Best Fantasy Writing Prompts from Reddit

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Hey there, fantasy lovers and budding writers! Ready to dive into a world of magic, adventure, and endless possibilities? We've rounded up some of the coolest fantasy writing prompts from r/WritingPrompts, perfect for getting those creative juices flowing. Whether you're looking for a fantasy story idea or just want to daydream about magical realms, we've got you covered.

We've split these prompts into different categories, so you can find exactly what tickles your fancy. Let's take a quick tour, shall we?

Wizards and Witches

From hilarious magical mix-ups to dark, mysterious curses, these prompts explore all the ups and downs of being a spellcaster.

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Our Picks

Angry at the thief, the witch cast a spell upon him. “The moment your eyes meet with your soulmate, you shall die.” The thief immediately has a heart attack afterwards. “Damn it.”
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The men in your family die the moment they turn 18, due to a curse cast on one of your ancestors by a witch. You turned 18 a week ago and are still living, and as a result a descendant of the witch has arrived to figure out why you didn't die.
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You are known as the Prison Necromancer, feared by inmates all over the world. Contrary to rumours, you are just a healer. Your job? Keep those punished with multiple life sentences alive and 'sane' for their entire sentence.
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You, a wizard, have accidentally misread some cursive writing and summoned a lemon instead of the intended demon. Turns out, your new companion is a lot more powerful than you thought.
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Two magicians made a blood oath when they were children that they would never harm each other. Now they are mortal enemies and have resorted to inconveniencing and annoying each other, knowing if they harm one another they'll die.
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You are the dangerous Chaos Mage. Everyone fears you. You are actually just dyslexic and keep reading you spellbook wrong.
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You're the wizard's apprentice, and of course the first few years involve running errands and doing other tasks. He hands you a daily schedule, but to your confusion the total hours for the different tasks add up to more than 24. "Figure it out" He says, "I chose you for a reason."
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A powerful necromancer is trying to raise the dead. However, despite trying different vessels and rituals, he has only raised you. Over. And over. And over. You're both starting to get sick of each other.
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It was then Harry Potter realized the last 7 years in Hogwarts was actually a mental institute. The man he thought to be Dumbledore was just an elderly caretaker. Harry, looking at an old broken twig he once believed was a wand, started to remember what really happened during those years.
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You are a medieval villager who has been cursed by a witch. She curses you to be live until you are the last human alive. After a 1000 years you try to start the apocalypse.
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Magical Objects and Artifacts

You know, those cool, mysterious items that always seem to cause trouble (or save the day) in fantasy stories. From age-revealing abilities to reality-bending daggers, these prompts are all about the stuff of legends.

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Our Picks

You die in a hospital bed after a long, rich, fulfilling life, surrounded by your family, grandchildren and loved ones. You get startled back into consciousness, back in Berlin, on that weird night when you were 26. "Like I said", the stranger says, pocketing your money. "Save point."
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Long ago the legendary sword Excalibur was melted down and lost to history. The mythical blade's steel ended up in your butter knife, with all its magical properties intact.
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Your cranky history teacher has recently been revealed as immortal. The reason they are angry is because they have to teach according to the texts when they know what really happened. One class he has had enough and begins to answer people's questions about what truly happened in history.
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A crazy old man gives you his pen, promising that you'll ace your physics test if you use it. You take the test and wake up the next morning to find that the laws of physics have changed to fit your answers.
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Ever since you were born, you had the ability to see a marker on where any item is if people ask you to find it. However, once a friend jokingly asks you if you could find him the holy grail. You both laugh it off, but suddenly a mark appears 5 miles to the north of you.
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The heroes confront you with the legendary mystical weapon that can defeat you. Unbeknownst to them, it's actually the one thing you needed to conquer the world. You were having trouble finding it, so you started the legend of the weapon yourself, to get some poor schmuck to find it for you.
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You've had bad luck your whole life. One day, you see a free item in the window of a curio shop-a bad luck charm. You think, "What the hell? My luck can't get any worse!" And take it. You're right. Life hasn't programmed luck scores to go into negative. Your luck score rolls back from 0 to 9999.
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One day, while your bored and home alone, you start looking up and pressing pressure points on your body. After you hit one behind your ear, a strange board appears in front of you. You’ve just opened the Character Menu. And there’s a lot of settings you didn’t know about...
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Death has hourglasses for every person. One day, during a cleaning, he found a dust covered one that had rolled under his desk.
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In the year 1105 BC you helped a man escape an imprisonment. Before you parted ways he says to make a blood oath. You didn’t think much of it but you also cut your hand and shake. He says that you’ll live as long as he does. Well, now it’s the year 2020 and you’ve been searching for this man.
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Magical Creatures

Of course, what's fantasy without some Magical Creatures? Dragons, immortals, and everything in between - this section's got 'em all. And let me tell you, some of these creature encounters are not what you'd expect!

