Giving MC power ups

[Agentt]

So, I am writing a monster tamer isekai, the MC currently has 1 monster. He just now entered a new area which has monsters strong enough that he can just barely, very narrowly win and survive.

Its time to get a another monster on the team.


However, I realised that, this, sounds a bit boring to me? Like, as soon as he struggles a bit, he gets a power up.

Even if I do make him fight this area with only one monster, I can't think of a situation where it feels appropriate to give him another member, since the difficulty level would really pummet down.


So, any tips?

 

[greyblob]

So, any tips?

start over with a non-linear progression for the plot.

 

[SailusGebel]

Make him grind for exp\power\other things in a previous\other area?

 

[Zirrboy]

Decrease the strength of the new monster?
I.e. it's a bit stronger than his first, but still relatively underpowered. Then he has to bring them up to speed himself.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Have them be more specialized?
Don't have them replace one another but have their strengths play off each other.
I suspect they get buffs from the MC so, have them affect the monsters differently?

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Make him suffer before getting a new monster. Like, have a monster eat his arm or something. Then have him defeat and kill the monster who ate his arm. MC will then take the monster's child and raise it as one of the other monsters. It's a piece of shit! However, it slowly grows to become the most powerful creature on his team. Then it eats his other arm and morphs into his perfect waifu.

 

[T.K._Paradox]

Make him suffer before getting a new monster. Like, have a monster eat his arm or something. Then have him defeat and kill the monster who ate his arm. MC will then take the monster's child and raise it as one of the other monsters. It's a piece of shit! However, it slowly grows to become the most powerful creature on his team. Then it eats his other arm and morphs into his perfect waifu.

That sounds like a perfect idea for abridging Arifureta.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

That sounds like a perfect idea for abridging Arifureta.

Oh shit, you're right!

 

[T.K._Paradox]

Oh shit, you're right!

The promotional tag would be, "No arms, all of the bitches."

 

[Zirrboy]

The promotional tag would be, "No arms, all of the bitches."

"Finger chewing good"

 

[Cipiteca396]

Limit the ability to tame new monsters. Maybe he can only have 1 until he hits a certain level, maybe he needs to prove himself worthy to a prospective tame and the monsters in this area only see him as vermin.

He needs to be as strong as them to tame one, so the difficulty would already have neutralized by the time he tames the new one. No need for an anticlimax. Just the culmination of all his effort.

Lastly, if the monsters in this area don't have a unique talent or trait that makes them worth taming, he may as well just leave the area and go somewhere more interesting. If they do have something unique about them, it adds a nice motivation to tame them, though.

 

[ParagonLord]

bring stronger monsters

 

[gogo7966]

bring stronger monsters

power creep solves all problems

 

[LunaSoltaer]

Here's an idea - Intelligent monsters.

One example of how wild monsters can be mean - You have your monster team of 2 or whatever, and you challenge a band of three monsters. Your monsters are good, but the battle is wicked, and your monsters ended up having to kill 2 of the opposition, and are themselves in critical danger. The third enemy monster, realizing that it's in bad shape itself, offers to submit to you if you let it.

Yay!

Wait, what's that? More monsters? Oh Shit, another monster or 2 lay in wait for an opportune moment, and now it's 2 full strength monsters versus your team of three all in critical condition. You gonna run? Or you gonna sacrifice all three of your monsters to capture the one new one, making it a net nerf? (because you're not capturing 2 at once forget it)

I also like the idea of specialized monsters, and monsters being more vasried. To make a pokemon reference thing, imagine starter monsters being 1-type, and you get a bunch of monotype monsters. Cool. Then you start running to dual types, specifically dual types with resistances covering common weaknesses. Yikes. And THEN, you get dual-type monsters using moves belonging to a third type entirely! The progression then becomes one of adapting to not only stronger, but more varied and more desperate monsters.

 

[SakeVision]

make him lose and pay with his body. literally. describe his terror as his left arm is fed to a monster he failed to tame.
then give him character development arc, getting artificial arm, making better preparations, finally taming the monster that once gored him.

Make him suffer before getting a new monster. Like, have a monster eat his arm or something. Then have him defeat and kill the monster who ate his arm. MC will then take the monster's child and raise it as one of the other monsters. It's a piece of shit! However, it slowly grows to become the most powerful creature on his team. Then it eats his other arm and morphs into his perfect waifu.

damn we had a similar idea

 

[BearlyAlive]

Make him fail a few times, get him something that's weaker/as weak as his current mon, let him use his (likely small since he's a Mc) brain and use terain/weather/whatever to gain the advantage. In short make the reader feel like Mc earned that power. And let his "starter" play an active role, rinse and repeat with every new mon and you suddenly have hundreds of episodes and still no league win under your belt, all while eternally being stuck in the body of a ten year old.

Wait, wrong series, my bad.