Introduction 1

Character Images 2
Lore, Setting, Genres and Themes 5
Story Outline 7
What parts will I need? 11
Art 11
Writing 12
Audio 13

Introduction
This is my planning document for my Dissertation.
Most of these ideas aren’t fully developed but this is where I’ll develop them.

The characters I’m focusing on are:

Larimar, a man born with infernal blood who has been trained to be a Paladin.
- He stands at 6’5ft
- He is almost statuesque when he’s standing still, you can barely see him breathe.
- He moves quietly unless he’s in armour.
- He is calm, collected and careful, but brave, kind and gentle. He tries to be the opposite
of what people might first think of him.
- He tries to perform simple acts of good (like helping someone with their groceries,
helping a family cover food, clearing a path of snow or leaves, etc)

Ethjorn, a man born with celestial blood who has trained to be a Paladin.
- He stands at exactly 6ft.
- He fidgets and cannot stand still, like he’s always itching for action.
- He was raised with the idea that he is THE hero.
- He isn’t sure who he is, but he performs as though he is confident, brave, strong,
sociable, agreeable, and rather stupidly reckless, yet selfless to a fault.

Larimar’s Playlist

Ethjorn’s Playlist
 Character Images
Character Driven Narrative based around Larimar (Left) and Ethjorn (Right).
 Lore, Setting, Genres and Themes
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance (slow burn)

Setting: High Fantasy

Themes: Self-discovery, overcoming differences in the face of a common enemy/goal,