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Our Picks

You are a dragon. After moving to your new forest, the local village decides to sacrifice two children to you to ensure you won't attack them. You decide to raise them--and they say you're much nicer than the village.
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You're the god of dinosaurs, and you've just woken up from a 65 million year nap to find out the puny god of mammals has been busy while you weren't looking.
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You realize that loose change around your house has a tendency to disappear. You start to look around for it, and find a small mountain of pennies, quarters, and dimes, with a rabbit-sized dragon sleeping on top of it.
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A creature that eats emotions met you, and was horrified when it tasted your chronic depression. Today marks its 24th attempt to cure you with seasoning.
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"Checkmate," you say, a smug expression on your face. "Finally," says Death. The smirk is wiped off your face as the Grim Reaper removes his robe and hands you his scythe, "It's been 400 years since I beat the last guy."
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You grew up in a religious family. Due to a minor speech impediment, you inadvertently prayed to the long forgotten deity "Veebuse" for most of your adolescence. Now in college, you have stopped praying every night. Worried, Veebuse comes to check on his only worshiper.
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You're a powerful dragon that lived next to a small kingdom. For centuries you ignored humanity and lived alone in a cave, and the humans also avoided you. As the kingdom fell to invaders, a dying soldier approaches you with the infant princess, begging you to take care of her.
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You were abducted and taken to an alien planet, where they hunt you for sport and "honor". Little do they know they've doomed themselves. For you're a werewolf, and they took you to a planet with six moons.
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Your mother was a scammer of the supernatural. She promised her firstborn to multiple entities in exchange for something she wanted, and now you're being co-parented by three demons, the fae, and a disgruntled witch.
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You are an ice dragon who has been asleep for thousands of years. You are awakened by a group of tiny humans who promise you an unfathomable amount of wealth. They call themselves "Microsoft" and ask that allow them to move a large number black boxes into the unnatural chill of your lair.
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Magic Systems

This is where things get really wild - we're talking reincarnation cinemas, worldwide magic shortages, and even accidental demon summonings. Trust me, these prompts will have you thinking about magic in ways you never imagined.

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Our Picks

You and your friends grew up in a small town far from any magic schools but managed to learn it eventually. You always pushed and challenged each other, unaware of how strong you were. Then one day a city mage happened to pass through town.
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A necromancer's spell misfires and he animates the skeleton inside his own body. The body that he's still very much using.
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A strange meteor shower lasted for hours before you went to bed. The next day, technology across the earth fails. However, when you snap your fingers in frustration, the lights come on. The Age of Magic has begun.
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You’re a necromancer that has been run out of every town you’ve ever settled in for being who you are. You wipe tears out of your eyes as you dig a deep hole, finding solace in your work. Your shovel bangs against bones and you stop, tears suddenly forgotten. Dinosaur bones. Now they’ll pay.
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A necromancer discovers that spells to animate dead bodies also work on other things that have been described as "dead," such as batteries, cars, appliances, friendships, and romances.
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You're a Mechromancer. It's a bit like being a Necromancer, except that instead of working with dead flesh and departed souls you work with defunct machinery and deleted computer programs.
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Magic is real, except ley lines are on a galactic scale, not a planetary one. Earth was moving through one in the era of the Ancient Egyptians and Stone Henge, again in the Middle Ages, and is about to enter another one
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Suddenly, everyone with tattoos gains powers related to the tattoo. Tattoos of flames, you control fire. A tattoo of a gecko, you can climb on walls. All dudes with "tribal" tattoos have strangely bonded together.
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You live in a martial art anime universe where the characters announce their moves before executing them. As a deaf character, you announce with sign language, which leads to resentment among your defeated opponents of your "underhanded sneak attacks".
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You are fluent in latin. After a car accident, you find yourself in a fantasy world. In this world, humans have been slaves to other species, all of whom use magic. Human have the capability to use magic, but only by learning the elve's language. After hearing it, you find that it is latin.
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Fantasy Races

Elves, dwarves, orcs - the gang's all here, but with some fun twists. Ever wondered what a sober dwarf might be capable of? Or how humans would fare as the smallest species in the galaxy? These prompts will get you thinking.

