Just for fun, I decided to try narrative design in a new context. I took a break from video games and participated in a tabletop RPG adventure design contest – Ben Milton's (of Questing Beast, Maze Rats, and Knave fame) Knave 2e Adventure Game Jam to be exact. Despite never having made anything with the system before, I managed to finish in sixth place! (Out of 117 entries! That's a heck of a lot better than I was expecting!)
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| Plus, you get to draw on all the unhinged influences that you can't allow into your day job! |
If you're looking to flex your narrative design muscles, taking a little field trip into tabletop games is a great way to practice all of your skills in a slightly alien environment with new limitations that force you to think outside of the box. It's really interesting to start thinking of narrative and quest design in terms of page count and layout and graphic design.
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| I even got to draw on my ancient, crusty art skills. (Finding a drawer full of doodled swords and potion bottles from a previous abandoned project helped.) |
Plus, you can do things like write "GIANT PSIONIC REALITY-WARPING INSECT HEIST" and not have to worry about character rigging or animation or the art team murdering you for making their jobs a nightmare.
I highly recommend it!
If you're interested in stealing a giant psionic reality-warping insect kept in an alchemically-induced coma by an evil moneylender (or breaking into crumbling mansions or trying to cross a flooded street with nothing but your wits and a dead zebra), you can download the PDF of Hot Rain Falls on the Boiling City on itch.io here.
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