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PROJECT FRISIA

Quest branching dialogue writing, design, and implementation;
Bios, barks, and voice-over scripts;
Character, weapon and attack design;
Storyboarding and script design;
Location and building design;
World building and cartography.

Goal

Project Frisia was designed as a narrative-driven game concept that blends historical authenticity with elements of myth and fantasy, while exploring themes of cultural diversity, identity, and moral ambiguity.

My goal was to demonstrate the full narrative design pipeline, from preliminary research and world-building to detailed documentation for cross-disciplinary collaboration:

Created branching and linear dialogue that reflects the cultural tensions between the Frisians and the expanding Frankish Empire, and integrated it seamlessly with gameplay.
Developed clear characters, locations and script materials to demonstrate that I can support the art, design and audio teams.

Overview

1. Designed branching and linear dialogue that integrated narrative and character development while leading to expanding gameplay.

2. Designed the Player Character and NPCs based on world lore and narrative, aligning their roles with game functions and as feature representatives.

3. Created an opening cinematic script introducing the world, the conflict and central threat the player the Player Character must overcome during gameplay.

4. Created VO scripts for each character, including bios, dialogue, barks, and casting sheets for the actors. Supporting team collaboration by compiling a master script.

5. Created the game world as the project’s foundation, including its base lore, location design, cartography and mood boards for team collaboration.

Branching & Linear Dialogue

Designed Quest Branching Dialogue

Tested with a playable prototype

Designed Quest Choice Hub

Wrote Branching Dialogue

I wrote branching dialogue that integrates triggers, thematic choices and variables seamlessly into the gameplay and increases player immersion by offering:

Polarized choices written with nuance to cater to the various player types and portray the moral complexity of the Player Character and NPCs.
Narrative urgency by communicating clear stakes and gameplay importance.
Roleplay Choice HUBs that allow the player to respond to the NPC with reactions that best suit their own playing styles.
Tutorial-specific adjustments by not offering a Quest Acceptance HUB.

I created a clickable branching dialogue text prototype using Arcweave to simulate the dialogue in context of narrative flow by:

Analysing how Player taps/clicks impact the pacing & rhythm of the dialogue and create a feeling of agency, while checking for fatigue.
Providing a live design space where the design team can leave notes on their experience for rapid iteration.

Linear Dialogue

Designed linear dialogue for three story-driven quests to:

Introduce the player to new gameplay systems, by establishing Harwin as the blacksmith, staging Hilde’s (player) first encounter with Yrsa (enemy) to teach battle mechanics and introduce potion-making as healing tutorial.
Encourage exploration of the game world by pointing out key locations in Dorestad through contextual dialogue.
Express the game world and its characters by raising narrative tension and tying character interaction to game progression.
Provide the player with clear goals, quest reminders and requirements to prevent confusion and frustration.

Character Design & Barks

PLAYER CHARACTER : Hilde

Design

Weapons

Barks

Attacks

[MFormat] Session 04 - Character bios & barks.Hilde2

Crafted a player character with conflicting motivations that conflict throughout the story, leading to dynamic choices that shape her growth and branch her story into three exclusive character arcs that resonate with players across various gameplay quests and mechanical themes.

Story role. Researched and designed Hilde with motivations rooted in her needs, flaws and fears, making her relatable and tied to narrative, combat and systemic design.
Personality. Inspired by Éowyn from LotR and Margaery Tyrell, Hilde has had a noble upbringing, refused to remain powerless, and uses her wit and bravery to enact change.
Visual design. Based Hilde’s starting outfit on archaeological findings from Wijk bij Duurstede and wetland attire, embedding authenticity and narrative relevance from the get-go.
Combat design. Designed Hilde’s combat style around the Carolingian longsword. Supporting combat designers by integrating narrative context into weapons choice, attack naming and player progression.

COUNT NPC: Waldemar

Design

Weapons

Barks

Attacks

[MFormat] Session 04 - Character bios & barks.Waldemar2

Designed a Count NPC quest giver who sees Dorestad’s rise as his mission. From the Great Hall he asserts dominance over the Frisians, becoming the player’s strongest ally or worst enemy.

Story role. Hilde (player) serves as his negotiator within and beyond the Frankish realm, depending on the player’s choices his trust can dramatically change throughout the story.
Personality. Insecure yet ambitious, Waldemar craves affection like Daenerys Targaryen and rules like Caesar by centralizing power and tolerating differences when it serves unity. His dialogue barks reinforce his patronage of Dorestad while displaying character.
Visual design. Informed by Carolingian attire, Frankish arms and archaeological finds from Dorestad his design blends old and new.
Combat design. The Spatha commonly used in Roman and Germanic tribes was a versatile weapon which gave users a way to control crowds with its reach. Waldemar’s attacks emphasize this advantage with efficiency and decisive play.

ADVISOR NPC: Malik

Design

Weapons

Barks

Attacks

[MFormat] Session 04 - Character bios & barks.Malik2

Malik is an advisor NPC who introduces the player to the faction and reputation system, offering quests and feedback on choices while testing their loyalties.

