Characters!

Characters are soon upon us, and in this blog post you will find an extensive package of information on what to expect from a character, what you can and can’t change, what all the bits and pieces mean, and how you get most out of your character. So sit tight and read this text before you start reading your character – and if you have any questions or concerns, please check if this blog post already has an answer to your worries. If not, feel free to reach out to us.

Table of Contents
Transparency and Secrets
What’s in the Character?
   Infobox
   Database
   Briefs
   Connections
      Connection types
      Romantic connections
      NPC’s
Trigger themes
Changes and additions
Preparing for the larp
Questions? Concerns?

Picture: Ami Koiranen

Picture: Ami Koiranen

​Transparency and secrets

Characters will be sent out on Sunday March 17th to players who have paid their full ticket price. You will receive a link to a folder that contains all the 104 characters. The characters can be found in a file with their name, though on occasion there is a different version of the character for Male/Female identity indicated in the file name. Find your own from the list and dive in!

As a Finnish style larp, surprises and secrets are an important part of the experience, so we highly recommend to only read your own character. Since the larp was already run thrice in 2019 and all the materials have been freely available for several years, we do not police access to the characters. That said, if you choose to check out other characters for transparency or greater drama, we do expect you to not play on information your character does not know but you as a player have gained from reading other characters’ sheets.

Your character may have information that others don’t have, and we recommend to keep it that way until the larp. You are naturally free to discuss play style and wishes with your co-players. And if you both feel like some meta information, i.e. information you as players have but your characters do not know, would improve your game, feel free to proceed accordingly. However, always respect your co-player’s wishes if they want the secrets to only be revealed during the larp.

Regarding meta information, please note that there are some instructions provided by the organizers mainly involving shifts and workflows as well as instructions to characters in leadership positions to make the experience better for everyone. It is utmost important for the larp that these organizer instructions are followed.

What’s in the character?

The characters are 10 to 20 pages long, with the story part in most cases being 5 to 10 pages. The characters are divided into segments to make them easier to navigate.

• The characters start with the character name and an infobox containing the basic information of the character
  
• List of links to additional briefs your character has access to
  
• Before getting into the actual story there is a short summary of relevant highlights of your backstory and plot points, and it might offer some light meta information on the direction your play might be going
  
• Your story is the actual character text and their life story so far
  
• Summary of all the connections your character has. There might be some additional information only detailed in the connections section, so read this carefully as well.
  
• Copy of the database entry of your character that can be accessed during the larp by you and other characters based on their security levels. 
  

Infobox 

The infobox contains a lot of basic information about your character, as well as your role during the larp.

Example of infobox.

Character group: Character group indicates your core group as well as your character's role in the larp. Some characters might have several character groups indicating associated skills or ties to more than one of these groups.

Post: Indicates the ship or station your character was stationed on. Only characters who were working for the military before the attack have a post indicated. Post is visible on the uniforms along with military rank.

Starting place: Where you start your larp. For most it is already onboard ESS Odysseus. For most characters a specific spot isn’t assigned while some have a specific starting spot (e.g. the brig on the ship). All characters in Solar shift start on duty at their respective stations (e.g. Bridge, Medbay, etc.).

Origin group: Where your character was at the beginning of the Machine attacks (or in some cases a core group where they ended up after the attacks). This information is relevant for joining the correct briefings at the larp site.

Costume: Whether your character has a uniform. For characters who have an optional uniform, your choice is displayed in your run’s casting excel.

Birth year: The year your character was born and their age. The larp takes place in the year 542.

Birth planet: The planet / moon your character originates from. Some of the characters have since relocated, and their style can reflect their current home planet. You can find the style guides for the different planets from the visual guides.

Occupation: Occupation or line of work before the attacks.

Wartime role ( / current role): Your character’s assigned (or to be assigned) role on ESS Odysseus. Military characters outside Odysseus have both their current role as well as the role they will be assigned on Odysseus indicated and crew of Odysseus have only their current role (as it is also their wartime role).

If your role includes the title ‘apprentice’, your character has minimal skills for the role and is just learning the responsibilities. For those who have an apprentice role, it is not mandatory to participate in any activities involved in the role, if you do not wish to.

For a role without the ‘apprentice’ tag it is mandatory to perform this role during the assigned shift. If you are unable or unwilling to perform the role during the larp, either sort it out ingame (e.g. ask someone else with the same role to cover) or let us know and we’ll make sure a substitute for that shift is assigned.

