Contents -- Introduction -- PART I: BACKGROUND -- Chapter 1 Myths and Equations -- Why Make Games? -- Why Tell Stories in Games? -- One Last Equation -- Chapter 2 The Story Remains the Same -- Aristotle and Those Other Greeks -- Jung's Collective Unconscious -- Campbell's The Hero's Journey -- Primary Sources -- From The Great Train Robbery to Birth of a Nation -- The Language of Drama and Film -- PART II: CREATING CHARACTERS -- Chapter 3 Respecting Characters -- Three Dimensions -- Character Progression -- The Pivotal Character -- The Player-Character -- Chapter 4 Character Roles -- The Character's Role in Story -- Populating the World -- Commentary and Gossip -- Living Useful Lives -- The Player-Character Revisited (Protagonist) -- Death of a Player-Character -- Villains (Antagonists) -- Mentors -- Sidekicks -- Servants and Pets -- Merchants -- Trainers -- Quest Givers -- Chapter 5 Character Traits -- Mobility -- Physical Skills -- Professions -- Race -- Sex -- Character Emotion -- Characters in Opposition -- Memory -- Revealing Character Through Action -- Chapter 6 Character Encounters -- Perception -- Perspective (First Person Versus Third Person) -- Dialogue -- Dialogue Systems -- Entrances and Exits -- Return Visits -- Relationships -- PART III: TELLING THE STORY -- Chapter 7 Once Upon a Time -- Building a Home for Characters -- Story or Game: Which Comes First? -- Original Material -- Adaptations from Other Media -- Sequels -- Finding a Style That Fits -- Linear Versus Non-Linear -- Avoiding Clichés -- Chapter 8 Respecting Story -- Willing Suspension of Disbelief -- The Fourth Wall -- The Trap of Cut Scenes -- The Trap of Too Much Backstory -- The Trap of Letting Players "Discover" the Story -- Verisimilitude -- Expressionism -- Symbolism -- Consistency of the World -- Setting -- Weather -- Scope and Scale.

Chapter 9 Bringing the Story to Life -- Foreshadowing -- Point of Attack -- The Obligatory Scene -- Reversals -- Arcs -- Exposition in Action -- Chapter 10 Games: Charting New Territory -- Characters Revisited -- Puzzling Developments -- Quests -- Types of Quests -- Rewards -- The Story Up Till Now -- Chapter 11 Story Chiropractics -- Heart: Player Emotion -- Mind: Sharing the Theme -- Funny Bone: ROFLMAO! -- Chapter 12 Editing -- Collaboration -- Adapting to the Engine You End Up With -- Stopping the Bleeding When You Cut Levels and Areas -- Polishing Dialogue -- Copy Editing -- Chapter 13 The Roots of a New Storytelling -- The Odyssey -- The Canterbury Tales -- Don Quixote de la Mancha -- Charles Dickens and Publishing in Parts -- Saturday Morning at the Movies (Movie Serials) -- Dennis Wheatley's Crime Dossiers -- Daytime Soap Operas -- Episodic Television -- Chapter 14 Modular Storytelling -- The Yoke of Narrative -- Nesting Modules -- Structuring Chaos -- Adventures in a Non-Linear World -- PART IV: GAMES PEOPLE PLAY -- Chapter 15 Game Types -- Action -- Adventure -- Role-Playing -- Simulations -- Strategy -- Multiplayer -- Chapter 16 Game Genres -- Fantasy -- Science Fiction -- War -- Espionage -- Crime -- Mystery -- Horror -- Romance -- Western -- Chapter 17 Console Games -- Demographics -- Push the Button, Get the Story -- Integration Versus Cut Scenes -- How Story Enhances Gameplay -- Cooperative Games (Minimally Multiplayer) -- The Incredible Shrinking Game -- Chapter 18 Bringing Virtual Worlds to Life -- The Roots of Role-Playing -- Scope and Scale -- Death of a Player-Character Revisited -- The Social World -- Footprints in the Sand -- The Trap of Episodic Structure -- Chapter 19 Enabling Story in Virtual Worlds -- Thousands of Heroes -- Ongoing Story -- Revealing Story -- True Multiplayer Quests -- Crowd Control -- Variety.

Hiding the Numbers -- Empowering Emergent Storytelling -- PART V: REFLECTIONS -- Chapter 20 The Responsible Writer -- PART VI: APPENDICES -- Appendix A: Opinionated Bibliography -- Appendix B: Developer Primer on Building Writing Teams -- Introduction -- Team Configurations -- The Lead Writer -- The Staff -- Additional Considerations -- Conclusion -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z.