160+ Fantasy Writing Prompts to Jumpstart Your Stories

Fantasy is one of the biggest genres in publishing, with an endless mix of subgenres and mashups to explore.

It also pairs well with almost anything. You’ll find fantasy combined with romance, mystery, sci-fi, and even literary fiction.

But the very thing that makes fantasy so fun (the imagination required) can also make it hard to know where to start. With so many directions to go, how do you land on an idea worth writing?

That’s where writing prompts can help.

The prompts below are designed to spark ideas for your next fantasy novel or short story. Use them as inspiration to explore new worlds, test out story angles, or just get unstuck.

Of course, a great idea is only half the battle. If you want to turn it into a book that actually sells, you’ll need to do a little research.

One quick shortcut? Look for popular keywords related to your idea. Tools like Publisher Rocket can show you what readers are actively searching for on Amazon. That insight alone might help you shape your plot or focus your hook. It’s also smart to browse through Amazon’s fantasy categories to see what kinds of subgenres are trending.

A strong prompt, paired with smart positioning, can be a powerful combo. Let’s dig in.

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What Makes a Good Fantasy?

Before we dive into the fantasy story prompts, it’s worth taking a moment to talk about what makes a good fantasy book.

That’s not a simple question, since fantasy spans a wide range of styles and subgenres. But most fantasy stories tend to include a few core ingredients:

• Some form of magic, often governed by a detailed system
• A fantastical world, different from our own
• High stakes and major conflicts
• Deep, immersive world-building

But the truth is, the magic and world aren’t enough on their own. The best fantasy books also succeed because they get the fundamentals right (just like any good story in any genre).

That means:

• Characters who feel real and well-developed
• A clear underlying theme
• A way for the reader to connect with the story on a personal level
• Engaging, purposeful dialogue
• Strong pacing and a satisfying ending

If you can deliver on these essentials, your story has a strong foundation… no matter how wild or imaginative the setting might be.

Common Fantasy Genre Tropes

As mentioned earlier, fantasy blends well with just about any genre. But there are certain tropes that tend to show up again and again in fantasy stories. If your book features several of these, there’s a good chance it falls under the fantasy umbrella.

Not every fantasy story uses all of these, of course. But when used well, they can help shape a story readers instantly recognize and enjoy.

Here are some of the most common tropes:

• The chosen one
• A Dark Lord or ultimate villain
• Good vs. evil
• A magic system or magical force
• A wise mentor figure
• Fantasy races (elves, dwarves, goblins, etc.)
• An ancient or medieval-inspired setting
• Magical weapons or artifacts
• Taverns and inns as key meeting places
• Dragons
• A hero’s quest
• Magical schools or academies
• Portals to other worlds
• Mythical tales that turn out to be true
• A hidden magical world within the real world (common in urban fantasy)

These are just a handful of examples. The tropes you use will depend heavily on your subgenre. Urban fantasy leans into very different conventions than epic fantasy. That’s why it’s so important to do a little research. One of the best ways to get a feel for popular tropes is to explore the Amazon categories where fantasy books are thriving.

With that groundwork laid, let’s get into the prompts.

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Fantasy Writing Prompts

I've tried to categorize these ideas as best I can, though there will obviously be some overlap.

Genre Matchup Prompts

1. Take a fantasy trope and subvert it.
2. Write Robinson Crusoe but with fantasy elements.
3. Robots team up with wizards.
4. Someone learns how to harness magic in technology, leading to huge innovations.
5. What would a legal drama look like in an epic fantasy world?
6. Write a romance between a regular human and some kind of fantastical race/creature.
7. Write a heist in a fantasy setting.
8. Write an underdog sports story in a fantasy setting.
9. Write a revenge narrative in a fantasy setting.
10. What if aliens invaded a fantasy world?
11. What if Cthulhu awoke on a fantasy world?
12. Imagine a political thriller with a fantasy government.
13. Write a psychological thriller, where the character doesn't know if they are hallucinating the fantasy world or not.
14. Write a mystery set in an epic fantasy world, incorporating the magic system.
15. Pick a public domain story and turn it into a fantasy.

