===== Cores, Seeds and Quirks =====
Despite there being no backstories, //Ex Nihilo// provides a number of ways to make your character unique or customise your experience: Cores, Seeds and Quirks. Each character has exactly one Core, which is a unique trait that significantly affects your character's arc and how they interact with the world and others. Each character also has a few Seeds, which outline the character's initial personality or outlook on the world and act as a starting point for character development. Finally, each player picks a level for each of the Quirks, which let players pick which themes they are comfortable with exploring.
==== Cores ====
A Core is something fundamental to your character; it defines who they are and guides the course of their story. Be warned, this world and fate itself can be quite treacherous; there is no knowing whether these will turn out a boon or a hindrance. Do not worry about balancing positive and negative aspects of your character. During character submission, you can select 1-4 Cores that you are happy to play and the GMs will pick one of these for you.

===The Augur===
> "I know what will happen. At least, I have seen a version of what will happen. I do not know if I write the future or simply read it, but it happens nonetheless."\\
Your character is receiving Visions of hypothetical futures. Sporadic and unclear at times, they may push your character in directions they had not intended. Choose this if you want to explore themes of free will and determinism. This will **not** involve explicit loss of agency, although your character may feel as if it does.

===The Dedicated===
> "My energies are not my own. They are given for a purpose. And it is a purpose I will give myself to fulfil."\\
Your character has a purpose that they know they are being drawn towards, even though its exact nature is unknown for now. One thing is clear, though -- that purpose will require some kind of self-sacrifice to complete. Choose this if you want to explore destiny, pursuit of purpose, or giving yourself for a cause bigger than yourself. This will involve loss of agency.

===The Ephemeral===
> "I see the same sight, over and over again. The last sight I will ever see. I know it is coming for me soon, and I can delay it no longer."\\
Your character will experience permanent death during a session of your choice, and will experience Visions of their own mortality leading up to that point, as well as a heightened awareness of danger. Choose this if you want to explore the mindset of someone aware of their own limited lifespan, and if you know you will need to drop out of the game halfway through. The death will involve a loss of agency, but you can choose which session it occurs in. \\
//Note that you can still [[#Death|opt into an early permanent death]] without this Core.//

===The Idolised===
> "Something far beyond the Haven calls to me. Beckoning me. It loves me. I must follow."\\
Your character is summoned by a presence, perhaps of flesh, perhaps unknown, far away. It tells you that it loves you, but perhaps all is not as it seems. Choose this if you want to play a character called into the unknown, and explore the consequences of what happens when they meet what they're looking for. This may involve loss of agency.

===The Infested===
> "It grows on me. No matter what I do, it comes back, and it grows and grows. Soon, I fear, it will take me over."\\
Your character is slowly being overwhelmed by an organism of flesh, living a hybrid existence between the creatures outside and the creatures inside. Choose this if you want to explore themes of body horror, or the sensation of being overwhelmed by something you don't understand. This may involve loss of agency.

===The Manifold===
> "I am not alone. Inside my husk, there is another. Or many others. It is hard to tell. But we are inseparable."\\
Your character is not one conscience, but multiple inside the same body. You are free to play a number of these, but at least one will be played by a GM. Choose this if you want to explore themes of fragmented identity or the question of what it means to be 'you'. This may involve loss of agency.

===The Overloaded===
> "I do not yet know how to control it, but we are the architects of our own will. We have unimaginable power, and we are only beginning to scratch the surface."\\
Your character is increasingly full of energy, able to release it to shape the world around them. But with no one knowing how to control this power, the consequences may be extreme and undesired. Choose this if you want to play a character with unpredictable influence over the world -- someone who has the power for change, but lacks the knowledge to use it best.

===The Ravenous===
> "My energy, it... fades. I feel it growing ever weaker, and I worry that I will disappear if I let it. And yet, I know that I can recover it. The hunger I feel... it consumes me."\\
Your character has the need to feed in order to keep their energy sustained, constantly driving them onward to an unknown conclusion. Choose this if you want to play a character driven by primal urges, controlled and hampered by their basic physical needs. This will involve loss of agency.

===The Resonant===
> "The others do not understand the creatures outside. They see them as threats. But I do understand some of them, and they are not so different from us."\\
Your character has a connection to the creatures beyond the Haven. Sometimes, it is as if you can sense what they are feeling. Perhaps they can sense the same. Choose this if you want to explore themes of distinction, and how immense gaps between wildly different forms of life might be crossed.

===The Tormented===
> "I see it there, in the shadows. In the whispers of words unspoken. It watches us, something far worse than the creatures of flesh outside."\\
Your character senses a malignant presence watching them, and will periodically receive Visions of this presence interacting with them. Choose this if you want to explore fears of the dark, unknown, and supernatural, or being faced with something you cannot explain. This may involve loss of agency.