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Our Picks

Young Adult elves often form practice families with humans before returning to their lives once their human partner dies, basically the human equivalent of an affair. You, the elf crown princess, were doing the sa-"Honey, guess who just became immortal!"
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You live in a world shaped like a big Rubik's Cube, the face of each square having a unique climate. Some unseen force periodically twists and repositions the cube, so you never know what friends, enemies, dangers, or resources will be at your borders next.
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Dwarfs can hear a weapons voice, Swords speak in vigor, Bows speak with precision, Hammers are blunt and to the point. But when a Dwarf found an old human tank, as their fingers ran across its barrel it heard it say a tired firm voice “I will watch until I am needed again”
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Sometimes children get born with weird diseases like vampirism or lycantrophy. The effects of these uncurable illnesses only get detectable when the kid is around 8 years old. Many parents then abandon their child. You run an orphanage for these children.
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You've lived on Grandpa's humble farm your whole life. But Grandpa's on his last days now and you're expecting a few people to come say their last goodbyes. 12 kings, 8 dragons, 4 emperors, some minor deities, and many others later, you got more than a few questions for Grandpa.
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You've noticed that unlike the rest of your companions, the elves you're travelling with have never excused themselves to answer nature's call, even though they eat and drink just as often as you do. When you work up the courage to ask the elves about this, their explanation astounds you.
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You are a god with no followers nor enemies, yet you still persist. No god had ever lived without worship before. The other gods are stumped as to why this is so...until you tell them what you are the god of.
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Your village has exactly 92 people living in it, but only 91 are human. The last one is an elf and - despite being older than the village itself - a child at that. You're her 53rd adoptive parent.
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After a period where Lizard People, Aliens, Shapeshifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Guardian Angels, Cyborgs and the like were all outed as hiding as humans, it’s realized that, between all the hidden races acting like people, there are no actual humans left on earth.
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You weren’t shocked to find out that your bard had many illegitimate children. Including one whose mother was a dragon. No, what shocked you was that he somehow managed to help raise every single one of them. And now they’ve come to help you.
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Quests and Adventures

This category is for all you adventure seekers. Whether you're into classic hero journeys or something a bit more... unusual, you'll find plenty to spark your imagination here.

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Our Picks

The edge of the world is real and every few years miles of it crumbles away into the void, forcing people to constantly move toward the ever expanding centre. You're a RimRunner, scavenging the abandoned cities before they slip over the edge.
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The summoned hero is effective if not a little... eccentric. He claims that he is a "dark souls player" and keeps saying "why should I wear armor if I don't intend on getting hit". Nevertheless, the great foe is no match for him, and the people love him.
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You; the game's hero, reach the end of your journey. The evil has been slain, the entire nation celebrates in the streets and now, the beautiful Princess you saved very publicly confesses her love and offers you her hand in marriage, thing is; you married the cute NPC who sold you potions.
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You are the Chosen One. The Dark Overlord is currently trying to seduce you to their cause. To their great surprise, you accept almost immediately because you absolutely loathe your job and your companions.
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You are the final boss. You have been waiting for the final epic battle against the hero. And waiting. And waiting. Finally, your minions report back. The news? The hero abandoned the main quest to do side quests.
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You die, but due to an error, instead of going to Hell, you arrive in Heck. This is the story of your travels across the rings of the 7 Forgivable Sins.
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A 16-year-old schoolgirl is taken to a magical world. She slays a dragon, becomes queen, gets married, has kids, and dies 90 years later...only to wake up back at school, young and in her school uniform again, like nothing happened. She notices that her wedding ring is still on her finger.
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The DM hands you the paper. You're just dropping in for the one session, but you know your role. The sheet says you're level 6, but you've got surprises. You have a mission: take out the DM's most-hated player. Well, their fun-killing Paladin, anyway. You're a hired gun. A Character Assassin.
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You reach max level in a game and lose interest for a while. Logging in months later, you find that years have past in game and chaos has spread, everyone wonders where your avatar, lauded as a savior, has gone.
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There was a brief window in the 1800s where you could have an adventuring party made up of a samurai, an elderly pirate captain, a Zulu warrior, a cowboy, and a Victorian gentleman detective and have it be 100% historically correct. Write the story of this unlikely group of adventurers.
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Fantasy Kingdoms and Politics

Are you more into the big picture stuff, then this category is for you. Trust me, governing a magical realm is way more complicated (and interesting) than you might think.

