LitRPG or Portal Fantasy? (help!)

[RayneStorm]

I'm working on a series set in a fictional world where portals to dungeons (ranging from levels 1-20) randomly spawn. Killing a monster in a dungeon grants a key of the level of the monster and in it the challenger can get weapons or materials etc and people grind these dungeons for keys. Keys are a part of everyday life with a level 1 knife for instance being a kitchen knife but a level 5 knife being given to a guard or soldier. Equipment can be leveled up with upgrade crystals (also found in keys) or by using it a lot. The entire society revolves in some way or form around these dungeons. Humans don't have magic and they can't be leveled up. The only magic in this world comes from stuff found in keys recovered from dungeons. So a magical sword can shoot fire but a human can't.

Now here's where my question comes in. The dungeons are accessed via portals so that would make it a portal fantasy but the dungeons are essentially games with monsters that respawn and grant items that have distinct levels can be upgraded so that would make it more litrpg. The dungeons are not located on the present earth but snap shots of a past world so portal fantasy? But then again, they're controlled by an AI that adapts to the challengers so litrpg? I'm not sure which category it fits into better. I'm going to do a rewrite so I'd like to figure out the fantasy sub-genre while I'm planning.

[I will be posting this question to Royal Road to get their opinions as well.]

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

I'm working on a series set in a fictional world where portals to dungeons (ranging from levels 1-20) randomly spawn. Killing a monster in a dungeon grants a key of the level of the monster and in it the challenger can get weapons or materials etc and people grind these dungeons for keys. Keys are a part of everyday life with a level 1 knife for instance being a kitchen knife but a level 5 knife being given to a guard or soldier. Equipment can be leveled up with upgrade crystals (also found in keys) or by using it a lot. The entire society revolves in some way or form around these dungeons. Humans don't have magic and they can't be leveled up. The only magic in this world comes from stuff found in keys recovered from dungeons. So a magical sword can shoot fire but a human can't.

Now here's where my question comes in. The dungeons are accessed via portals so that would make it a portal fantasy but the dungeons are essentially games with monsters that respawn and grant items that have distinct levels can be upgraded so that would make it more litrpg. The dungeons are not located on the present earth but snap shots of a past world so portal fantasy? But then again, they're controlled by an AI that adapts to the challengers so litrpg? I'm not sure which category it fits into better. I'm going to do a rewrite so I'd like to figure out the fantasy sub-genre while I'm planning.

[I will be posting this question to Royal Road to get their opinions as well.]

It's both.

 

[RayneStorm]

It's both.

The problem is that Amazon is a fickle company and they'll delete my entire account if it's deemed false advertising so I'm thinking about leaning to one side or the other just to avoid problems

 

[Temple]

if you're going to choose only one, then it's litrpg

 

[RayneStorm]

if you're going to choose only one, then it's litrpg

Okay. Thanks. But why did you pick that one? I need to know for future reference. I find it hard to differentiate between portal fantasy and litrpg

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Okay. Thanks. But why did you pick that one? I need to know for future reference. I find it hard to differentiate between portal fantasy and litrpg

Litrpg has boxes like this [Level: 1] [Race: Chad]. Portal fantasy is just going to other realms.

 

[RayneStorm]

Litrpg has boxes like this [Level: 1] [Race: Chad]. Portal fantasy is just going to other realms.

I do have set levels and upgrading rules so maybe it's more litrpg then