About Me
Narrative Designer | Quest Designer | Worldbuilding & Dialogue
Professional Profile
I'm Andres Valbuena, a narrative designer and quest designer. I build branching quests, faction-driven dialogue, and reactive systems for games where player choices have weight.
I came to narrative design through modding — writing nation paths and event text for Hearts of Iron IV total conversions before moving into quest design for Fallout: Cascadia and Beyond Skyrim: Elsweyr in Creation Kit, and original narrative systems in Articy Draft for Schism at Far Owl Studios. That path taught me to write for existing IPs, match house styles, and deliver implementation-ready content within distributed teams.
Key Achievements
Academic
Tencent Game Scholarship (2024–2025), GMU Computer Game Design. BA in Computer Game Design.
Industry
Gold, 2025 GDC Game Narrative Review. My analysis of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines examined how systems, player agency, and environmental narrative work together to create one of the most reactive RPGs ever shipped.
Seeking: Narrative Designer roles: writing, worldbuilding, and systems that put player choices and consequences first. Portfolio & samples: Writing Samples.
Background
- GM (100+ sessions): D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e, Foundry VTT: branching narratives, live system balance, consistency across player choices.
- Events & Scheduling Manager: 1000-attendee convention: programming, vendors, operations; PM and coordination under pressure.
- Writing & research: Fiction, original worlds; medieval history, theology, comparative mythology for grounded worldbuilding.
Favorite Games
Click a game to read why each matters to me.