ASPEN CLARK
MISSION DESIGNER
STARFIELD
Starfield is a new sci-fi RPG from Bethesda Game Studios. Set in the distant future, Starfield tells the story of Constellation, a small group of explorers searching for truth among the stars. Their quest unfolds against the expansive background of the Settled Systems, a galaxy teeming with richly-imagined characters and fascinating locations.
MY CONTRIBUTIONS
As a Quest Designer on Starfield, I was responsible for filling the Settled Systems with life. My primary responsibilities were character development, writing dialogue, designing and implementing in-game quest content, and scripting.
My primary contribution was owning and implementing the dialogue and basic behaviors for Starfield's 25 Hireable Companions. If you've hired a talkative Crewmate at a bar in Starfield, you've encountered one of my characters! I also created linear quest content for some of Starfield's cities, and randomly-generated, repeatable quest content for POI locations.
Read on to learn more about the characters I created and the stories I told in Starfield.
COMPANIONS
When I joined the Starfield team, I was tasked with creating a suite of 25 hireable Companions to accompany the player on their travels and assist with tasks onboard their ship. Some of these characters were members of Starfield's main factions, who the player encountered while playing the main storyline and then later had the option to hire. The majority were my original creations - characters I invented names, backstories, and roles for during my first few weeks on Starfield. The Crewmates represent an immensely varied group of Settled Systems residents with unique skills and perspectives, which the player learns more about as they travel with them.
Image Credit: Bethesda Game Studios
DESIGNING THE CREWMATES
When I began working on the Crewmates, my goal was to create as diverse a group of people as possible. Since Starfield is an RPG, I wanted to design at least one character that would fit with most playstyles, so that even players who don’t enjoy conversations with their Companions would be in good company. Before I began writing any dialogue, I created a loose spreadsheet that categorized my characters based on their main traits, and what kind of player I thought they would appeal to. This helped me begin to formulate backstories, and search for places in the Settled Systems where these characters would be at home.
I categorized each Crewmate by their key features. This helped me create a cast with unique skills and personalities.
The most gameplay-important aspect of the Crewmates is their suite of Crew Skills, which provide passive buffs to the player’s ship or outpost, or to the Crewmate who has them. I wanted my characters to feel realistic, so I chose each of their skills based on which character type they are. “Fighter” characters were assigned weapons-based skills, “Explorer” characters were equipped with skills to help the player in the field, etc..
When a player meets a Crewmate at a bar, they can ask them about their skills and expertise. I used each Crewmate’s assigned skills as a springboard for their backstory by asking myself “what kind of person in the Settled Systems would have this particular expertise?” By using their Crew Skills as a foundation for their backstories, I was able to keep each Crewmate’s story and personality focused on one or two key traits, and constantly remind the player how the Crewmates can be useful in gameplay.
During Recruitment, players can ask Rosie what kind of doctor she is. This gives them a bit of insight into her skills.
CREATING CHARACTER VOICES
By the time I began writing dialogue for the Crewmates, I'd already developed loose ideas about their backstories and personalities. After figuring out further specifics like hometown, occupation, and family situation, I outlined different speaking styles and quirks for each Crewmate. Because one writer was handling so many Companions, I knew there was a very real possibility that my personal style might shine through and make my characters all sound the same. Creating unique speech quirks and patterns for each character was one way to prevent this. I also had certain characters (generally Talkers) give unique nicknames to the player once they were hired, which adds extra flavor to interactions with them. Autumn MacMillan referring to the player as “Deputy” while she works for them is one of my favorite examples.
Autumn continues to call the player "Deputy" even after they've attained the rank of "Freestar Ranger", for old times' sake.
A technique I used to keep myself “on script” for each character was reading their dialogue out loud as I wrote. One silver lining of developing the Crewmates remotely during Covid-19 quarantines was that I had my office to myself, so I could easily act out dialogue without disturbing anyone but my cats. I leaned into this technique heavily when it came to writing for characters that I shared with other quest designers. In these situations, I was working with established character speech habits rather than coming up with my own, which made conforming to character voices more difficult. I checked for consistency by reading my dialogue aloud followed directly by another writer’s dialogue for the same character. This made it much easier to detect when my writing wasn’t matching up, and make the necessary corrections.
BIOS AND BACKSTORIES
The Crewmates come from all walks of life, and all corners of the Settled Systems. Their backstories are revealed to the player through optional dialogue scenes and comments they make while traveling. Each Crewmate also responds to a standard set of combat events and shipboard happenings. Certain characters talk more than others, but on average each Crewmate has about 500 lines of dialogue, all of which were written by me. All 25 Crewmates have at least five scenes with role-playing opportunities for the player, so they have plenty of options for how to interact with their favorite characters.
Click through the gallery for more detailed descriptions of each character.
AMELIA
ANDROMEDA
AUTUMN
BETTY
EZEKIEL
AMELIA
DANI
ERICK
GIDEON
HADRIAN
HELLER
AMELIA
JESSAMINE
LIN
MATHIS
LYLE
MARIKA
OMARI
MICKEY
MOARA
ROSIE
OTHER YOU
RAFAEL
VASCO
SIMEON
SOPHIA
All videos belong to their original creators, not me. Images courtesy of Bethesda Game Studios.