Story Role. In response to Count Waldemar’s ambition to open Dorestad to distant trade. Malik represents a diplomatic link to Al-Andalus, based on research into Carolingian–Umayyad relations. As an outsider, he brings political and cultural tension to the court.
Personality. Inspired by Ziryâb and Varys from Game of Thrones, Malik seeks to create positive change in others’ lives. Loyal to those who share his ideals, quietly manipulative when betrayed.
Visual Design. His look blends The Moorish Chief, Alhambra patterns and Dorestad’s rainy climate together. His layered cloak-over-robes style reflects both origin and setting.
Combat Design. Trained in evasive close-quarters combat, Malik wields a Khanjar with sharp precision.

ENEMY NPC: Yrsa

Design

Weapons

Barks

Attacks

[MFormat] Session 04 - Character bios & barks.yrsa2

Yrsa – the Curse Caller is one of the first bosses the player must confront and an enemy which can become an ally if you help her throughout the story. During the story she embodies the fickleness of the Viking Alliance with the Frisians.

Story Role. Yrsa became the vessel of a malevolent force and used by her people as an engine of war. As antagonist, she challenges Hilde’s values around loss, identity, power and justice.
Personality. Yrsa hides insecurity behind blunt confidence and strategic cruelty. Since her worth is measured only by what she accomplishes, she is driven to manipulate, dominate and destroy anything that threatens her place or power.
Visual Design. Her first-phase look is inspired by Norse Völvas, blending mythic crow symbolism with battlefield readiness.
Combat Design. Yrsa’s attacks are based on status effects, channelled through runes she carries and a murder of crows. She’s not afraid to get close and using brute force to overwhelm the player.

Storyboarding & Trailer Script Writing

[Laura Habers] Session 06 - Storyboarding.1

[Laura Habers] Session 06 - Storyboarding.2

[Laura Habers] Session 06 - Storyboarding.3

[Laura Habers] Session 06 - Storyboarding.4

[Laura Habers] Session 06 - Storyboarding.5

[Laura Habers] Session 06 - Storyboarding.6

[Laura Habers] Session 06 - Storyboarding.7

[Laura Habers] Session 06 - Storyboarding.8

Wrote a storyboard script for the opening sequence of the game, and designed a preliminary storyboard to emulate collaboration with the art and marketing teams, and get internal approvals:

Designed shots with worldbuilding in mind and wrote text in the POV of the main character to maintain continuity with the character-centric narrative of the game.
Included clear location, camera view, and action for use by the art team.
Drew a storyboard prototype for quick and efficient communication between teams.

Voice Over Documentation

Developed VO Documents for four key characters (Player, King, Advisor, Enemy) to support the audio team and the actors by giving clear directions, resulting in faster and better voice recording sessions.

Each document included:

A Character Description Document with the character design images, bios, personality notes, motivations and vocal directions for each of the four characters.
A Character Dialogue Sheet with all the character lines sorted by quest and supported with a short summary, contextual notes, in-game facial expression, and voice-over directions.

A Voice Actor Casting Sheet to aid the team in casting appropriate actors and actresses based on cultural, age and gender requirements for the character.

Worldbuilding

(↓ Hover on the tooltips to view the building designs)

Fleshed Out The Exterior & Interior Locations for The Map

Designed building documents for the art and design teams to connect narrative intent with visual directions:

Provided key reference images with notes to clarify historical context, geographical factors, situational remains and gameplay function to supply the art team with clear and inspiring materials.
Clearly labelled the exterior and interior of the building as well its name and location number for the team to reference the town map with ease.
Highlighted narrative and gameplay usage and tied them to key NPCs, with concise description for quick reference on how the environment supports the story.

Created a Location document of the starting city for it to include a brief backstory and notes on world function and gameplay usage.

Constructed two worldlore (character + Location) event timelines with historical and story events invented for the material created for this project.

Designed the World & City Cartography

[SFormat] Session 01 - World Building.world

Created a world and city map to achieve the following design goals:

Embedded project Frisia in the historical and mythological context of the Carolingian period to establish a unique and explorable world.
Created locations to support resource progression through exploration and gathering, while anchoring memorable story moments in distinctive environments.
Distributed quest locations across the map to encourage exploration and expansion for players to unlock new skills, tech trees, and narrative arcs as they reshape territories through player choices and influence.
Authored a location key detailing geography, settlement names, faction control, and points of interest to guide both players and the dev team.

Genre and Content Research

[SFormat] Session 01 - World Building (2)

[SFormat] Session 01 - World Building (1)

[SFormat] Session 01 - World Building (3)

Created a high-level research document mapping comparable movies, TV shows, and games that share similar narrative themes and mechanics to Frisia:

Compiled a list of movies, TV shows, and games, including the official synopses of the titles, and links to their trailers.
Wrote focus notes on what elements to draw inspiration from, highlighting aspects that could inform Frisia’s themes, mechanics and audience appeal.

This resulted in a thematic map that defined Frisia’s narrative focus and guided decisions on branching dialogue and faction conflicts.