Pedro Tamburro is a product designer & design engineer crafting digital products end to end.
●Rio de Janeiro, BR
●Your time
Pedro Tamburro is a product designer & design engineer crafting digital products end to end.
Browser fantasy RPG with hybrid narrative, tactical combat and multiple endings.
Overview
Full-featured browser RPG with a hybrid narrative system: decision tree combined with dynamic templates and random events. The player creates a character, chooses race and class, explores 5 acts with multiple paths, and unlocks different endings based on their choices.
Details
In motion
Browser text RPGs tend to be either shallow binary choices or a rules system that scares off anyone who isn't a hardcore player.
Game Designer & AI Engineer, solo: a full design document before any code, systems and implementation.
An RPG live in two days, with narration in three layers: a 40-node tree for coherence, dynamic templates and random events for surprise, and four endings.
Text-based browser RPGs tend to fall into two extremes: either they're simple binary choices without depth (linear visual novels) or rule systems so complex that the onboarding repels anyone who isn't a hardcore gamer. The challenge was to create a game with real mechanical depth (classes, attributes, tactical combat, progression) that anyone could play without reading a manual. The core hypothesis: a hybrid narrative system combining predictable structure (decision tree) with unpredictable variation (dynamic templates + random events) can deliver both coherence and replayability.
Veradice's core innovation is the triple-layer narration system. The first layer is the decision tree: 40+ nodes with choices that have real consequences in the game state. The second is dynamic templates: texts with placeholders ({name}, {race}, {time}, {weather}) that change every scene, creating variation without extra writing cost. The third is random events with 40% chance every 3-4 nodes: merchants, traps, treasures, riddles, and ambushes that keep the player alert even on already-explored paths. State flags (knows_ritual, knows_lyria, knows_verath_weakness) persist and affect dialogues, combats, and all 4 possible endings.
The turn-based combat system uses d20 + attribute modifier against enemy defense, familiar for D&D players, simplified enough for newcomers. Each of the 6 classes has 3 unique abilities reflecting its archetype: the Warrior hits harder, the Mage deals ranged damage, the Rogue applies poison, the Cleric heals. Level progression is visible and rewarding: each level, HP grows and a new attribute improves. The inventory system with purchased, found, and crafted items gives the player a sense of growth beyond combat. Difficulty affects the entire campaign: Legendary mode reduces gold gained and increases enemy HP by 30%.
Veradice was built in 2 days using Claude as pair programmer at every stage. The game specification was written first as a complete design document (systems, enemies, node tree, events, progression mechanics) and then used as context to generate code in a structured way. The approach was modular: global game state in a single object, pure functions for attribute checks, node rendering system separate from combat logic. The biggest challenge was maintaining state coherence in a game with so many flags and paths, solved with a centralized reducer.
The key learning was about the value of writing the specification before the code. In a project with so much interdependence (flags that affect dialogues that affect endings), writing the full design doc first allowed Claude to generate coherent code across the entire codebase, without state contradictions. The second discovery: the hybrid narrative system delivered on its promise. Players who played twice reported different experiences, not by chance, but through genuine choices. The decision tree ensures coherence; random events and dynamic templates ensure surprise.
