Wizards of the Coast Is Hiring a D&D Worldbuilder

Wizards of the Coast is looking to hire someone to build new worlds for Dungeons & Dragons. Over the weekend, Wizards of the Coast posted a new job listing for a "Senior Narrative Worldbuilding Designer for Dungeons & Dragons." The new position will help Wizards of the Coast "create exciting and inspirational new settings" alongside developing existing settings. Notably, this isn't a position limited to the D&D RPG design team - the position will also work with "ensuring narrative consistency" across video games, entertainment and the D&D RPG.

At a press event earlier this year, D&D franchise head Jess Lanzillo mentioned that new campaign settings were potentially on the way. "With Jeremy Crawford taking on the game director role and then Chris Perkins taking on the creative director role is that we were able to really reestablish a world building environment," Lanzillo said. "What does that mean? We can really establish our worlds and settings like the Forgotten Realms and also look to creating new ones again. That's something that we are working on and we don't have anything to really discuss today other than to tell you like we are re-establishing everything that we have and we are going to make some new stuff too."

The full job listing is below:

We are hiring a Senior Narrative Worldbuilding Designer for Dungeons & Dragons. In this role, you will create exciting and inspirational new settings and develop existing ones. The settings you create will become part of our ever-expanding multiverse. Working closely with others in our creative team, you will give life to legendary characters, intertwine the narratives of D&D stories across various platforms, and provide new content for internal and external partners to play with across all expressions of D&D. We need a world builder with strong writing skills, a collaborative spirit, and a focused imagination.

What You'll Do:

• Build and develop comprehensive narrative worldbuilding materials for the D&D franchise
• Design and flesh out new worlds, locations, and settings within the D&D multiverse
• Evolve and expand existing D&D settings through compelling narrative development
• Build and develop franchise-level characters, factions, and storylines
• Ensure narrative consistency across the franchise portfolio including video games, entertainment, and the RPG
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align worldbuilding elements across different media
• Develop detailed lore documentation and creative briefs for our fans, partners, and team members.
• Lead narrative development for our world bibles and style guides

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Decent pay for a job where you get to update SharePoint all day.

Fixed that for you

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Decent pay for a job where you get to play D&D all day.

But I got to remind myself there is like one oprtunity like this every few year, don't follow your dreams, stick to your soul crushing but steady boring job, you made the right decision, happiness is a myth...

Yeah I'm afraid @Sorcerers Apprentice is 100% correct in correcting you here.

This is a job which is likely to be:

1) Going to tons and tons of meetings.

2) Reading and sending a ton of email.

3) Updating a lot of documents and databases (possibly SharePoint!)

4) Doing some creative writing but more likely deciding on which elements of other people's creative writing to use/go with/make canon - and then having to explain and defend those decisions in aforementioned meetings and emails.

I'm not saying it would be a completely unfun job, but like, it's probably going to be quite a lot of hard work, and probably less emotionally and creatively rewarding than one where you were being paid to work on something original, rather than this huge stack of an IP. Also, if your direction doesn't work out, you'll probably get the boot after a year or three.

 

[TwoSix]

I thought it was agreed that meta plots suck by the 00's?

Sure, but that was 25 years ago. Much like Kendrick wearing bell bottoms, we're right in line for a reboot of the early '00s.

 

[payn]

Face down this band of fanatical D&D jackals? Godspeed to thee brave soul.

 

[sevenbastard]

Yeah I'm afraid @Sorcerers Apprentice is 100% correct in correcting you here.

This is a job which is likely to be:

1) Going to tons and tons of meetings.

2) Reading and sending a ton of email.

3) Updating a lot of documents and databases (possibly SharePoint!)

4) Doing some creative writing but more likely deciding on which elements of other people's creative writing to use/go with/make canon - and then having to explain and defend those decisions in aforementioned meetings and emails.

So pretty much the job I have now except for number 4 where instead of applying my creativity to explain bad financial as good financial I would do it to figure out which versions of elves will piss off the least number of fans on the internet.

 

[aco175]

Decent pay for a job where you get to play D&D all day.

Until December comes around.

 

[bedir than]

Anyone who moves out to the City of Dragons for this gig I'll give you tour of this fair city, no charge

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Sounds like D&D is getting a Showrunner.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Anyone who moves out to the City of Dragons for this gig I'll give you tour of this fair city, no charge

The city of dragons?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Sounds like D&D is getting a Showrunner.

I think they're looking more for a Kevin Feige than a direct showrunner equivalent, but yeah, a meta-showrunner, Feige being a showrunner of showrunners, as it were.

What complicates matters here is that this person, judging from the salary, title, and role description, will be rather lower within WotC than Feige is within Disney, and thus will be less "in control". But that's somewhat speculative. We shall see.