Shift: The shift on which your character is assigned. It depends on the role how many people are on duty per shift. Shift schedule is available on Practical -page and you will receive a list of characters who you share a shift with in your character. 

Characters in the scientist group are not divided into shifts but players should discuss how you divide the work so that there are scientists available for critical tasks around the clock. We recommend you do this at least partly out of character before the larp begins, but you can also adjust the created schedules in character.

Class: The society of EOC is divided into classes based on wealth, power, and origin. The members of the different classes experience the world differently and might have different privileges and responsibilities – or experience discrimination.

Dynasty: Dynasties play a significant role in the EOC society. Your Dynasty defines your prospects and privileges in life, and for some, it also poses significant expectations regarding career, marriage, religion, etc. Practically all middle and upper class citizens belong to a Dynasty which provides a safety net and a sense of belonging for its members. There are 6 different Dynasties in the game (more exist in the backstory, but they are not relevant for the events of the larp). Those who do not belong to a Dynasty are called ‘Floaters’ and usually are lower class citizens. The members of the Imperial family do not belong to any of the Dynasties but the term ‘Floater’ is most definitely not used about them.
   
Political Party: The political party your character associates with, and whether they are just a voter whose political views align with this party’s agenda, a representative (i.e. member of the party who holds some political position other than senator) or senator elected to the senate in the latest election about a month ago.

Religion: For some characters, religion plays a more significant part in their lives than for others. Even if your character isn’t religious, they were likely raised to follow one of the religions, and they respect at least some of its teachings. It is indicated here whether your character is just a believer or if they are representative of that religion (e.g. priest, spiritual leader, etc.).

Military rank: The military rank of your character. Some civilians who graduated from the military academy or served during the last war also have a military rank.

Callsign: Current and past pilots have a callsign used when flying and amongst fellow pilots.

Military academies: The military academy (or academies) your character has studied or taught at. You can find more detailed info from the character's database.

​Database

During the larp your character’s basic information is available to everyone via EOC Datahub. Additional information is only accessible with restricted permissions, e.g. medics have access to the medical files of all the passengers. Some characters have a ‘hacker’ ability which allows them to have access to files even without permissions.
 
Additionally some characters have secret files only hackers can uncover. These contain classified or sealed information, or recovered information that has been erased from your character’s data files. Characters do not have access to their own secret files and it isn’t indicated in your character whether they have a secret file or not.

Some additional information to military and medical files might be added later, so do check these out again closer to the game. If you notice something relevant missing from the database entry, let us know and we’ll add it.

​Briefs

Links to the relevant briefs to your character are listed on your character sheet and separated into three different types. Please note, that the work descriptions and world building materials will be added a bit later. You can expect the work descriptions to be ready by the end of April.

1) Group characters - vital additional information to your character. These briefs detail events shared by a group of characters (e.g. friend groups or colleagues). Be sure to read these as they provide additional context and introduce commonly known things within your group.

2) Work description - information on how to play out your job during the larp. These include e.g. instructions on the simulator game Empty Epsilon or common practices shared by different groups, as well as explanation on how the shifts work, who is in which shift, what is the command structure. Please familiarize yourself with these briefs as they will guide you on how to play your character’s expertise. All work descriptions will be available to you as ingame documentation and you will get to practice your job during the pre-game workshops.

3) World building - additional information about the world e.g. military, politics, religions, recent events. It is up to you how much of this information you want to go through. It should give context for everything that is happening, but you are not expected to learn it by heart. We aim to provide you bits and pieces of this information also through ingame elements like posters, broadcasts, etc.

Picture: Santtu Pajukanta

Picture: Santtu Pajukanta

Connections

​All of our characters have several prewritten connections. We have divided these connections into two different categories - Core connections and Additional connections. 

Most characters have 4 to 7 core connections that are the most relevant to your larp. They are always mirrored - if someone is your core connection you are also theirs. For each core connection there is a highlighted bit that will give you a direction or a ‘verb’ on what kind of play you should seek or expect from this connection. We highly recommend you to discuss with players of these connections either in advance or at the location to calibrate how you could get the most out of the shared connection. There are some connections in this category for which it might not be apparent why this connection is important. Having an open mind and curiosity towards these connections will ensure secrets related to these connections are played out during the game.

