she becomes a level 14 lockpicker. Although I quite like the idea she gains a single level each time, up to a maximum of his character level, in this case 20.

 

[AlinaX]

Whereas when our MC from earth takes over her body, the promiscuity, confidence, demeanor of the MC unlocks the potential of the bastard daughter's body. Thoughts? would you still recommend the not initially promiscuous?

It’s a question of character growth. Earth girl awakens in a body and life that aren’t hers, which is pretty traumatic by itself. Add onto that a disembodied voice that only she can hear telling her that it would be useful to have sex with complete strangers in this world that she barely understands.

So I guess you could go down the route of, “Well, I love sex, and now I get skills out of it, yay!”

Or you could go, “Wait, wtf, I’ve been reborn into a fucked-up world where the only way basically for me to get by is to have sex with strangers, most of whom aren’t even human?”

 

[TheArsonist]

I’m mostly wondering: does the sex-to-skill mechanic feel sustainable for a long serial, and what kind of overarching plot would fit better than a generic “kill the Demon God” story?

Is it sustainable? Well, maybe.

To me there are a few concerns.

First, how does the progression work? Stories like this tend to involve the MC becoming increasingly powerful, but the mechanic here seems designed to just give her an ever-increasing number of common skills at starting level. Is the progression in the skill completely separate from the sex? Is there some aspect of the mechanic that gives her better skills the more she uses it? (But how would that work if it's taken from her partner?) Can she also earn skills in other ways? Are we talking just magic skills, or any skills?

Second, unless the progression is carefully planned, I think it will be hard to make the sex-to-skill mechanic useful throughout the story. Early on it has to give her some useful skills to be worthwhile, but once she has a few useful skills, it becomes harder and harder to put her in situations that make additional skills necessary. (Especially if she has upgraded some skills while new ones start from scratch.) So you risk having the sex mechanic sidelined as the story progresses.

One way around this would be for one of the best skills she earns to itself revolve around sex. For example the ability for her spirit to leave her body and travel around incorporeally when she orgasms with a partner. Or you could even make it so that she can only access the system menu and level up etc. when having sex.

In general, I think you need to work out all the Litrpg system mechanics in more detail, not just the sex-to-skills bit. (Also, if she earns an absurd number of skills, I hope you're not going to do the Litrpg thing where you print her stat sheet every few pages.)

Third, I wonder what the isekai element adds. In most isekai stories where the MC takes on the identity of someone else, the challenge of maintaining that identity is an important source of tension. (You've left a gap in the story here: how does she go from dying and waking up in another person's body to having sex? That probably wouldn't be most people's first priority!) But here it sounds like she just discovers the sex power and then buggers off to be an adventurer, and at that point it doesn't really matter any more that she's in another person's body?

It seems like the sex power is the thing that makes her character interestingly unique in this world, so I would suggest keeping that and ditching the isekai element. She can just be the useless bastard daughter who finally discovers her unique gift – a slutty duckling. (This works well with the idea that she can't access her system menu except when having sex: she had never been able to properly gain a skill or level up until that point. As for why it's better if she's not promiscuous from the get-go, it's because it leaves more room for character development.)

What makes her want to be an adventurer, anyway? If her way of advancing is based on sex, isn't her best strategy to just be a ho – or courtesan, more politely? Story-wise, it seems a power better suited to social climbing (like Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair) or court intrigue – sleeping her way to the top – than to fighting monsters. For example, maybe her family sends her away to serve at court where she has to learn to survive, or maybe she is married off to some hapless husband who is facing ruin and she has to save their household by any means necessary.

If you want to keep monster-slaying adventuring in, I think a better idea would be that she doesn't deliberately go off to be a professional adventurer, but instead is pushed into having adventures. (For example, if her secret identity or special power is found out or threatened, maybe she has to run away. Maybe there are laws against fornication that drives her from town to town, etc.)

And that brings me to the final point: What is actually driving the story? What is the MC trying to achieve? If her focus is on progression – why? What's her motivation? (And if it's saving the world, what makes that her responsibility?) Will her motivations change over the course of the story?

 

[FromManyOne]

It occurs to me: if she (for a plausible game scenario) finds that she will need to fight in the deadly arena tournament, her rational response would be to get gangbanged by a barracks full of soldiers.

Then by a monastery full of martial artists.

If she needs to, say, time-travel and survive in a past society, she would need to be sent as a stripper to the dorm of the linguistics fraternity, then the history honors society (or local equivalent). Then to do that, she should probably seduce a couple of successful strippers so she can get the stripper job. Maybe she'd prepare for that by going to a lesbian hangout and holding out for a really good girl-girl seducer, to learn her skills ... and maybe seduce a clothing designer and a makeup artist, to make herself pretty for the girls, and ....

She'd become supernaturally good at sex and seduction just by using her super-power, since she'd be seducing all kinds of people constantly to learn their other skills, but presumably picking up sex skills, too.

Is it all the person's concepts of what a 'skill' is? Can she learn to, for example, walk like a strong, confident man? An actor would think of that as a skill, right?

 

[AlinaX]

Makes more sense for it to be well defined magical skills. Also, the higher-level the skill she needs to obtain is, the harder it is to find someone with the skill at that level, and more sex she needs to have to gain it. Thus the challenge more and more is to establish relationships wherein she can have sex many times.

 

[FromManyOne]

I can see a funny bit, where Delicia discovers (this being LitRPG, by reading her character sheet) that she has gained the skills, "Seduce Delicia" and "Influence Delicia's Decisions."