Game & Tabletop

Selected Game & Tabletop Work




DAWN OF MADNESS

Horror Tabletop RPG

A story-driven horror RPG built around branching narratives, psychological terror and player choice.

Game Writing · Narrative Design · Branching Storytelling · Worldbuilding

Dawn of Madness is a cooperative horror role-playing game developed by Diemension Games, following the successful Deep Madness universe. The game contains two substantial narrative books comprising approximately 150 RPG entries, with branching paths that create different possibilities and endings.

MY CONTRIBUTION

Writer / Narrative Designer

I developed and wrote the game’s narrative content, including:

  • branching storylines
  • dramatic narrative passages
  • character and story development
  • narrative choices
  • alternative paths and endings
  • atmospheric storytelling designed specifically for tabletop play

The writing had to function simultaneously as dramatic fiction and playable narrative, allowing the players’ decisions to alter the progression of the story.

THE CHALLENGE

Traditional fiction controls the reader’s path. A tabletop RPG cannot. The story therefore had to be designed as a narrative system, with enough flexibility to accommodate player decisions while maintaining dramatic tension, atmosphere and coherence.

That combination of literary writing and interactive structure is one of the areas in which I particularly enjoy working.

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TANARES ADVENTURES

Fantasy Tabletop RPG

Tanares demanded Adventure-driven fantasy storytelling designed to combine narrative progression with tabletop gameplay.

Game Writing · Adventure Design · Narrative · Worldbuilding

MY CONTRIBUTION

Writer / Narrative Developer

My contribution involved creating narrative material designed to work within a tabletop adventure structure, balancing:

  • story progression
  • player choice
  • encounters
  • character motivation
  • worldbuilding
  • dramatic pacing
  • gameplay requirements

WRITING FOR TABLETOP

A tabletop adventure is neither a conventional novel nor a screenplay. The writer must create enough narrative structure to provide dramatic direction, while leaving enough space for players to make the story their own. That balance between authored story and player agency is at the centre of good tabletop narrative design.

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IRAGON 2

High Fantasy RPG Videogame

A fantasy world designed to support characters, conflict, exploration and long-form storytelling.

Script Writing · Worldbuilding · Character Development · Narrative

MY CONTRIBUTION

Script Writer / Narrative Developer

My work on Repulse involved developing the fictional world and its narrative foundations, including:

  • worldbuilding
  • characters
  • backstory
  • conflicts
  • narrative concepts
  • fictional history
  • story material for the game environment
  • scriptwriting

The objective was not simply to create lore, but to create a world capable of generating stories.

THE CHALENGE

For this videogame, the designers desired to firstly develop a hybrid screenplay, merging the scriptwriting format with the structuring and particularities of a videogame. It was a really interesting process and we accomplished something that is common in this professional universe – we created a fresh, specific text format to serve the project.

Collaboration also was intense, and every instance of the produced materials (from characters description to screenplay drafts) were regularly submitted by the whole crew appreciation and opinion.

STORY AS A GAME SYSTEM

For games, worldbuilding has a different function from worldbuilding in a novel. A game world needs to provide:

places → characters → conflicts → possibilities → stories

That means the narrative has to leave enough space for players to explore and create their own experience while maintaining a coherent fictional universe.

That’s the kind of narrative architecture I enjoy developing.


Interested in working together?
I’m available for freelance writing, narrative design and story-development projects.
[CONTACT CHRISTIANO →]