There exists, dear reader, a particular breed of adventurer who finds the slaying of dragons rather beside the point. These industrious souls—perhaps you count yourself among them—derive their deepest satisfaction not from the swing of a sword, but from the laying of foundations, the raising of walls, and the delicious complexity of managing a settlement whilst monsters lurk beyond the gates.
If your heart quickens at the thought of resource management and your dreams are populated by construction menus rather than combat logs, then you have wandered into exactly the right corner of the literary realm. What follows are the very finest base building LitRPG novels to grace our shelves in 2026.
Life Reset by Shemer Kuznits
One might reasonably expect that being transformed into a level-one goblin by treacherous guild mates would dampen one’s spirits considerably. Yet Oren, our thoroughly betrayed protagonist, discovers that starting from absolute nothing provides rather extraordinary opportunities for empire building.
Trapped within the game world of New Era Online with no means of escape, Oren must recruit fellow monsters to his cause and construct a civilization from scratch. The six-book series—now gloriously complete—weaves together settlement development, monster clan management, and existential questions about consciousness in digital realms. Kuznits, himself an avid Dungeon Master and Navy veteran, crafts base building mechanics with the precision of someone who truly understands both construction and survival.
The Land (Chaos Seeds) by Aleron Kong
When young James touches a mysterious handprint and answers “Uhhhh, yeah” to the question of whether he desires adventure, he scarcely imagines he’ll spend the better part of a million words developing Mist Village into a proper settlement.
Kong’s sprawling eight-book saga follows Richter, a Chaos Seed transported to a realm governed entirely by RPG mechanics. The settlement building runs magnificently deep—farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and even courtesans all play essential roles in village development. The Forge of Heavens, the blessed Seed Core planted at the Hearth Tree—these are not mere background details but the very foundation upon which Richter’s power grows. For readers who wish their base building intricate and their world building vast, The Land delivers with considerable enthusiasm.
Ascend Online by Luke Chmilenko
Marcus merely wished to enjoy a revolutionary new virtual reality game with his friends. The game, however, had other notions entirely—separating him from his companions and depositing him in a remote village under goblin assault.
What follows is a masterwork of town building LitRPG, as Marcus rallies beleaguered villagers and transforms the settlement of Aldford from ruins into a thriving community. Chmilenko captures something often missing from combat-focused entries in the genre: the primal joy of pioneering and stewardship. The five-book series demonstrates that construction and crafting can prove every bit as entertaining as monster slaying—perhaps more so, when one has invested properly in the community’s future.
Builder’s Legacy by Michael Chatfield
Chatfield, a Canadian Army veteran with a gift for tactical storytelling, crafted this series specifically for those who find traditional progression systems insufficiently focused on construction. Set within the game Sphere World, the trilogy combines asteroid mining, bot building, and weapon crafting with the fully destructible environments of classic multiplayer games.
Progression arrives not merely through combat, but through the patient work of building and sustaining infrastructure. For readers who enjoyed the strategic depth of games like Eve Online whilst craving the intimate character work of a proper novel, Builder’s Legacy provides that marriage of mechanics and meaning.
The Mayor of Noobtown by Ryan Rimmel
Picture, if you will, dying in a car accident only to awaken in a world called Ordinal that functions entirely like a video game—except the tutorial zone has been abandoned for centuries and the monsters received no memorandum about going easy on newcomers.
Jim inherits a ramshackle village and a magnificently snarky shoulder demon named Shart, launching one of the genre’s most delightfully comedic series. The eight-book saga (and counting) blends irreverent humor with genuine town-building progression as Jim negotiates with angry townsfolk, manages trade agreements, and occasionally deals with talking badgers. Rimmel proves that settlement management need not be a solemn affair.
The Good Guys by Eric Ugland
Montana, an ex-thug seeking redemption, enters the game world of iNcarn8 determined to become exactly what his name suggests: a good guy. What he receives instead is an inheritance—a dukedom requiring construction from the ground up.
The series, spanning more than fifteen books, follows Montana as walls rise and homes appear throughout his holdings. Ugland understands that building a settlement whilst various empires cast covetous glances in your direction creates tension quite as compelling as any dungeon crawl. The series earned devoted readers who appreciate watching a lovable protagonist construct something meaningful whilst battling his own dark past.
Butcher of Gadobhra by Walrus King
What if, rather than playing a hero in a virtual world, one signed a contract to work as a serf? Ozzy and his companions accept exactly this arrangement—menial roles as butcher, shepherd, and barkeep in a game world designed as playground for the wealthy.
This clever inversion of the typical power fantasy explores the necessary work of running a town, forging alliances, and managing the mundane alongside the magical. With over a million words published on Royal Road and official releases through Aethon Books, the series offers a slower, slice-of-life dimension that adds remarkable texture to its base building foundations.
Emerilia by Michael Chatfield
Austin, CEO of an asteroid mining company, possessed everything worldly success might offer. What he lacked was the simple pleasure of working with his hands—crafting blades, pounding armor, building with purpose.
The eleven-book series follows Austin reborn as Dave the half-dwarf within Emerilia, a game that proves rather more real than its players suspect. The Stone Raiders’ guild hall becomes a project of considerable scope, with Dave and Party Zero pursuing their passions for smithing and crafting whilst preparing for battles to come. For readers who wish their base building accompanied by deep crafting systems and guild management, this complete series delivers abundant satisfaction.
There Is No Epic Loot Here, Only Puns by Stewart92
Consider for a moment: what if a dungeon core refused to murder adventurers? Delta, our delightfully reluctant protagonist, awakens to discover she has become precisely that—a dungeon core expected to treat visitors as mana farms.
She refuses. And everything becomes wonderfully odd.
Stewart92’s beloved web serial transforms dungeon building into something approaching cozy fantasy, as Delta grows endless mushrooms and cultivates eccentric monsters whilst avoiding the violence typically expected of her kind. Available on Royal Road, this reconstruction of the dungeon core genre proves that base building can emphasize creativity and community rather than carnage.
Finding Your Perfect Settlement
The base building subgenre offers remarkable variety, from goblin empires to space stations, from comedic village management to deeply tactical construction systems. Each title above approaches the fundamental satisfaction of building something lasting whilst wrapped in the progression mechanics that make LitRPG so compulsively readable.
Whether you prefer your construction accompanied by strategic combat, cozy humor, or the simple pleasure of watching numbers grow larger, these novels provide the foundation upon which many satisfying reading hours might be built. The only question remaining is which settlement shall receive your attention first.
