Tips for Roleplaying in Ex Nihilo

For those new to roleplaying, there's a lot of little things that may not be immediately obvious, but when you think about them they make a lot of sense. Even for more experienced roleplayers, it's easy to forget these things when getting involved in a game – this page may have something for everyone!

See the glossary for a guide to roleplaying terminology used here.

Don't be afraid to drop out of character briefly to check with other players and GMs whether they are happy with the direction and intensity of roleplay. For particularly intense interactions you have planned, for example angry shouting, it can be helpful to discuss in advance of session whether this is something you are both happy with.

When Ballgowning (roleplaying close relationships, romantic or otherwise) or roleplaying other intense relationships with another player or GM it is particularly important to calibrate early and frequently, to help make sure that everyone remains comfortable with the roleplaying.

Ex Nihilo tackles a lot of complex and sometimes heavy topics. Be prepared to calibrate when dealing with the topics outlined in our CAT policy.

When someone does something dramatic, play into what they have done – act into how you think another person wants to be perceived while staying true to your character. Rather than shutting down what someone is trying to do, consider how you can play it up.

Example of shutting down: One character nearly dies while venturing outside the Haven. You say that it’s no big deal, and move on.

Example of dramatic lifting up: One character nearly dies while venturing outside the Haven. In turn, you dramatically accuse them of it being their own fault, and maybe, if they hadn’t been so reckless while exploring, they wouldn't have dropped into the vicious insect colony in the first place.

Example of diplomatic lifting up: One character nearly dies venturing outside the Haven. In turn, you step in to comfort them, and together make a plan to stop it from happening again.

You don't always have to be dramatic! Your PC can have a variety of noticeable reactions to a situation which can engage the story in different ways.

This also applies when engaging and adding to the setting or other characters' motivations. When someone makes something up, it's often more interesting to expand on it, rather than shutting it down. This allows you to build on what someone has said without contradicting them. This is sometimes referred to as “Yes, And”, where you take what the other person has established, and add your own spin on it. There is also the alternative of “No, But”, where you do contradict someone, but do it in such a way that still adds to the story.

Example of “no”: One character wants to go on an expedition outside the Haven because they think they heard a new type of bird-call, and wants you to go with them to keep them safe. You refuse because it was probably just the wind.

Example of “yes, and…”: One character wants to go on an expedition outside the Haven because they think they heard a new type of bird-call, and wants you to go with them to keep them safe. You say they might be right, and will go out and check with them!

Example of “no, but…”: One character wants to go on an expedition outside the Haven because they think they heard a new type of bird-call, and wants you to go with them to keep them safe. You don't think that's true, and tell them so, but that a little pea-body like them needs someone to go out with them, and you need to stretch your legs. (then, when they do find the bird responsible, and find out it's 15 feet tall, claim that you always knew this was a bad idea and that they shouldn't have dragged you all the way out here).

There are of course limits to this in a game like Ex Nihilo: sometimes certain facts about the world are have already been established that players are not aware of. How else could there be secrets? Often GMs will be happy for you to establish small facts about the world (such as a description of a particular flower, type of animal, or the feeling of foreboding when receiving prophecies of the future), but be mindful that this can lead to confusion if you end up contradicting something the GMs need to be true – don't be making up whole narratives or locations. If in any doubt, communicate with a GM before making claims or ask for one to provide some more setting details for you.

Direct physical conflict between player characters will not happen in Ex Nihilo, but characters may work towards conflicting goals or attempt to contravene each other. In PvP situations where your PC is competing with someone else's PC, it is worth considering what your goals are and what you want out of it. Some of the competition may be indirect, such as working your way farther outside the Haven, where you (or a group you are in) are broadly in competition with other PCs – these are typically easy to think about. Your PC may want to engage in a more direct competition with another PC where their goals, ideals, or personality traits clash. In these situations you should check in with the other player involved as the competition develops and make sure the roleplay can be interesting and engaging for both parties, whoever wins or loses (and remember that losing should be interesting).

Longer-term rivalries may take place in a game like this, so think about when things may come to a head – you don't want to burn out too early. If a rivalry isn't developing as you expected, discuss it with the other player and consider escalating by upping the stakes, doing something dramatic, or resorting to underhanded tactics (if your PC would do that sort of thing).

In PvE aspects of the game, it's possible to fall into the trap of thinking “I'm working against the environment, and the environment is controlled by the GMs, therefore I am working against the GMs”. This isn't intended to be the case; the GMs are here to create a fun game for you, and if we fail that, to work with you in order to make it fun. That does mean challenging your characters, but we also want to give you the means to overcome those obstacles in a fun way.

In practice, whether engaging in PvP or PvE, telling the GMs your plans lets us lean into them to make the most satisfying conclusion possible for everyone. We're not going to use that information to make some contrived reason your plan can't happen, we're going to use that to make it look really cool when your clever plan works and give both sides in a PvP situation something interesting and engaging as an outcome.

Similarly, it can be useful to make it clear the difference between your OC desires and your character's desires. There is nothing more fun as a GM than seeing a turnsheet say “I want to fight the big lizard we saw last session [OC: the lizard is clearly much more powerful than me, I'm looking forward to getting beaten up next session]”.

We all love our characters – coming up with a cool character for the setting is heaps of fun, especially when you think of a cool aspect of the world you want to interact with. However it can be easy to forget that given it's a LARP, you need to play that character, and it should be fun to play that character.

What this means in practice is that while a cool brooding character who sits in the corner alone might sound like an interesting character, if you end up spending an entire session sitting in the corner not talking to anyone, you may not have a lot of fun in sessions. This is not to discourage you from exploring different kinds of characters, it's just worth keeping in mind how this character is going to be fun for you to play. Different people enjoy different kinds of things, after all!

The IC/OC Divide is the concept of making a separation between yourself and your character, and not letting real-world events and feelings affect your in-game character and vice versa. For example, if another character steals an item from your character, and you get upset at the player for this, then that would be an example of breaking the IC/OC divide. Similarly, giving another character preferential treatment because you're friends with the person playing them is another example.

Character bleed is the related concept of your feelings and emotions getting blurred between your character and your OC self. Often character bleed is talked about as some nasty thing that must be avoided at all costs, but in reality it's perfectly natural; in LARP you are embodying your character; you are having the interactions that cause that emotional reaction, and if your character is hugging someone, your body is physically hugging. It is natural for your brain OC to react to those experiences, even after dropping out of character.

Rather than simply saying “you shouldn't do this”, there are more useful approaches to take to character bleed and IC/OC Divide breaks. The first thing is being aware that it's happening – this is usually a case of spotting when your OC feelings start to change to match your IC ones. Then you can begin the work of trying to uncouple those things again. One way you can do this is by dropping OC and talking to the person/people involved, either during the session or afterwards. This can help you get to know the OC person as a separate entity to their character, and to firmly differentiate your IC and OC feelings and reactions to them.

Getting to know people OC is a great way to pre-empt some of these things – one of the reasons we have an official (but entirely optional) post-session trip to get chips is it provides a great chance to get to know people better.