insecurities, nature vs nurture, breaking out of expectations

Relevant Lore:
- People born with celestial blood are often seen as good omens, or signs of good fortune
to come, often also seen as protectors and guardians.
- They don’t always look outwardly divine, other than silvery hair and bright,
luminescent eyes. Sometimes they also have other tells, Ethjorn has two scars
under his right eye that are actually eyes, and fangs.
- They can all manifest wings and halos, Ethjorns halo is composed of eyes.
- People born with infernal blood are seen as ill omens and signs of poor fortune,
sometimes also seen as harbingers of misfortune and doom.
- They always look more outwardly infernal, with horns, tails, spines, abnormal skin
tones, fangs and claws.
- They have no control over their appearance. Larimar has grown up having to
hide it using paint, wigs and glasses or masks.
- Ethjorn comes from the most powerful family in their city.
- The city is called Goldcrest
- Ethjorn’s Father is called Sigbrand, and his mother is called Ivy.
- Ethjorn’s surname is Sigbrandson (Using a nordic naming scheme)
- His parents both loved him dearly, but felt into the trap of viewing him as a sign of
good things to come.
- He trained to be a Paladin because he wanted to follow in his fathers footsteps
and do good, but also because that was what was expected of him.
- He was posited to be the hero, the savior, the guardian, the protector, his entire
life.
- He never knew true connection with other people because they either worshiped
the ground he walked on, only wanted to get close to him for their own gain, or
didn’t like him and steered well away from him because of his reputation.
- He doesn’t really know who he is, he’s just been following what other people
expected of him his entire life. He doesn’t want to admit this though.
- He doesn’t want to admit that he’s resentful of not having a childhood and having
to stick to expectations.
- He believes that the reason why he was born was because he was
destined to be a hero and there was no way for him to fight that.
 - He puts on a front of bravado, confidence and extroversion, but really he hates it.
He feels like he’s lying through his teeth and he’s terrified that if he lets it drop
everyone will turn on him.
- This is only compounded by the fact that he doesn’t know who he is
without it.
- When asked who he is, he usually answers with “The hero!” and a laugh.
- Ethjorn functions on the idea of being an avenger, so this does mean he can be
slow to act to save someone preemptively, but it also means he’s more brutal in
combat as he fights on his own honour to avenge someone.
- Larimar comes from a backwater town called Bent Willow
- His father is called Turk, and his mother is called Agatha
- His father sold him to a devil before he was born in exchange for his own life,
cursing him.
- His father did not like that he sired a child with infernal blood, refused to
acknowledge it was his fault, and forced Larimar to hide it, then put him through
rigorous training to train him as a Paladin in an attempt to “Purify” him.
- His mother tried to protect him from this, and showed him kindness and taught
him to be gentle, patient and kind. She loved him despite his horns.
- Larimar knows who he is firmly, as he decided he would run from home when he
was old enough. This resulted in the fiend that wanted its debt paid hunting him,
and sent a lesser fiend to take him.
- Larimar would end up at Goldcrest dragging its corpse behind him, half
dead.
- Larimar believes he has nothing to lose and nothing to prove to anyone. As far as
he’s concerned, the only person he should prove anything to is himself.
- He’s naturally wary and doesn’t trust people who are putting on a front - this is
why he doesn’t like Ethjorn at first, he doesn’t like that he’s clearly putting up a
facade.
- He clocks pretty early on after meeting Ethjorn that he’s putting up a front and
he’s really a scared, lonely individual.
- It's the fact that Larimar can read him like this that draws Ethjorn to him.
- Larimar does not emote much. Every expression is carefully curated to not give
much away, and he’s trained himself to be entirely still even if he’s brimming with
rage, despite the instinct to wave his tail or tilt his ears or bare his teeth.
- This also extends to when he’s happy too.
- Perhaps infernal people can purr, which Larimar might not be able
to control as easily, so it’s his best tell.
- The reason why he stops himself emoting is because of his father, but
also years of living with his ears and tail restrained.
- Perhaps to a point he’s almost forgotten how to.
- Larimar functions off the idea of being a guardian, so he’ll often step in to prevent
a problem before it escalates. He uses his height and intimidating features to
diffuse situations, but it makes it difficult for him to then try to calm victims.
- This does upset him, but he tries to not let it bother him.
 Story Outline
Vague Story Beats:
- Ethjorn’s first impressions of Larimar, and Larimar’s first impressions of Ethjorn
- Ethjorn thinks Larimar is scary, and potentially a threat.
- Larimar thinks Ethjorn is a brat that’s too full of himself with an ego that’ll get him
killed.
- Ethjorn being drawn to Larimar being very open about what he thinks about him
- Larimar beats Ethjorn in sparring, making Ethjorn have to come to terms with the
fact that he is not, in fact, the strongest person in the city other than his parents
and mentor.
- Larimar makes sure Ethjorn knows he thinks he’s an egotistical, reckless brat. He
also picks apart his skill with a sword.
- Ethjorn tries to make Larimar like him, but it doesn’t work. If anything, it makes Larimar
realise just how insecure Ethjorn is.
- Ethjorn tries buying him drinks at the tavern, covering his tabs, trying to help him
with things like polishing his armour or weapons, but he ends up just getting in
the way and annoying Larimar more, leading to Larimar to snap at him.
- “Are you really such a lost child that you have to bother me?”
- Ethjorn is suddenly faced with the fact that Larimar knows exactly what he’s doing. He
doesn’t know how to respond to him, so he just leaves.
- Later he has a crushing realisation that he doesn’t know who he is, truly, and
without the idea of him being “The Hero”, or the expectations people have of him,
he doesn’t know who he is. He can’t name a single thing about himself that isn’t
linked to one of those two things. He doesn’t even know what he really likes and
dislikes.
- This leads to a change in his demeanour around people, despite him trying to
smile through it like normal.
- Ethjorn confronts Larimar and blames him for his mental breakdown over everything, but
Larimar just tells him that Ethjorn clearly already knew that and was just in denial if he
had such a reaction to that.
- Ethjorn keeps trying to get closer to Larimar, because by now he’s fascinated by how
easily Larimar could read him, so he tries to do things he knows will please him. This
doesn’t work.
- Eventually Larimar snaps at him again and asks why he keeps trying to act like
they’re friends, despite blaming him for his own freakout.
- Ethjorn blurts out that it's because Larimar is the closest thing he’s had to a
genuine connection with someone.
- Larimar pities him for this a bit.
- Larimar allows Ethjorn to spend time with him, on the condition that it’s on his terms.
This means Ethjorn is forced to stay quiet - he finds this difficult.
 - Larimar is patient with Ethjorn and shows him the simple pleasures of reading,
stargazing, sitting by a river or a waterfall, and tending to your own armour
instead of getting other people to do it.
- Ethjorn finds he enjoys these things and begins doing them on his own.
- Ethjorn excitedly tells Larimar that he thinks he’s figured out what he likes. Larimar
doesn’t understand the meaning of this at first, but as he listens to Ethjorn talk excitedly
about how he knows what books he likes and his favourite stars, he comes to the rather
sad realisation that Ethjorn is a blank slate.
- Ethjorn asks Larimar to keep doing things with him so he can figure out what else
he likes.
- Larimar remarks that Ethjorn seems excitable. Ethjorn seems ecstatic to hear
this.
- Sigbrand and other high Paladins are aware that Larimar is being hunted and had been
struggling to find a suitable group to hunt the fiend responsible. Larimar is told he and
Ethjorn, under the guidance of Ayer, Ethjorn’s mentor, were to go out and hunt it
together, seeing as it was drawn to him, and Ethjorn is The Hero of the city without doing
any true heroics.
- Ethjorn is at first happy with this idea because he wants to help Larimar. He’s
also nervous, because he’s slowly been realising that Larimar is stronger than
him by a significant amount, and the implications of this scare him more than he
wants to admit.
- Larimar isn’t enthused with the idea.
- Ethjorn’s true personality is still reckless, but selfless to a fault, confident to the point of
arrogance at times and with too much bravado for his own good, and he is a truly
sociable person. He just never felt attached to those qualities because he thought they
were part of the same script his title of “hero” was.
- It took Larimar pushing him to figure himself out for him to realise this, and he’s
over the moon to find this out.
- Ethjorn has a good head for strategy and is actually wickedly smart, and quite
brutal in his decisions. He’s adaptable and figures out that he can weaponize his
fake personality to his advantage.
- Ethjorn at first has the belief of “I must save everyone”
- Larimar teaches him that it’s okay to not save everyone.
- Ethjorn eventually evolves this mentality into “Not everyone can be saved,
so I’ll save who I can.”
- He realises that he can surprise opponents using hostages by calling their
bluff if he thinks they’re only using them to try to lure him in. If they die, it
means he can avenge them with more force. If they don’t, it means he
can save them. Either way, it works out for him.
- Larimar slowly learns to open up and let Ethjorn in, and they find that they’re really quite
similar in the end. He also learns to trust and not be so cold. But also that he does have
something to lose. That something turns out to be Ethjorn, as during an altercation with
the fiend Ethjorn gets badly hurt, and Larimar finds himself terrified of losing him.
 - Larimar doesn’t want to admit it, but he has enjoyed watching Ethjorn figure
himself out and become a person he actually likes.
- He does also genuinely like this person Ethjorn has grown into.
- Ethjorn will lay down his life for Larimar because he sees him as the person that made
him into a person. In doing this, he’s finally fulfilling being a hero in a way that fits him,
because heroism isn’t a cut and dry concept.
- Larimar will lay down his life for Ethjorn because he finally trusts him.
- Somewhere during their journey together Ethjorn begins to realise he may have feelings
for Larimar.
- He admires how he does simple good without thinking, his patience, his quiet
kindness and how he does things without expecting anything in return.
- Larimar is what Ethjorn had always wanted to be.
- He loves how gentle and kind he is to him, even despite how he saw him to begin
with.
- He also loves that Larimar is brave, but careful, and that he doesn’t seem to hold
grudges. He’s serene, calm,and Ethjorn’s idea of a true saint, even though
Larimar can be too careful, and sometimes wary of new people and things, and
he often comes across as cold at first.
- Realizing he might have these feelings is a bit difficult for him to come to terms
with at first.
- Perhaps a point that really solidified this was Larimar putting himself in
harm's way to defend Ethjorn without thinking.
- Larimar usually would think about this action before doing it.
- Ethjorn thinks he’s hiding it from Larimar but he’s not. He’s got a terrible poker
face.
- In general, Ethjorn is a terrible liar.
- Larimar also has some feelings for Ethjorn, especially because he’s gotten to watch him
grow as a person. He adores the person Ethjorn had managed to grow into, despite his
recklessness and overconfidence. He’s better at hiding it than Ethjorn is, though,
because he still can’t shake off the years he spent barely emoting.
- He does, however, emote more with Ethjorn.
- Partially because it sets Ethjorn more at ease when his body language is clearer,
otherwise he tends to look perpetually annoyed.

Maybe they’re sent off together on this mission while Ethjorn is still bothering Larimar, and
Larimar shows him these simple pleasures he enjoys while they’re travelling because Ethjorn
grows restless over not having his creature comforts (warm baths, servants, lots of food and
alcohol, sports, bards and purchased company). Larimar grew up without these things, so he
can more easily adapt to travelling because his idea of comfort and relaxation is much different
and much simpler.

Part of Ethjorn growing as a person is spurred on by being shown a simpler way of life by
traveling with Larimar on this mission.
Ethjorn loses confidence when his idea of his sense of self gets challenged, but gains it back as
Larimar lets him figure himself out while they travel.

Ethjorn finds it hard to see Larimar’s flaws after a while, but Larimar has to assert that he has
them and they shouldn’t be ignored. He isn’t perfect, no-one is, and perfection is an impossible
standard to achieve. It hurts people more than it helps.

Ethjorn’s story is about finding himself and learning to break out of the role he was put in his
whole life, then reshape it to be truly his, and something he takes real pride in.

Larimar’s story is about learning to let people in after being hurt so badly by someone so close
to him (his father) and slowly opening back up again, and letting himself be a person instead of
a statuesque guardian.

Maybe the story concludes with Larimar being honest with his feelings to Ethjorn, and Ethjorn
being honest in turn.
- Perhaps a brief epilogue on how they have to figure out how a relationship works,
because neither of them actually know how a romantic relationship is supposed to play
out.
- Or maybe this is right near the end, and it ends with something like “We’ll figure it out
together, just like how we figured everything else out together.”?
What parts will I need?

Art
- Character Designs
- Larimar
- Ethjorn
- NPCs
- Ayer (Mentor)
- Ethjorn’s Father
- Ethjorn’s Mother
- Larimar’s Father (?)
- Larimar’s Mother (?)
- Generic NPC
- Fiend
- Character Sprites
- Larimar and Ethjorn might have outfit variations
- Armour
- Casual Wear
- Larimar and Ethjorn
- Neutral
- Happy
- Angry
- Furious
- Surprised
- Confused
- Scared
- Confident
- Laughing
- Flustered
- Upset
- Remorseful/Sad
- Larimar might have slightly different sprites that are more openly
expressive later in the story as he gets more comfortable with Ethjorn
- This might include moving the ears and the tail more, or having
him bare his teeth when he smiles
- Fiend
- Angry
- Taunting
- Surprised
 - Afraid
- Grinning
- Attacking
- NPCs
- Neutral
- Surprised
- Angry
- Sad
- Happy
- Rendered 2D Splash Screens
- Using these instead of animated cutscenes
- Used during high intensity moments
- Characters had a significant disagreement
- Characters had a notable moment (like a heart-to-heart)
- A Fight
- A realization
- Etc.
- Depending on the story beats
- Environment Art
- Art found online and credited to original owners generally, apart from Rendered
scenes where I would be drawing the background
- This is because I do not focus on Environment art, and it is not the focus of this
project
- I will need:
- Inside the temple areas
- Infirmary
- Hallway
- Bedroom
- Canteen
- Inside the city
- Outside the city walls
- Travelling
- Fields
- Forest
- Mountain?

Writing
- I will need to narrow down the story beats and write a “Script” for the story.
- I will need to figure out player agency, perhaps through dialogue options
- So far my story beats are:
- Introducing the Characters
- Characters meet
- Larimar and Ethjorn butt heads
- Ethjorn realizing that Larimar reads him like a book
 - The Pair are put together to hunt the Fiend hunting Larimar
- Larimar snaps at Ethjorn, leading to Ethjorn blurting out his
insecurities, which also leads to Larimar going easier on him.
- First Encounter with the Fiend
- Larimar explains his history with it to Ethjorn
- Ethjorn tries to get closer to Larimar, so Larimar sets his
boundaries with him and shows him simple joys because Ethjorn
finds it hard to settle.
- Ethjorn begins to grow as a person as he gets used to this
- There would be a time skip at this point to allow for
significant growth over the course of a few days, shown by
splash art?
- Second Encounter with the Fiend
- Ethjorn begins to realise his feelings for Larimar
- He’s a terrible Liar, and it’s clear Larimar knows
- Larimar has feelings for him too, after seeing him grow as a
person, but he’s better at hiding it
- His reasoning is that he doesn’t want to get attached in
case their last encounter with the fiend is also the last time
he has Ethjorn around
- Ethjorn gets significantly more reckless on their final encounter
with the Fiend in an effort to protect Larimar and gets knocked
down.
- Larimar steps in front of Ethjorn to defend him, surprising him.
- Splash art for this
- Larimar gives Ethjorn a little pep talk, maybe hints to him at his
own feelings to get Ethjorn back on his feet (Also magical healing)
- They defeat the fiend.
- As they’re travelling back, they have a scene on a hill under a tree
and the stars, where they have set up camp. Ethjorn confesses to
Larimar, who tells him he already knew and feels the same.
- Larimar apologises for his previous attitude towards Ethjorn,
Ethjorn apologises for being so pushy.
- They end up back at their city, where the story ends. Perhaps with
a comment on how Ethjorn is going to have to explain this to his
parents.

Audio
- Will likely use royalty free music for background music, and find appropriate
sound effects for certain moments
- Considering doing Voice Acting for the characters, at least with indicator noises.
- I likely will not be making my own audio for the most part.
- I know I’ll need:
- Background Music
 - Inside the main temple
- A theme for Ethjorn ?
- A theme for Larimar ?
- The sparring yard
- Inside the city
- Outside the city walls
Travelling
- Combat
- Sound effects
- Footsteps
- Stone
- Grass
- In armour
- Stone
- Grass
- Button press
- Sword swings
- Hit
- Fiend growling
- General Hubbub of crowds

Software
- I will likely use RenPy or something similar to create an Interactive Visual Novel
- Paint Tool SAI for the 2D art
- Audacity to edit any audio I might need to

Research
- Aim: How character design helps with player empathy
- I will be looking for papers focused on Narrative Design and Character Design in
games
- The Games Narrative Toolbox
- Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames
- Creating Emotions in Games
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Wolf Among Us
- KAIPLAY Conference
- Empathy Papers?
- Techniques for Player Empathy
- Look for one for next meeting
- User Studys
- Player Empathy
- Do the techniques work?
- Does the player empathise with the characters?
- Character Design