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Our Picks

Two warlords agree that their newfound peace contract between their peoples would be best sealed with a marriage. With no available daughters, sisters, nieces or female cousins on either side, the two conclude they must marry each other.
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Two kings have been engaged in a bitter war for over a decade, each one performing strategic marvels from his throne. Unknown to both of them. Both of their armies have long since shaken hands and gone home as friends. The entire kingdom is in on it.
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The only reason the world hasn't ended yet is because the Gods are locked in a war to determine who's version of Apocalypse will take place. Unbeknownst to them, a minor God has been slowly working towards his version for millennia, and the rest are finally starting to catch on.
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The hero has been defeated, the Dark Lord reigns. It seems like nobody can stop him, but then he surprises everyone by actually being a good leader, or at least better then the warring kings that used to rule this land. He's even funding science, if only because he wants to conquer the moon.
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You are the immortal overlord which has plagued the land for centuries. After years you have discovered a life hack to getting what you want. Simply spread rumors that the things you want are part of a prophecy to kill you and they'll bring it right to you.
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You're an Evil Overlord who has ruled over you dominion for ages. Your secret? Social services are well funded, orphanages are places of love, the pediatric wings in hospitals are state of the art. Thanks to this no child has the tragic backstory necessary to become the hero that defeats you.
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There’s a city divided into 4 districts, govern by factions: knights on the north, pirates on the south, samurais on the east and cowboys on the west. And on the middle stands the only being that keeps the balance: the strongest and the wisest, the peacekeeper, and it’s you, The Bartender.
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As a teen, you daydreamed and wrote about a fictional world you created. Ten years later, you’ve now started hearing voices. They’re prayers from the inhabitants of your world. To them, it has been 1,000 years since their god abandoned them and you must make things right.
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You are on trial for attempting to assassinate the King. Unknown to anyone but you and His Majesty, you were actually trying to stop him from killing himself. When you request a trial by combat, he ceremoniously accepts. Your opponent? The King himself.
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You are the Evil Overlord. You have kidnapped the princess. Unfortunately, she developed Stockholm Syndrome. And she is far more evil and insane than you are.
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Medieval Fantasy

This category is for those who like their fantasy with a historical twist, we've got. Knights, princesses, and dragons, but not always in the ways you'd expect.

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Our Picks

“you’re not here to slay me and save the princess?” “No I want to join you guys. A pretty princess with an awesome dragon in an isolated castle away from society? That’s a pretty sweet gig.”
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The dragon has kidnapped the princess... again. And the knight is off to rescue her... again. That is what people think is going on. In reality, the three of them are great friends just looking for an excuse to hang out together.
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When the castle is stormed by enemy troops, the king escapes alone, leaving the princess behind to her fate. Later, as the king is resting at an inn, his royal jester walks in covered in blood and holding the princess in his arms. "Dick move, your majesty," he says. "Dick fucking move."
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A noble sentenced to die is allowed to choose their execution method. They ask to die in honourable combat against the king's knights, armed with a wooden sword while the knights have real weapons. It's been 24 hours since the execution started and the king is running out of knights.
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You've been summoned as a hero of legend to save a medieval fantasy world from evil. Same old, same old. However, it very quickly dawns on you that a medieval world's idea of "evil" is quite incompatible with what you, a modern person, would consider evil.
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The healer was treated horribly by the knights he was assigned. Belittled and humiliated at every turn. Until one day a monster killed his squad and spared him. And the monster looked at him and she said something he didn't think was possible to even say. "Would you please heal me?".
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1,000 years after the battle of Helm's Deep, the orcs have tracked down the elves in the undying lands. Calling in a favour with their allies the men, the elves expect an army of 10,000. Instead they get 8 marines with MASERs, rail guns and anti-matter grenade launchers.
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A medieval village makes a human sacrifice to a werewolf that lives in the woods every year. This year they picked you, which is very awkward considering you're the werewolf.
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You used to play a fantasy MMORPG that wasn't very popular, so you were able to take the simple name of 'Dave'. When you return to the game (now massively popular), you discover that there is now a Church of 'Dave'.
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You are in no way related to Uther Pendragon, however, you realize that the sword in the stone is child proof and to drag it out you just need to push down and turn the sword
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We hope these fantastical prompts have sparked your imagination and set you on a path to creating your own magical worlds and adventures!