The Werewolf Battle: A D&D-Style Collaborative Writing Game

The Werewolf Battle is a collaborative creative writing framework that combines turn-based storytelling, chance operations, and escalating constraints to generate narrative momentum. The game operates as a method of speculative fiction that engages writers in conflict, risk, and improvisation by treating formal limitations as a catalyst for creative innovation. This paper outlines the system’s rules of engagement, potential applications, and presents an example battle for demonstrative purposes.

1. INTRODUCTION

Creative writing is often practiced as an individual activity while various narrative forms – such as television, podcasts, and serialized fiction – are produced collaboratively. The writers’ room is a creative space for productive play, where writers pitch story ideas, plot twists, and moments of absurdity. The Werewolf Battle formalizes these collaborative practices by introducing a structured framework for shared narrative escalation. 

The Werewolf Battle formalizes collaborative storytelling by using a rules-based approach inspired by roleplaying games, such as Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), improv comedy, and speculative fiction to generate narrative momentum.

2. FRAMEWORK

The Werewolf Battle is based on the idea that writing constraints produce creative outcomes. Rather than limiting expression, The Werewolf Battle treats writing constraints as permissions that authorize risk, conflict, and escalation within a shared narrative space. In this framework, overcoming writing constraints does not require abandoning limitations, but actively working within them to transform restriction into creative action.

The game uses three primary constraints:

1. Turn-based authorship: Writers contribute one attack at a time.

2. Chance operations: A four-sided die, or any equivalent method of randomization to determine outcomes, e.g. coin flip; D20 threshold; cards; etc.

3. Escalation mechanics: Failure lowers the threshold for success.

These elements sustain the game’s narrative momentum. Each unsuccessful attack intensifies creative pressure and invites bolder, more decisive narrative turns. In this way, The Werewolf Battle resists perfectionism by design in order to encourage forward motion.

4. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

The following section outlines how The Werewolf Battle operates in practice.

4.1 Mechanics:

The following elements are required for The Werewolf Battle:

• A facilitator or lead writer establishes:

• Two opposing characters

• A battle arena

• Initial narrative stakes

• Writers take turns composing “attacks,” defined as short narrative actions (typically 50-100 words).

• After each attack, a four-sided die (D4) – or any equivalent method of randomization - is used to determine the outcome.  

4.2 Escalation:

The first attack requires a roll of 4 to achieve a fatal strike. Each subsequent unsuccessful attack lowers the required roll by one (4,3,2,1). This structure ensures progression toward resolution by increasing the probability of success over time. As the battle continues, the framework authorizes increasingly decisive and extreme narrative actions.

4.2 Fatal Strikes:

A fatal strike resolves the conflict of a given round. Resolution may include:

• Death

• Defeat

• Transformation

• Humiliation

• Narrative reversal

Literal death is optional. What matters is decisiveness.

5. GAMEPLAY

The Werewolf Battle may be played in various modes, including Competitive Mode and Collaborative Mode.

5.1 Competitive Mode

Each character is represented by one or more writers. A fatal strike determines a winner and the battle concludes.

This format is suited to:

• Head-to-head writing challenges

• Solo writing exercises

• Published narrative episodes

5.2 Collaborative Mode

There are no winners in Collaborative Mode. Writers may contribute attacks for either side. Success is evaluated by the group.

In this context:

• The die does not determine victory.

• The die determines permission.

• Success is measured by:

• Biggest laugh

• Boldest escalation

• Most surprising idea

• Strongest group response

The battle may end with a fatal strike, a discussion break, or a reset. The goal of Collaborative Mode is momentum not closure.

6. THE DIE AS CREATIVE REFERENCE

The roll of a die resolves uncertainty in traditional games. In The Werewolf Battle, the die externalizes judgment.

Writers are freed from self-censorship by assigning outcomes of attacks to chance. Failed rolls do not represent poor writing. They represent narrative delay. Successful rolls authorize outcomes that might otherwise feel unearned. The role of die in The Werewolf Battle operates as a neutral referee, redistributing creative authority away from any single participant.

7. DEMONSTRATION BATTLE

The following battle demonstrates the application of The Werewolf Battle in Competitive Mode. It documents escalating narrative choices, tonal shifts, and the role of chance in resolving conflict. This battle should be read as a demonstration rather than a definitive model.

Read “Jimothy Dyck vs. Werewolf”

8. DISCUSSION

“Jimothy Dyck vs. Werewolf” demonstrates several key outcomes:

• Style: Serious action coexists with absurd humour.

• Escalation without planning: Narrative intensity increases organically.

• Shared authorship: No single writer controls the outcome.

• Reset potential: The story resolves without closing the fictional universe.

These qualities make The Werewolf Battle effective in environments where speed, collaboration, and experimentation are prioritized over polish. The Werewolf Battle may be used as a two-minute creative writing prompt in classroom settings or writers’ groups, or can be adapted for custom gameplay.

9. CONCLUSION

The Werewolf Battle is more than a game. It’s a model of speculative fiction that reframes narrative conflict, collaboration, and risk by embedding creative practice within a rule-based framework, transforming creative writing into a shared event rather than a solitary task.

The Werewolf Battle may reset endlessly with each iteration resulting in new ideas, jokes, and narrative pathways. In this way, the absence of a final victory is not a limitation, but a defining feature that sustains narrative momentum through collaboration.

Read “Jimothy Dyck vs. Werewolf”