Portal Fantasy Prompts

16. A character from another world escapes into ours.
17. Your character finds a magic portal in the basement.
18. Dreaming is actually the real world.
19. Your dreams start to come true.
20. A painting comes to life.
21. You discover a library where the books can come to life.
22. The character mutters gibberish to themselves, only to discover they were speaking a magical language.
23. Memory Lane is real.
24. A reality TV show featuring magical creatures.
25. You arrive in the underworld sooner than expected.
26. You discover a world that is the mirror opposite of hours.
27. You discover a door in your attic that wasn't there before.
28. A gamer discovers that the character he controls is actually a real person in a fantasy world.
29. Your world is actually the fantasy world, and electricity is magic.
30. You get sucked into a video game, in one of the following genres:
    1. Open world RPG
    2. First-person shooter
    3. A Mario-world-type game
    4. A dark fantasy
    5. A side scroller
    6. A top-down strategy game
    7. A fantasy MMO
    8. A melee fighting game
    9. A survival game
31. An astronaut discovers another world that is eerily similar to ours.
32. While out hiking, you discover a cave that leads to another world.
33. There is a world where our world is the stuff of myths and legends.
34. A huge fan of [insert fandom here], discovers that it's not fiction.
35. A rich uncle dies and leaves you his magical castle.
36. You go to a theme park, only for characters to come to life.
37. You enter a theme park ride, and it transports you to another world.
38. You discover that you are the dream of someone else.
39. You meet someone in real life who has the same dreams as you, and you can enter this dreamworld together.
40. Our reality is actually an advanced version of the Sims.
41. A young child and their parents get sucked into a children's book.
42. A Dungeons & Dragons game eventually becomes real.
43. An artist is able to escape into their paintings.

Urban Fantasy Prompts

44. Write about someone with an average job, but in a world of magic or with magical elements.
45. You look up into the sky and see the two moons.
46. Your food starts to speak to you.
47. Two members of a classic fantasy the race (elf, dwarf, etc.) move in next door.
48. Your garden gnomes are actually real gnomes.
49. You somehow magically created a friend, and are constantly scared you'll make them disappear.
50. As a joke, you put on a tinfoil hat, but then something happens.
51. You wake up in a busy city, only to find that there is complete silence.
52. You discover a pet that is not of this earth in the pet store.
53. A photographer who specializes in photographing the supernatural.
54. A child is discovered to be immune to vampirism.
55. The gods from a [insert mythological pantheon here] return to earth.
56. You move into a supper inhabited entirely by ghosts.
57. Turns out, if you curse someone, that curse comes true.
58. There is a wizard in every town protecting us.
59. Turns out, you are Santa's grandchild.
60. Turns out, your nanny is actually a witch.
61. While on vacation, you discover a magical artifact out of mythology (i.e. Excalibur, Pandora's box, Thor's hammer, etc.).
62. An ancient Viking suddenly appears in modern-day London.
63. Deceased soldiers from an old war, suddenly come back to life.
64. Dragons return to earth after many years gone.
65. Turns out unicorns are real.
66. Scientists uncovers the science behind magic.
67. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are magically transferred into modern-day teenage bodies.
68. The Greek pantheon is magically transferred into modern-day teenage bodies.
69. The Norse pantheon is magically transferred into modern-day teenage bodies.
70. The Egyptian pantheon is magically transferred into modern-day teenage bodies.
71. A DNA archaeologist discovers that mythical creatures did exist.
72. Your character owns a magical shop in some important niche.
73. A tattoo artist is able to imbue their subject with magical abilities.

Epic Fantasy Prompts

74. Write a story about Gods over a specific element like water, fire, etc.
75. A world where dragons are forced to fight each other, fight club style.
76. A child wishes that a family member will return from the dead, and it works.
77. A long-lost shipwreck is found, completely intact.
78. Society is built around epic, arena-like games.
79. Anything can become true if enough people believe it, and the villain exploits this fact.
80. A bounty hunter and an epic fantasy world, hunting warlocks, witches, and monsters.
81. Sherlock Holmes, but in an epic fantasy world.
82. Pick an ancient Earth culture that is not medieval England, and develop an epic fantasy around that.
83. Develop a culture over a huge timeline, from primitive beginnings, to the space-age.
84. What if the humans on a fantasy world had no idea that any other fantasy race existed, until they appeared for the first time.
85. Indiana Jones, but in an epic fantasy setting.
86. Your characters develop spiritual connections with a specific animal.
87. The trees have spirits, and only you can hear them.
88. The character is appointed as a bodyguard for a royal prince/princess.
89. A prince/princess discovers that they have a long lost twin, who was not raised in privilege.
90. Take an ordinary piece of modern-day technology, and postulate how a medieval society would react to it. 

Supernatural Prompts

91. Write about someone who has a relationship (platonic or romantic) with a ghost.
92. Ghosts/werewolves/vampires are actually super nice, and it's the fairies/elves/dwarves that are mean.
93. You sit down to read your favorite book, only to find it has changed.
94. You write a book, only to discover that it comes true.
95. Here character decides to have a conversation with the author of the book.
96. An angel walks on earth for a month.
97. An angel and a demon switch places for a week.
98. I monster is terrified of the child that sleeps above his bed.
99. Humans are actually giants, and there are micro-human races beneath us.
100. The giant emerges from the ocean.
101. A child is transported into the past, into the teenage body of their mother or father.
102. You go to a new high school, only to discover that everyone is a vampire.
103. The Titanic mysteriously arrives in New York as if nothing had happened, with all passengers accounted for.
104. A boating accident leads to the character being saved by mermaids.
105. A deck of tarot cards accurately predicts the future for a group of friends.
106. All of the figures in a wax museum become real.
107. A ghost is having difficulty finding a place to haunt.
108. A writer discovers that God is also a writer, and our reality is his book.
109. It is discovered the zombies are actually very intelligent.

