Companion Narrative Design Lead on Baldur’s Gate 3

Post Early Access, I was appointed as the lead designer for the origin and companion characters on Baldur’s Gate 3, and I worked in this role for 3 years until the game shipped.

This role involved:

  • Planning characters’ questlines in collaboration with characters’ assigned writers.

  • Communicating the quest designs to the scripting teams, and working with scripters to design blow-by-blow gameplay flow for the player.

  • Collaborating with cinematic artists on the visual direction of companion scenes.

  • Work on production and budgeting estimates for the companions characters as a feature.

  • Provide VO/mocap contextual aid for actors and directors.

  • Writing dialogue for characters!

My main dialogue contributions were writing the Dark Urge origin story, and writing a lot of post early-access Astarion, but I was also required to work adaptably to be the default extra writer whenever any companion’s work needed finishing.

A particular emphasis of my design goals when entering the company was in improving the romance arcs for the games. Making content for a generation who have grown up reading Fanfiction, and making our dreams come true. And, erm, the infamous bear scene was originally my pitch, if that’s any qualification.

Writing samples

Below are all sample scenes for which the dialogue was my writing. My work in quest design is spread across the companions.

This is the Dark Urge Introduction scene:

In this scene, the Dark Urge has gone insane, and can only kill to serve the God of Murder. They are sent to kill their former allies.

In this clip, the dark urge has been possessed, and kills a new ally who joined their camp:

Astarion’s love confession scene in act 2, after he has been trying to manipulate the player through seduction in act 1:

Astarion’s act 3 evil Ascendant route scene romance scene:

he butler character dialogue was some of my favourite to write, as a mixture of camp comedy and creepiness, desensitising the player intentionally to the horrors they wrought. Treating extreme violence as just playfulnnaughtiness was inspired by the texture of the dialogue in A Clockwork Orange:

Much of the background interstitial quest dialogue for Astarion in act 2 and 3 was my work, as well as the Dark Urge/Astarion expanded romance throughline throughout the game: