Collaborative Writing and Vast Narratives

Principles, Processes, and Genteel Truculence

Ken Rolston◦ Designer: Paranoia, RuneQuest, AD&D, WFRP,

Tales of the Arabian Nights◦ Lead Designer: Morrowind, Oblivion, Big Huge RPG

Mark Nelson◦ Lead Designer: Shivering Isles◦ Lead Narrative Designer: Big Huge RPG

Who Are We?

We Create Vast Narratives.

We Disagree About What Makes Vast Narratives

Work……and we’re both right.

Setting◦ Exploration, Pilgrims, and Tourists

Theme◦ Faction, Loose Narrative Threads

What Ken Believes In:

Story◦ Plot, Pacing, and Revelation

Character◦ Dialogue and Voice

What Mark Believes In:

Coherence Ownership Immersion IP

Setting and Theme Are Incredibly Important…

High Overhead Static Less Memorable

…Except For the Horrible Problems

Bioshock Fallout Myth

Setting and Theme Done Right

Morrowind◦ Detailed Faction

Gameplay◦ Early Focus on

Consistency of Theme

Setting and Theme Done Right

Oblivion◦ Too Massive◦ Too Generic

Cautionary Tale: ◦ Of Ashurnibibi and

Nchuleftingth

Setting and Theme Done (Not So) Right

Setting and Theme must be the Designer’s primary focus, as they are the building blocks of vast narratives; without them, players are left without any narrative touchstones.

VERY IMPORTANT RULE

Dynamic Elements Player Attachment Low Overhead IP Retention

Story and Character Are Incredibly Important…

Difficult to Maintain Consistent Voice Story Demands Exposition Games Rarely Do Story Well

…Except For the Horrible Problems

Chronicles of Riddick

Half Life 2 Eternal Darkness

Story and Character Done Right

Shivering Isles◦ Focus on Individual

Characters◦ Simple, Fast-Paced

Story

Story and Character Done Right

Oblivion◦ Again, Too Massive◦ Too Many Cooks

Cautionary Tale:◦ Of Jack Bauer and

the Search for the Da Vinci Code

Story and Character Done (Not So) Right

Story and Character must be the Designer’s primary focus, as they are the engines by which we drive players to continue to play our games.

VERY IMPORTANT RULE

Focus on Story? Focus on Setting? Focus on Both? Yes …and No.

So…What’s a Designer to Do?

Create Simple Themes◦ Ex., “East vs. West”

Make a Map◦ Major Geographical Features, Unique Topography

Establish Factions◦ Built-In Motivations and Conflicts

Early Design—Focus on Setting and Themes

Create Keystone Characters◦ Listen to the Voices in Your Head

Imagine Big Events◦ Discover the Scenes You Really Want to Write

…and When Ken Isn’t Looking

Early focus on Setting and Theme is imperative, as all good stories and characters are derived from their associated environments.

VERY IMPORTANT RULE

Write Character Bios◦ Backstory, Common Archetypes, Reference

Images, Sample Dialogue Draft Your Plot

◦ Act Structure, Key Moments, Narrative Reversals

Late Design—Focus on Story and Character

Integrate Faction Conflict◦ Find Places Where Theme Has Accidentally

Appeared, and Expand on It Look for Unexploited Hooks

◦ Tug On Loose Narrative Threads

…and When Mark Isn’t Looking

Later focus on Story and Character is necessary, as settings devoid of conflict and resolution are unable to sustain player interest.

VERY IMPORTANT RULE

The Black Box The Evil Overlord The Combo Platter

Approaches We’ve Taken to Manage The Process

Individual Designers on Individual Storylines+Internal Consistency+Scalable−No Interaction−Insular

The Black Box

Shared Design With One Vision-Holder+Consistency of Voice+Variety of Style−Bottlenecking−Seagulling

The Evil Overlord

Early Overlord/Late Black Box◦ Tone Established

Early◦ Increased Individual

Ownership◦ Greater

Accountability

The Combo Platter

Large teams are necessary to create vast narratives—managing these large teams requires strict oversight.

VERY IMPORTANT RULE

There are many VERY IMPORTANT RULES for designing vast narratives.

These rules must never be broken.

So…What Have We Learned?

WRONG!

These VERY IMPORTANT RULES should be understood.

These rules should be broken whenever necessary, convenient, or perversely enjoyable.