The Winner

dScryb is honored to grant the 2022 dScholarship to Marco A. Torres!

Marco is an educator and writer beginning his journey in game design. He’s published several short adventures on TimingDMsGuild, and is now committed to pursuing tabletop game writing whole-heartedly. Marco recently designed his first game system as part of DriveThruRPG’s Pocket Quest challenge. That game, Good Nature, is a collaborative game designed to be used in a classroom to teach social and writing skills to students. He is in the process of expanding the project into a full-fledged gamebook for use in classroom settings, and integrating curriculum and grading rubrics into the game. Marco is also developing a second game system, a rogue-like solo exploration and growth game using a deck of cards to generate maps and encounter prompts.

Marco’s game design philosophy is informed by over 30 years of playing board games, tabletop RPGs, and video games; by his academic background in theology, performance media, and special education; and by his cultural experiences as a gay, first-generation Mexican-American. Marco enjoys systems that give players multiple options and play styles to feel successful, particularly if the mechanics encourage collaboration and unexpected results. Above all else, he loves game design as a tool to create and interact with stories. In his own writing, he likes to build around “cinematic” moments that encourage outside-of-the-box thinking and give players the opportunity to create moments that they will retell for years to come.

Marco provided dScryb this wonderful description of a Curious Young Alchemist:

The woman pauses for a moment to push a tangled curl of loose hair—spiraling away from her head like the broken spring of a clock—back under the strap of her brass-framed goggles. She absentmindedly wipes her hand along the hem of her purple coat, adding another imprint to the random stains of powder, dust, and charred threads, then removes a small vial of liquid from her pocket. Tapping her finger against the glass, she spits out a sharp tut-tut with a click of her tongue and bites down on her lip. As the liquid begins to vibrate and bubble, she squirms with excitement and wonder until her violet eyes open to exaggerated proportions under the magnification of her lenses, nearly matching the size of the grin across her face.

Finalists

dScryb wishes to recognize four additional applicants for their character, ambition, and ability:

Gueniver Warren, a writer of historical fantasy stories with mystical and supernatural elements and the co-owner of a large, online LGBT community—currently pursuing a Master of the Arts Degree in Creative, Digital and Professional Writing at London Metropolitan University.

Gwendolyn Kelly, a tabletop RPG writer, illustrator, designer, and performer devoted to narrative media.

Leo Andrade, a self-taught game writer, designer, and translation professional from Brazil.

Ben Cahill, a writer, creator, and builder of imaginary worlds.

And we’re excited to share their wonderful writing samples:

Lost Library by Gueniver Warren

As you enter the room, you notice the nauseating smell of stale air lingering in the two-story library, adding an unpleasant nasal sting to the otherwise melancholic rows of ornate bookshelves. The dull, faded books testify to its time untouched by human hands. Rotting vines wrap themselves around the metallic railings of the upper level and light pours from the leaf-covered, cracked glass roof. You spy abandoned wooden tables and chairs strewn about the room, and a burnt-up fireplace, overfilled with soot and ash, in the back corner. A few books lie on the ground, caked in dust, accompanied by old rodent-like footprints etched in like fossils.

Mysterious Academy by Gwendolyn Kelly

A dense fog rolls over the academy grounds, snaking between the intricately carved arches, pouring over the stone walkways, and licking up the sides of the grand tower rising above the central structure. The light from the tower windows, piercing through the gloom, would be a comfort to anyone who has found themselves wandering this mysterious academy—if it were not for the fact that the glow cutting through the twilight was a bright crimson.

Curious Young Alchemist by Leo Andrade

She handles her implements with admirable economy of motion. The basilisk blood goes into the vial, the vial goes into the pedal-powered centrifuge. As her left foot taps, and the blood separates into its components, her slender dexterous hands grind down porous little rocks into a powder. If her hunch is correct—she tells you in excited little bursts, her eyes aglint—the basilisk blood plasma, when heated, will react with the ground tonsil stone to form a petrifying miasma. She lowers her gas mask, and signals you to do the same, then flicks a Bunsen burner on with her other foot. “Don’t try this at home, kids!”

Lost Library by Ben Cahill

A reflection of the sun’s light sneaks past a veil of vines and leaves. You pull apart this veil, causing an outcry from the birds that have nested there. You see a building of stonework before you. At the top of the structure, a golden scroll stands bathed in sunlight. The Lost Library stands before you. You climb the stairs two at a time in your excitement. Nearly out of breath, you crest the final step and a cool breeze carrying the scent of parchment hits your face. As you walk across the threshold into the Lost Library the thought crosses your mind that you are the first human in a century to lay eyes on this… Or are you?