Character Creation

Both you and your character enter the world of Ex Nihilo together for the first time. Your character has no past and so no backstory. This (and a few other things mentioned below) makes character creation for Ex Nihilo unique. When you submit your character, we will ask you the following:

• OC information: Inform the GMs (and eventually your fellow players) about your name and pronouns. In addition, you will need to supply an email address, and if you are under 18 you will need to alert the GMs for safeguarding reasons (this information will not be shared, as per our Privacy Policy).
• IC name: Either pick a style-appropriate name or ask the GMs to choose one for you.
• IC pronouns: The player species has a unary sex, so we recommend that most characters use some combination of “they”, “it” or “any” pronouns. However, you are welcome to choose any pronouns that you want.
• A choice of Cores: These are unique aspects of your character that the GMs have Big Plans for. You select 1 to 4 that you would want to play, and we will assign 1 of these to you. If you only select 1 then it will be automatically assigned, but we may offer the opportunity to change it if multiple other people have all chosen the same Core.
• 1 or 2 Seeds: These describe your character's personality in broad strokes. You can even come up with your own ones! If your choice of Seeds would depend on the Core you get, you can specify Seeds for each Core you chose, or reach out to us once you have been assigned a Core.
• A selection of Quirks: Picking these lets us know what experience you want from the game.
• Character appearance: Specify what differentiates your character visually from others. You can even give a few options for the different Cores you chose. The GM-assigned Cores can have a significant impact on your character's appearance, so you will have an opportunity to talk to us about it once we assign you a Core.
• Plans for participation: We know that participating in a Trinity game might be a large commitment, but it is helpful for our planning purposes for you to tell us if/when you want to leave the game, or if there are some weeks you might not be able to attend. Don't worry, you will be able to change this later!
• Other OC notes to GMs: Anything else you want to add, such as what the GMs can do to make the game more comfortable or accessible to you.

Certain things like Seeds or appearance might depend on the Core, so please reach out to us once we tell you which of your chosen Cores got selected if you feel that your choices no longer reflect your vision for the character.

If you are not sure how to get started, the sample characters may give you some inspiration. If you have any questions, please reach out to one of the GMs on Discord. Don't worry, we don't bite. Even if the creatures that will find you in-game might.

We'll also ask you a few questions, which are optional, and are designed to get you to get to know your character a bit better. Send us the answers in the character submission form, as these can help both us and you in exploring your character's journey. Do not worry about polishing or structuring your answers, these can be left as rough notes.

• What drives your character? Is it searching for some answer about a purpose, knowledge about the past, assurance about the future or anything else? Is it achieving some goal or the process of simply working towards it? Is it some secret third option?
• How would your character react to waking up in a frightening new world? Will they immediately rush in hopes of discovery, will they stay and examine their surroundings? What will be the first question they ask themselves? The first question they ask others?
• How does your character relate to the others? Are they allies or competitors? Is prosperity of the group more important than the safety of the self?

Character names are based on things or concepts. That could be anything ranging from “Revelation” to “Crevice”, or from “Aqua” to “Indiscernible Choice”. The characters understand words whose origins they do not know, and there is little restriction on what their names might mean. If you need some rough examples of naming style, take a look at the Sample Characters page or the names above.

The When and Where page has all the information about balloting and Character submissions, including the links to the forms. This form has the same questions (with appropriate options, if applicable).

If you encounter technical difficulties or for some other reason prefer to use email, then you can email your character submission to gm@exnihilo.oxfordrpg.com.