Hey there folks!
A little bird told me you really dig the story encounters in the Hand of Merlin and we're thrilled you like them so much! The driving force and the culprits behind all these stories are Jonas and Verena, husband and wife in literary crime.
Mia, our mighty quest designer, handles the mechanical setup of the encounters that pertain to flow, rewards and balancing, but it's Jonas and Verena who write all the lore and flavor texts.
As a heavily story-oriented game, for this Hand of Merlin blog post, I decided to do a quick interview with Jonas and Verena, so let's hear their side of the story.
Q: Hi Jonas & Verena! Where did you get the inspiration for the story for The Hand of Merlin?
A: The inspiration initially came from trying to find a type of story that would work well in a roguelike, allowing us to have story encounters without getting repetitive. From there we got to parallel universes, and then we hit on the way in which the many contradictory versions of the Arthurian stories complement that idea. We’ve also simply always had an interest in that material.
Q: How do you approach writing the story for individual zones? (i.e. Albion or Marca Hispanica)
A: A number of elements go into each encounter: overall theme, tone, research, etc., but the proportions change. So some are heavily based on some historical or literary detail specific to that region which we want to build upon (e.g. a character from Le Morte D’Arthur or a chanson de geste), while others are more about the atmosphere in general. Albion is a faded kingdom; in the Marca Hispanica we see the effects of constant religious warfare; whereas Al-Andalus is actually more civilized, but at the same time the Cataclysm is much more advanced there.
Q: Do you feel confined in the strict structure of the encounter templates?
A: Not really, since there’s plenty of flexibility, and if something really doesn’t work, we can talk about it and find a solution.
Q: How do you get started on writing individual encounters?
A: It usually starts with a core concept, either a premise (“you meet a robber in the woods”) or something drawn from worldbuilding needs (“the player should meet Sir Brastias”). Then we develop it as we write it, and later return to add more variations and details.
Q: How much do you collaborate with the designers?
A: We usually have weekly meetings to keep up to date, because there is some overlap between our jobs and both sides need to know what the other is doing.
Q: What is the biggest challenge you face when writing encounters?
A: Creating interesting choices for the player without being too random or punishing them too much. We have to keep players paying attention over multiple runs, but what happens must never feel arbitrary.
Q: Do you ever request a specific template for an encounter?
A: We need templates for classes of encounters so that we know we are serving the needs of the gameplay. If we have a specific idea for an encounter, that usually means we already know how to structure it. Then what we need to request is input on rewards/costs for the player, to keep the game balanced.
Q: What else do you write for The Hand of Merlin?
A: Pretty much everything, except blog posts. While there are some placeholder elements in the game currently, so the designers can do their thing, in the final product every item and spell and message should be part of a cohesive whole.
Q: What was the most fun/interesting thing to write?
A: The most fun to write is probably everything to do with the metagame progression and the deeper mysteries of Merlin’s universe because it’s like peeking behind the curtain and seeing where the legends come from.
Q: Do you ever get writer’s block when writing for the game? If yes, how do you get over it?
A: No. Getting stuck doesn’t have to do with writer’s block, but with unresolved narrative design issues. If you’re getting stuck, something is usually wrong and the only way out is to figure out what it is and fix it (or circumvent it).
Q: Would you like some ice cream?
A: Yes, we would like some ice cream.
Thanks for reading, and a big thank you to our writers for taking the time to answer these burning questions! If there’s anything you want to know that hasn’t been answered, come join our Discord server and ask! We’re all a friendly bunch!
MarkoP
https://store.steampowered.com/app/600610/The_Hand_of_Merlin/