How Does a Narrative Game Designer Do Her Job?

Working’s peek into the business of fun and games continues this week when Jordan chats with Alison Luhrs, who works for Wizards of the Coast, the part of Hasbro that is responsible for the classic fantasy games Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.

Alison’s job is one you may never have imagined existed. As a narrative designer for D&D and Magic, she does the world building that brings these games to life for the fans. Alison is not only coming up with characters and spells, but also inventing all the backstory, rules, and lore that go into an entire fantasy world. For the fantastical worlds she creates, she knows everything from how the economy works down to, as she says, each character’s favorite ice cream flavor.

Email: working@slate.com