We kindly ask you not to ignore your core connections. We have designed for you to get the most play out of these connections and you should, when possible, play towards them. Everyone has several core connections and no one’s game is dependent on any single connection working. However, neglecting your core connections will likely diminish the experience for both of you.

All characters have several additional connections. Additional connections are not always mirrored. However, do try to engage with your additional connections as they can provide new and interesting directions to your game. These connections have one or several of the following functions to your game:
  

• Your character knows and regularly interacts with the connection, however, these are not as significant for your experience as your core connections and your game or theirs isn’t as dependent on you finding time to play this connection.
• Connection involves a task. Your character might have some information relevant for this connection or plan to do something regarding them. You should aim to complete this task as it will impact the other player’s experience.
• The connection provides additional information flow or unity. Your character might know fellow Dynasty members, work in the same field or have common relatives. While these connections don’t necessarily share much personal meaning they create an alibi to engage with other characters during the game. Some connections might grow more meaningful during the larp through shared experiences.

Connection types 

In addition to separating connections to Core and Additional connections each core connection and some additional connections have an indicated connection type. This is meta information to provide you some direction in how to play these connections. Connection can have one or several of the following connection labels:

Positive: Every character has at least one positive core connection that should be the solid rock amidst the chaos. Connections labeled only positive should remain positive no matter what and not stab you in the back or abandon you. It is extremely important to hold on to the positive and supportive nature of this connection to provide a safe environment for everyone to explore some of the more difficult themes present in the larp. This tag is always mirrored.

Negative: For connections labeled negative it adds interesting content for the larp for either one or both to play on the grudge between the characters. Negative connections are not always mirrored. For example it might be negative to one and only complicated to the other in cases when one person has done something to piss off the other.

Complicated: Many connections are labeled as complicated. This doesn’t mean that there needs to be any huge drama, but gives you freedom to emphasize the topics most interesting to you. Connections labeled as Positive/Complicated indicate a mostly positive connection with the possibility of something coming up that can strain the relationship.

Unknown: In a few rare cases you might have a connection labeled as unknown if your characters don’t have a prior relationship but will form one ingame. You are free to take the relationship whatever direction you choose.

Romantic: Connections labeled as romantic might indicate an active relationship, a former relationship with lingering feelings or new romance about to form. This tag is always mirrored for both participants. If you have a connection labeled as romantic the romance(s) will play some significance in your larp.

Possibly romantic: For these connections it is up to the players on whether to play this connection as romantic or not. You can either agree beforehand or you can leave it to the larp to see what happens. However if you do not wish to play this connection as romantic for whatever reason, do communicate it to the other player as this tag is also always mirrored.

romantic connections

​There is an abundance of pre-written romances amongst the crew and passengers of ESS Odysseus. These romances have varying amounts of significance to your play. As detailed above, romances labeled as ‘romantic’ have more significance to your game play and for these we have checked that the gender of the partner should match your wishes. However with a casting of this magnitude and this many interconnected characters, it is always possible errors remain. If you have any doubts or concerns regarding your romantic connections, write us an email and we’ll see what can be done to solve the issue.

In addition to these more meaningful romances there are potentially romantic connections. A majority of these are past relationships which characters have moved on from, old hook-ups or relationships that might become something during runtime. For these the chances that we were unable to match all preferences regarding character gender is greater. If some of these former or potential romances don’t work for you, you and your co-player can agree that instead of romance your characters were just good friends or shared some other experience instead of a one-night stand. You do not need to involve organizers for these decisions, but please discuss with your co-player so that you share a common understanding of the nature of the connection.     

It is encouraged to calibrate your play with the players of your connections in general but especially with those you are playing a romantic connection with. Discuss your boundaries and expectations to create a safe and comfortable environment to explore these themes. We encourage you to focus on the emotional side of romances instead of the physical. This is not a larp where characters are likely to engage in sexual acts during the runtime, so there is no given intimacy mechanic. If all involved parties are interested in playing the physical side of your connection, you must agree beforehand with each other how you want to play it out in a manner that will not disturb players not involved. No nudity or real sex is allowed in the game areas.

Romantic connections between characters can of course form organically during the game. Be especially mindful of not overstepping anyone’s boundaries and if necessary step offgame and take some time to calibrate. Any other response than an enthusiastic yes in spontaneous romance play should be interpreted as no and not advanced further.

