Medieval Narrative Designer: Worldbuilding & Quests

Finitude; United States; Remote; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Finitude’s Narrative Designer role invites you to build a 13th-century world for Kinstrife, blending narrative with systems-driven gameplay. You’ll design and develop characters, quests, factions, and core themes, turning historical research into immersive experiences while partnering with a systems designer.

You’ll shape the vibe, backstories, and long-running arcs, craft reactive quests with multiple solutions, and ensure the world feels alive beyond exposition.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience designing worlds and quests for systemic, non-linear and/or open-ended games, through a shipped title or reference work.
• Strong instincts for vibe, worldbuilding and tone with taste to improve the game.
• Thinking in systems—consider stories within gameplay structure, not just prose.
• Ability to turn obscure topics into interesting, playable content.
• Self-driven and team-oriented with a clear design goal from research to delivery.

Responsibilities

• Own the “vibe”: define experiential qualities and align systems/content to that target flavour.
• Iterate on core themes so they land through play rather than exposition.
• Own player backstory, motivation and arc across a long campaign.
• Design quests to be reactive, multi-solution and with long-term consequences in linked systems.
• Build the game world to evoke 13th-century Germany and its mysteries, beyond mere set-dressing.
• Design companions and the player’s retinue with gameplay and choice in mind.
• Shape the choice architecture with the founders and systems designer and bring it to life.
• Develop worldbuilding, factions and characters that give the world its identity and internal logic.

Skills

Worldbuilding

Quests design

System design

Open-ended games

Fluent in English

Job description

Finitude’s Narrative Designer role invites you to build a 13th-century world for Kinstrife, blending narrative with systems-driven gameplay. You’ll design and develop characters, quests, factions, and core themes, turning historical research into immersive experiences while partnering with a systems designer.

You’ll shape the vibe, backstories, and long-running arcs, craft reactive quests with multiple solutions, and ensure the world feels alive beyond exposition.