Unlike most other society games, Ex Nihilo's Downtimes demand very little from the players and GMs. The characters only interact with the world in the Uptimes; there are no Turnsheets or emails. Instead, Ex Nihilo uses a different mechanic: Plans.

Plans are a way for the players and GMs to agree upon the story of that individual character and prepare appropriate encounters for them in future Uptimes. Filling these in is helpful so that we can prepare appropriately for the things that you will find engaging for your character. Listed below are the sections you will have available to fill in on the Plan template:

• What your character wants to do in the next Uptime, especially things that you would like the GMs to prepare for or put thought into. Even if you don't have a clear idea of what you want to do next Uptime, it's helpful to write that down.
• Important things which happened in the previous Uptime that might/will influence or advance your character's arc.
• Your thoughts about how your character's arc is progressing. Are you happy with it, or do you have an adjusted or completely new idea for an arc?

You will be able to submit these through this wiki, similarly to how other games handle Turnsheets. Although the GMs will not give a response to them, they will shape the preparations the GMs will make for next session. The process of creating a plan is explained on this page. Please make sure you finish your edits before the Plan deadline of 23:59 on the Wednesday following the session.

Example Plans can be found here.

There will be no player or character emails in Ex Nihilo, but it will be possible to contact GMs at gm@exnihilo.oxfordrpg.com if you have any questions. Please use the email that you signed up with when sending mail to this address, as we will only be able to identify you through this.