NPC's

Most characters also have some NPC connections. These are people from your character's life that in one way or another are significant to them. Your character might know some NPCs whose fate in the Machine attack is unknown and your character is keen to find out if their loved ones made it out alive (marked as Status Unknown). Or there might be NPCs your character already knows to be dead that were important to your character or there is a plot somehow related to them or their death (marked as Deceased).

Some NPCs are available during the larp via text or as in-person NPC players. They might have information to share or they might tragically die during the larp. Players portraying important (in-person) NPCs will be introduced to you on site giving you a chance to discuss expectations and boundaries with them.

We encourage you to make the most out of these connections played by our amazing NPC team. The deeper a bond you create with them, the more meaningful everything happening in the survivor fleet becomes to you. Many NPC connections are shared by several player characters so you might find others invested in the lives of these NPCs.

Picture: Tuomas Puikkonen

Picture: Santtu Pajukanta

Trigger themes

The majority of our characters include some of the trigger themes asked in our casting questionnaire. We have so far encountered a couple of mistakes around the trigger themes we made during casting and these have already been addressed. It is still possible that some trigger theme has slipped unnoticed. If your character includes themes you are not comfortable playing, reach out to us and we will do our best to address the situation.

We would however like to remind you that the following triggers are very present in the larp and we cannot guarantee you can avoid them. You can always step out of a scene involving these themes but many of them are recurring themes throughout the larp and might be encountered unexpectedly. If these are major triggers for you, we strongly encourage you to consider the effects of the triggers on you as a player and how inevitably encountering them affects you.

• Violence, death, suicide, murder
• War, war crimes
• Substance abuse
• Medical gore
• Discrimination based on socio-economic background or non-human status

Additional information about the themes and experience can be found on the Player experience -page.​

​Changes and additions

Our characters are meant to be ‘ready to play’ packages. Everything in the character is designed to serve a purpose in the larp and provide you and your connections a rich and nuanced experience. While some minor changes are possible, we encourage you to enjoy the characters as they are to not break the intended plotlines.

It is especially important to not make alterations to your character’s history or timeline, as seemingly small changes can impact things on a surprisingly large scale. We also ask you not to remove or ignore core connections. If you find it impossible to play some of your core connections, reach out to us and let’s discuss what we can do.

What can you change then? Basically anything that can be agreed between two players. You are welcome to flesh out past events and connections. The tone of a connection can be adjusted if both players agree to do so. You can agree to play a Positive/Complicated connection as just positive if you and your co-player agree to leave out the complication. If agreeing to a solely positive connection, please stick to this agreement no matter what secrets come up. You are also free to create additional connections with the caveat of not ignoring your pre-written connections in favor of any new ones.

If we come across any continuity errors, there might be some timeline fixes and such. Changes made to your character will be highlighted in yellow to make them easily spotted.

Preparing for the larp

Your experience at Odysseus will benefit from time invested in preparing beforehand. There are a lot of materials to comb through and, although preplay is advised against, you can reach out to your connections to calibrate how you want to play the contact. However, if you or your co-players do not have time for lengthy discussions before the game, we have reserved some time for discussions during the pre-game workshops. There are also workshops to learn and try out ingame tasks. We are planning to provide a few Empty Epsilon training scenarios if you want to familiarize yourself with the simulator beforehand.

We organizers will not facilitate any player groups except the existing run specific optional Facebook player groups. We do not expect any community involvement from our players before the game.

However, if you so wish, there are several player created groups being formed. Be inclusive and make sure all relevant players have the possibility to join the discussions without feeling obligated to do so. While fleshing out your group dynamics, be mindful that not all members of your group can participate in active discussions beforehand. All player driven content must be inclusive and voluntary in nature. There is already a lot of stuff to learn and process in the official materials, so player created material should not come as an extra burden but something fun to channel your hype into.

​Questions? Concerns?

We hope that you got this far, that was quite a bit of information! We are happy to answer all questions that you might have, but please do first check if this post or our website already has the answer you are looking for. If any worries remain, write us an email and we will see how to best address your concerns.

Also, if you for some reason or another need to cancel your player spot, please note that after the end of March the maximum refund drops to 125€ for subsidized ticket holders and to 275€ for regular and sponsor ticket holders.

Picture: Ami Koiranen

Picture: Tuomas Puikkonen