Samven's Writing Lectures

[Samven]

2. Writing the Hero

Part Two - The Hero's Journey

Once you've introduced an audience to your hero, you need to develop them. You need to show how they react to situations, learn the errors of their ways and evolve into a champion of their ideals.

The reason why I urge writers to do as much work on their games as I do their scripts is because whatever initial ideas you might have had for your game are inevitably going to change and develop as you develop the project. It is an inescapable truth of creating any form of art. The initial picture of your masterpiece that you had in your head will never be the same as the one you actually physically create.

Let me relate to you an example from my own personal experiences to explain what I mean. When I was fifteen, I worked on a Fire Emblem-style tactical RPG titled "The Dark Queen". It featured two main characters, Seraphim and Amethyst, who were part of a resistance movement struggling against a conquering empire. You know. The usual RPG fare.

When I began writing this game, I assumed that Seraphim was going to be the more "heroic" character of the two. As time passed and I developed the game and the story, however, Amethyst - to my complete surprise - evolved into this role and became the single most important character in the plot. How did this happen? Because, as your game grows, so its story may change.

The setup for my game was not only that there was an evil empire but also that there was a sinister dark power orchestrating it. Amethyst had been written from the beginning as a character with unusual magical powers but I'd never thought to connect her to the empire. As time passed, however, making that connection became an increasingly attractive option. It just slotted into place too well for me not to.

As such, as the story unravelled, I began hinting that Amethyst had a dark destiny that would either save or condemn the world. I still didn't know the exact route by which I would get there but at least now I had a rough idea as to which direction I wanted her character to go in. As such, Amethyst's development was very much her learning how to cope with her incredible power and coming to understand how it could be used for good and it ended with her becoming a strong, confident and even somewhat messianic figure.

Seraphim, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. His primary goal had always been to avenge his father - a beloved hero king - by defeating a minor villain. Once he'd had the confrontation, he really didn't have anything else to do beyond just spouting the occasional friendship speech to encourage Amethyst. As the game progressed, I realised that it was making increasingly less sense for him to be one of its protagonists when Amethyst's connection to the game's true plot was far deeper and, arguably, more personal. As such, Seraphim started out as an idealistic young warrior - despite his thirst for vengeance - and ended up that way. Not great.

So, how could I have improved Seraphim? Stretched out his revenge goal to last fifteen chapters? No. You can't make a confrontation with a B-Grade villain part of the thrilling finale. It'd be like getting to the end of Knights of the Old Republic and realising that the masterminds behind the whole game were Darth Malak and his pet space cat.

No, what I should have done was have Seraphim reflect on his life: have him consider whether, having spent his entire life fighting to avenge his father, he is really prepared for the responsibility of taking his place as king. After all, his uncle and twin sister were also heirs to the throne and both of them were much calmer, more level-headed candidates who could probably do a better job as the ruling monarch than he could. Just because he'd defeated his enemy villain didn't mean his development should have come to an end: especially when there were about six more chapters until the finale.

Seraphim should have taken the time to learn about his father from his uncle: about how he governed their lands, protected their people, the choices he had to make between the safety of the realm and the people he loved... That could even have provided some more drama. After all, Amethyst's powers were eventually feared by many members of the resistance. Could there perhaps have been a point where its leaders considered eliminating her before she could become too dangerous, despite all her loyal years of service? How would Seraphim, now torn between his loyalty to a lifelong friend and the continued survival of the resistance, react to this? If I'd known what I do know at the age of fifteen, such a moment would definitely have come to pass.

A game's hero(es) should be its most important character. They don't need to have the biggest connection to the plot but they do need to have a strong presence, bold characterisation and good development. As reckless as it sounds, dropping them in the deep end and seeing what story rocks they cling to for safety naturally is probably one of the best ways of doing this. That being said, you need to make sure you've filled your narrative pool with enough dialogue water for your hero not to break their head open upon hitting the bottom: otherwise your story is going to sound as silly as this metaphor.

Sam Rowett
Pywritechnics