The Forgotten King
All of the content I have written for Story Games is unreleased, and under NDA. However, Michael and Stephen Stagliano have been kind enough to let me share some thoughts about the work.
The main deliverables I was entrusted with on the Forgotten King were the world-building document, and the game's main storyline.
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The structure of the world-building document mirrors my previous approach:
1— The Cosmogony
Relevant history of the universe, creation, forces at work, origin of magic, etc...
2— The Land
Geography, Map, Climate, Flora, Fauna / Bestiary
3— The People
History, Population, Governance, Spirituality, Key Characters...​
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“Live with honor, my children. Love with a fierce heart. Take a life when you must. With neither cruelty, nor shame. Make a fire. Become the light the darkness cowers from.”
– Yshra Vann, the Den Mother.
I then delved into detailed sections for each of the three Clans that make up the social fabric of the North: Clan Bearkyn, Clan Ravenbone, and Clan Fangrin. Finally, I got to the high-level outline of the full campaign, with each act detailed in terms of plot progression, themes tackled, notes about player emotions, look and feel, etc.
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As I progressed through the outline, it became clear to me that I needed to think about scaling: several writers, artists and designers were going to contribute to this, so I needed to find a way for us to build something consistent, without pigeonholing their talent into my initial vision: I needed Design Tenets.
“Fear is always there, in every battle. And it seeks only one thing: a mind to break. You must never let it be yours. Plant the terror inside them instead. Become the reason their children wake screaming in the middle of the night."
– Raylor Krym
In the end, I decided on the following three:
1— Strong Emotions
Most of us can pinpoint the few times when a game brought us to tears, or sparked authentic joy. We keep a sharp focus on how each story, each scene should make players feel. It gives us a better chance to recreate such moments.
2— Unexpected Turns of Events
Revelations and plot twists make some of the most memorable story beats. We strive to craft such moments, when the story smashes your preconceptions before your eyes.
3— Relatable Situations
I believe fantasy is at its most sublime when it weaves in relatable social themes. We make it a mission to tackle modern issues in the campaign, such as depression, impostor syndrome, and several other everyday struggles, seen through the lens of a high-fantasy plot.
As part of my work on TFK, I used Jira, Notion, Unity and Twine. In addition to world-building and quest design, I worked on UI, tooltips, naming conventions and nomenclatures.