Writing Samples
Five Characters
Time Limit: 1 hour
Date: 9/29/2020
Description: Come up with five short character sketches, for ORIGINAL characters for these settings:
1. Modern day Arthur (any gender)
2. Futuristic utopia with a dark secret
3. Historical drama set in ancient Greece
4. Three musketeers-esque adventure (same time period)
5. standard fantasy except not set in a European-type setting
Real World Assignment: Population
Time Limit: 2 weeks (10/6/2020-10/20/2020)
Description: Please populate this town in our wild west RPG, working title “Vendetta.”
The PC reaches Liberty about halfway through the game, after their entire family was butchered by the outlaw gang, the White Hand. At this point the PC has followed the path of the gang’s progress through several small towns and pueblos, and killed two or three of the gang. Laura Fields — the gang’s leader, aka “Boney,” — her second in command E. A. Pickett, and a handful of outlaws and desperados are still at large, and may have passed through Liberty looking for her cousin, Delilah Chacon.
Chacon owns the Liberty tin mine, and is Liberty’s wealthiest resident. Although the town is largely peaceful, Chacon runs the town and makes the rules. This includes having a hand in moving stolen goods like rustled horses, operating crooked gambling establishments around the state and harboring wanted fugitives. The sheriff is on her bankroll, as are the nearest Marshals. Chacon resides part time in the state capital, part time in Liberty near the mines.
As the player comes into town, they have arrived two days behind Boney, who got help from Chacon in the way of guns, fresh horses and a handful of new crew. These are mostly miners Chacon drummed up, and not as dangerous as the White Hand regulars, but they’ll still be able to shoot.
Chacon is still hiding Boney when the player arrives.
Quest Chain Outline
Time Limit: 2 hours
Date: 2/9/2021
Description: OMERICON: The Last Musketeer
This chain is for a single player RPG that can be played on PC, Mac or XBox with a controller.
The RPG is called Omericon, and is a “paranoid fantasy of swashbuckling and magic.” In this world, the player will try to rise to a position of wealth and power as a courtier and musketeer, even as secret forces try to take over the world and control all magic.
This first chain introduces the player character, who must start in very humble origins (pauper, beggar, shit-shoveler, etc.).
The city of Paris is once again under siege by the English, only this time they have an edge: magic. As the game opens, French forces have retreated behind Paris walls, maintaining the city’s perimeter with muskets, cannon, and the occasional bladed skirmish (again, think Three Musketeers). French armaments line the banks where the river Seine enters and exits the city, trying to hold attacking boats at bay (the Seine in Paris is relatively shallow — no big ships).
The English plunder the countryside, their forces dug in at the walls and preventing any people, supplies or word in or out of the city.
NOTE: The rules of magic in this world are that it is relatively new, and relatively uncommon. Through the game, various forces work to find and control various magical people, artifacts and knowledge — most of all, a secret society called the Omericon. Although low key magic has been around for centuries, it has mostly been written off to coincidence; things like people who can read tea leaves (only their predictions are most often true), or dowse for water (with real accuracy), or seem to have powers of unusual persuasion when arguing in Parliament.
The main storyline quest chain should cover the first quarter of the Hero’s Journey, and bring the player character to the beginning of their trials/challenges. It can foreshadow the mentor figure.
Assume there are many other quests and minor storylines; this is the main quest line.
On the Job 2: EMAIL
Time: 2 hours
Date: 2/16/2021
Description (formatted as an email):
From: A. Bahstoird
To: NARRATIVE
re: Zone A barks
Hey all, looks like we forgot to get barks in for Zone A, the underground lunar military base. I’m going to need about a hundred good flavor barks for the area.
As always, keep in mind we have a very limited VO budget so keep these short and punchy.
The more you can include about our main story the better, especially:
– The rumors about alien attacks (but very few people believe they’re real, just has everyone spooked)
– Water shortages
– High command corruption
We like those stories that unfold if you stand around and listen to barks long enough, too, like that one you all did where one soldier was talking about some prank they pulled on an officer and how they’ll never know who it was and then you overhear the officer talking about some idiot pulling pranks — romances, that kind of stuff.
Like I said, we need this ASAP.
Use a spreadsheet with character name, rank, occupation, location, characters they’re talking to, mood, and only if it’s relevant age and gender, etc.
Interactive Dialogue Test
Time Limit: 2 hours
Date: 3/9/21
Description: Using the dialogue system of your choice (Twine, Ren’Py, Inky, etc.), write a compelling interactive dialogue that delivers a plot arc.
Who Are You?
Time Limit: 1 week (9/2/21-9/9/21)
Description: Using any medium or tool, digital or otherwise, create a complete interactive piece that shows who you are at present — to the best of your abilities.