Morgan Mackenzie had a very bad day. First at work, then at home, and then her bathtub fell through a portal to another world, with her in it. Now she's stuck thousands of miles from any sort of civilization with nothing but the bathtub and a lace puffball scrubby. But she learned magic, so that's sorta nice. Now if only she could find some clothes...
Skyclad
is a LitRPG Web Fiction created by Scott Browder, also known as A_Man_In_Black. It follows the misadventures of Morgan Mackenzie (as well as thirteen other ragtag misfits from Earth) after her arrival in the world of Anfealt, a world in which Video Game rules apply. She has the distinct misfortune to arrive without any clothes. Hilarity does NOT ensue.
Skyclad is the first of the Fates Anvil series and a sequel story was started in July of 2019 with more installments to follow according to the author.
This fiction provides examples of:
- Alliterative Family: Morgan Mackenzie has two brothers named Michael and Mitchell, with her mother and father later identified as Marianne and Max, respectively.
- Anti-Magic: The [Skyclad Sorceress] class that Morgan has makes her unable to equip anything and nullifies anything that is forced onto her. The latter allowed her intrinsic class ability to nullify any equipment that is forced onto her to nullify a Slave Collar Mind-Control Device that was clamped onto her neck by The Mole who worked for The Empire. The collar was nullified, and she was able to melt it off of herself with her fire magic.
- Artistic License – Physics: Averted. The author goes to great pains to keep the laws of physics in mind even in a world where magic exists.
- The Bet: The story was started by one of these. The author was challenged that he couldn't take an NSFW prompt, like the main character being a naked woman, and not have the story devolve into smut.
- Big Good: The Oracle. Usually, she can only observe and can't interfere. If the rules are broken, however, she can kill even a god.
- Deconstructed Trope: Naked People Are Funny? Not for more than a few seconds. Imagine being dropped from the sky, soaked in gore and then land in the middle of a magical woods teeming with the most dangerous creatures in the world with nothing but a luffa-sponge for company. It helps that the luffa in question comes to life and isn't just a Companion Cube, but still...
- Full-Frontal Assault: Because Morgan gained her first levels while naked and unarmed, her powers are forever linked with being naked and she fights every battle she's been in completely in the nude.
- Hero of Another Story: All the Other-Worlders from The Prophecy are dropped in different places around the world, and each one lives out their own story. Morgan is simply the most powerful of them and the one with the most bizarre circumstances.
- Kryptonite Factor: There's a substance called Negatite which, according to
Word of God, can negate the power of The System. Anyone who touches it loses all ability to use Skills or Magic. - Narrative Filigree: Instead of the usual Fighter, Mage, Thief archetypes, the author goes all out with Classes and Skills. Skills adapt themselves to the past experiences of those who use them, new ones present themselves based on the same mechanic and there are a nearly endless catalogue of Classes anyone from level ten and up may pick and choose from provided they meet the requirements.
- Phlebotinum Overdose: When a Worldwalker begins accumulating Mana past their maximum limits, they begin to suffer from [Mana Burn], their bodies overheating with mana. Should they stack ten points of [Mana Burn] it becomes [Mana Cascade], where the Mana literally cooks them from the inside out. The best way to counteract [Mana Burn] and [Mana Cascade] is to develop [Magic Resistance], [Heat Resistance] and expend excess mana by using magic.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: She met other people after becoming a [Skyclad Sorceress], and did not worry too much about being nude and being unable to wear anything in front of several other people.
- Stark Naked Sorcery: At first, since she started learning magic while she was nude, wearing anything nullified her magic. She later became unable to wear or equip anything once she became a [Skyclad Sorceress].
- Talking to Themself: A process everyone has to go through before they can select a Class. They have to face and make peace with the manifestation of their innermost selves, though not in a fight for dominance as in most media. For Morgan it was her Primal, Fight Flight and Mate instincts brought to life, but others experience different manifestations.
- Trapped in Another World: With the last people anyone would expect to be picked. A naked former waitress, a drunkard, a cripple, a down on his luck priest, a self-proclaimed nymphomaniac and a bunch of other weirdos scattered across the world.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Having shown up naked and gaining all her levels and Skills while naked, Morgan's powers are initially dependent on her staying naked. This is demonstrated when she makes a stone bracelet for herself and immediately loses all her powers when she puts it on. This ceases to be a problem after her Class Selection, as becoming a [Skyclad Sorceress] makes wearing any sort of clothes impossible. It also means she can't use any weapons or tools, which includes things like spoons.