==== Seeds ====
The characters don't awaken as //complete// blank slates. They have Seeds of a personality in them -- a frame of mind, or an emotion that drives them, or a thought that is particularly important to that character. And just like a seed, it will grow into something bigger, but not necessarily similar to what it was in the beginning. A Seed is only a **self-imposed starting direction** of your character's arc. While the Cores are mostly under the control of the GMs, the Seeds and what grows out of them is mostly up to you, the player, and your character. Pick one or two from the list of suggestions below, or if you don't feel like any of these describe your character, you're encouraged to write 1-2 sentences describing your own Seed. Channel all the creativity you have conserved by not writing a backstory into the Seed(s)!

**Curious**\\
> "I want to know what the world is like, to see it all. I need to know."

**Introspective**\\
> "Our existence is a puzzle. Together, we might form an answer."

**Fearful**\\
> "The world is more frightening than most realise, and we must not underestimate the danger."

**Trailblazer**\\
> "I will go forth beyond the world we know. I will not let the world stop me."

**Communalist**\\
> "The creatures of flesh are too numerous, and we can only fight numbers with numbers. Divided, we will not survive."

**Survivalist**\\
> "I may not know what is waiting for us outside, but I must be ready for whatever it is."

**Caretaker**\\
> "The world is more frightening than most realize, and we need someone like me to help those who underestimated the danger."

**Other**\\
Propose a few ideas for your character's Seed(s).


==== List of Quirks ====

Quirks are "settings" designed to let you pick an experience that is most enjoyable for you. For each quirk "type", please select one option of how it will play out. These primarily cater to your OC experience and do not have to represent your character; these are what some previous society games would call //Playstyle Quirks//. You can switch the Quirks while the game is running by messaging the GMs on Discord or via an email to [[mailto:gm@exnihilo.oxfordrpg.com|gm@exnihilo.oxfordrpg.com]].

===Death===
Death is expected to be a common part of the experience in //Ex Nihilo//. However, this will not typically be a permanent hindrance. Here, you have a choice for how the GMs will handle death for your character. Note that you can still opt into an early permanent death without having the //Ephemeral// Core.
  * **Persistent** -- While your character still experiences death, it doesn't mark the end for your character.
  * **I'm Here Till the End** -- Your character can still suffer a permanent death, but it would happen in the finale of the game and with the player's permission when this decision is made.
  * **Doomed from the Start** -- Your character's story will end with their permanent demise at an uptime of your choice. Pick this option if you are planning on exiting the game early and want to see the end of your character's story. 

===Unexpected Injuries===
The world of //Ex Nihilo// could be cruel, or simply uncaring. Not knowing what inhabits this world, the player characters might easily and suddenly get themselves in situations where death is likely. To make this experience less jarring OC, you can ask the GMs to warn you beforehand using the choice below.

  * **Surprise Me** -- The GMs allow such sudden encounters to happen to your player character, without warning you in advance.
  * **Warn Me** -- You experience such sudden encounters as often as the other players. Should danger come, the GMs will warn you in advance, with the warning being purely OC.

===Emotional Hardship===
There is potential for emotionally heavy moments throughout //Ex Nihilo//. Even starting from nothing, characters may experience loss, trauma, or grief affecting themselves or things they are personally invested in. While we cannot avoid characters interacting with these concepts in uptime, especially in other players' personal plots, it is possible to opt for us not to push them directly for your character.
  * **No Tears** -- The GMs will not intentionally push emotionally heavy moments for your character specifically.
  * **Make Me Cry** -- You want to engage in emotionally-heavy gameplay, and the GMs will do our best to pull at your heart-strings. This does not make it harder for your character to succeed in their goals, it just means that you're happy with some tears along the way.

===Agency===
//Ex Nihilo// is a game intended to explore the headspace and feelings of characters, which may lead to many different forms of mind-altering effects or agency losses. Please note that **some degree of mind-altering effects is unavoidable**. Characters rely on their senses to learn about the world, but the objective truth of these senses is left intentionally ambiguous. However, it is possible to opt out of explicit losses of agency.
  * **Affected Sensations** -- Your character's senses are unreliable, and they may hear voices and receive Visions inside their head, but ultimately, you remain in control of their actions. They will not experience any explicit losses of mental agency. If you choose this Quirk, you cannot choose any Cores that say "this will involve a loss of agency". You can still choose Cores that say "this may involve a loss of agency," while being fully in control of your character.
  * **Controlled Mind** -- In addition to mind-altering effects, your character will experience explicit losses of mental agency. This will come in the form of GM-given instructions to act a certain way, and will typically be a result of the Core that you have chosen. If you have concerns or there are specific things you do not want to do for OC reasons (either before or after you are given an instruction), you can inform the GM of this, and it will be treated (IC) as if it did not happen.