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Sins of the Father

Creator, Narrative Designer

Project Snapshot

Sins of the Father is a story-heavy standalone Fallout 4 mod where the player is hired by a little girl to kill her own parents. Featuring a custom interior and exterior, six unique custom NPCs, 516 lines of dialog, and three possible endings; Sins of the Father will leave the player thinking about their choices for a long time.

Engine: Fallout 4 Creation Kit

Role: Designer/Scripter/Narrative Designer

Team Size: 1

Platform: PC

Project Goals

Make an Enjoyable Companion Character

  • Lizzie, our companion character, had to have a sympathetic backstory.

  • She couldn't be mopey and had to be enjoyable to be around even if someone doesn't like children.

  • She had to have lots of ambient dialog to make her feel like a companion rather than a fetch quest NPC.

Give an Unexpectedly Compelling Choice

  • I needed a conflict which would look cut and dried on the face of it, and then give players reason why it wasn't.

  • Players have different moral sensibilities, so there must be many possible arguments for moral choices.

  • All possible arguments had to be based in arguments people in those real life circumstances have made.

Humanize Terrible People

  • I had to create characters that the player would instantly dislike for good reason.

  • The characters had to only do what a real human could reasonably do in the same circumstances.

  • The characters needed a chance to state their case and have their case be reinforced by the environment.

The NPCs

Lizzie, the Companion

  • Ingratiates herself to the player early with a tragic backstory and a witty sense of humor.

  • Never dies or gets in the way during combat.

  • Has constant unique ambient dialog to make her feel like a person.

The Neighbors

  • One neighbor for every possible ending, arguing why the player should decide a certain way.

  • Each corroborate the facts, but offer different perspectives.

  • One says that they regret not doing the same thing Lizzie's parents did.

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The Parents

  • Made a decision the player will find repugnant, and express no remorse for it.

  • Confront Lizzie in a scene that can be as empty or cathartic as the player guides.

  • Modeled after real life parents forced into similar circumstances who make similar decisions.

The Environments

Custom Exterior

  • First view upon arrival is the only three surviving residents, barren farming land, and the house of Lizzie's parents looming on the hill.

  • Full of graves to emphasize what has been lost, and an ambush from raiders to emphasize the danger.

  • Each building full of objects that indicate who sleeps there, such as a photograph of a dead girl.

Custom Interior

  • First view upon arrival is several mattresses on the floor and one queen-sized bed... and a crib.

  • Parents are in the kitchen without any escape or weapon, effectively making killing them an execution rather than a fight.

The Narrative

Dialog

  • Dialog written to  deepen player's understanding of an NPC's internal life, even when important information is being conveyed.
  • Each NPC's internal life is given motivation that would be consistent with a real world person's in their situation.

Story Beats

  • Lizzie's request to kill her parents inspires curiosity, and she tells the player it is revenge for selling her. This sets up one possible choice for an ending--killing her parents for revenge.
  • Player meets the neighbors, who give their perspective and introduce two other choices--refusing to punish the parents, and finding a nonviolent solution.
  • No matter what choice the player makes, Lizzie will not be happy in the end. Retribution does not heal her trauma.

Gallery

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