Setting Prompts

110. Set your story in a fortuneteller's parlor.
111. What if the sun suddenly didn't rise.
112. What if the sun suddenly rose in the West instead of the east.
113. Write a fantasy story in the wild West setting.
114. A new continent is discovered.
115. You discover the fountain of youth, but it turns out it only sends you forward in time.
116. A retirement home for superheroes.
117. A history teacher can take their students to any time or place in history.
118. Area 51 protects a gateway to another dimension.
119. Area 51 protects a gateway to hell.

World Building Prompts

120. Use a currency that isn't money, and build your world from there.
121. Luck is not random, but is an inherited genetic trait, or a skill that can be learned.
122. I day in the life of a magical creature.
123. Someone with the power of alchemy, but can only change a material into something useless.
124. Snow falls one morning, but it isn't white.
125. A character can only live three times in their lifetime.
126. There is a river that will wipe your memory if you drink from it.
127. You can buy bottled emotions.
128. Develop a magic system based on self-help principles
129. Develop a magic system based on biology
130. Develop a magic system based on computer programming
131. Develop a magic system based on commonplace social customs like shaking hands

Fantasy Character Prompts

132. The story is set within a character's mind.
133. A character wakes up in a past life.
134. A character wakes up in a future reincarnation of themself.
135. A character spends their whole life faking that they have magic, then suddenly discover they do.
136. Your character is destined to do something they don't want.
137. Your character becomes aware that they are a work of fiction.
138. Write a story from the perspective of an orc.
139. One of your parents is a werewolf, the other a vampire.
140. People thought you were the chosen one, but turns out they were mistaken. Now what?
141. A doctor claims to know how you can get someone to fall in love with you.
142. You are immortal, married to a mortal, and you decide to tell them.
143. Your character can suddenly read minds.
144. A social outcast finds that they are actually the prince/princess of a distant world.
145. Your character gains the ability to make any wish come true.
146. A character can turn into any animal by wishing it.
147. Your character receives a new superpower every day, losing the previous one.
148. The ghost of a parent helps a young child through difficult times.
149. A character is mute, but can talk to animals.
150. Someone is hunted by their alternate universe twin.
151. A monster, generally feared by all, is actually a gentle giant.

Fantasy Romance Prompts

152. Write a romance between one superpowered individual and one who doesn't have powers.
153. Write a romance between an elf and an orc, or two other diametrically opposed races.
154. A romance between an angel and a demon.
155. Sirens usually kill humans, until one falls in love.
156. A royal shapeshifter is cursed to take on their true form during every full moon. A wandering healer discovers the truth and must choose whether to help — or run.
157. A mortal falls in love with the ghost haunting their family’s ancestral estate, but breaking the curse that binds them comes at a high cost.
158. Two rival dragon riders from feuding kingdoms are forced to work together when an ancient enemy resurfaces… and sparks fly.
159. A time-traveling mage keeps returning to the same point in history – and the same person – no matter how many spells they try to break the loop.
160. A grumpy goblin blacksmith and a runaway fae princess team up to forge a weapon that could end the war… or their growing feelings for each other.
161. A scholar discovers an ancient love letter hidden inside a grimoire. The magical signature matches their new partner’s, but neither of them has any memory of writing it.
162. A cursed knight must protect the reincarnation of their lost love across multiple lifetimes, but this time, the curse may claim them both.
163. A romance blooms between a vampire librarian and the last living descendant of the monster who nearly wiped out their kind.
164. A sea witch falls for a shipwrecked sailor, but every time they touch, his memories of her start to vanish.
165. A magical bounty hunter and their target fall for each other while on the run, but one of them is lying about why the bounty was placed.

Test Your Fantasy Novel for Viability

By now, you’ve probably got a few ideas you’re excited about. But before diving headfirst into writing, it’s smart to test whether there’s an audience for the kind of fantasy story you want to tell.

Fantasy is a crowded genre. Great stories can still get buried if they’re not aligned with what readers are looking for. A little research up front can make a big difference.

That’s where Publisher Rocket comes in.

It’s a tool that pulls real data from Amazon to help you evaluate your book idea. With it, you’ll get a clearer picture of what’s working in the marketplace — and how to position your book for success.

Publisher Rocket can help you:

• Find the best keywords to include in your book’s metadata
• See what competing books are doing well (and how tough the market is)
• Explore relevant categories so you know where your book belongs
• Build a targeted list of keywords for Amazon Ads

If you want your book to reach more readers, this is one of the fastest ways to get there.

Check out Publisher Rocket here to get started.