======How to Be a Cast Member======
REFUGE always needs Cast for a wide variety of roles. Sometimes the game needs a shopkeeper or traveling merchant, while other times the Plot team will need monsters or beasts to act as direct antagonists in combat. Cast might head into town to role-play as a farmer one moment and come back as a terrifying Undead the next.

When playing Cast, you will be assigned different roles by a Plot team throughout an event. Players who enjoy trying out different things – whether role-playing or in combat – will appreciate the variety they can experience while playing Cast. While Cast exist to fulfill the story for the PCs, this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be having fun too!

Keep in mind that Cast are there as foils for the PCs in service to the overall story. **Cast should never think of their job as to “win” over the PCs in combat**, for example, but to give them a good fight and fulfill whatever goals the Plot team has for the battle. Everyone attends REFUGE to build an exciting story together.

Make sure you know the basic rules of REFUGE. Nobody is expected to be a rules expert at their first event, but everyone should know how to fight safely and obey the most important rules. **It’s always OK to ask more experienced players or Marshals if you aren’t sure about something.** If you haven’t played Cast before, make sure to let the Plot team know so they can make sure and give a little extra training and assistance where necessary.

Not all monsters (or people) act alike. Know how your monster acts and thinks. Goblins are often stupid and easily tricked. Zombies move slowly and don’t hit anything that falls to the ground or remains motionless. Lizardmen speak with a lisping hiss and hate the cold. Mindless Undead creatures can’t talk other than to parrot a simple phrase told to them by a Necromancer. Know what your character is and how it acts before you go out and it will not only make your Cast more real to the player but will also let you have more fun as well.

This rule also applies to where your Cast travels. Have a reason for being where you are. Remember that even non-intelligent animals know enough to hide in the bushes and surprise their prey and will run away if the battle is going against them. Don’t stand in the middle of the road and say, “Come and get me!” and then fight until everyone in your Cast party is completely dead. Even if you’re there for the players to kill, if you treat your Cast as something other than fish-in-a-barrel, the players will have a lot more fun and you will too. If outnumbered or about to die, surrender or run away. Be logical. 

Give every part you play a unique personality so that the PCs remember you and keep that personality consistent. Some Cast roles can return multiple times; try to keep mannerisms and costuming in mind if you play such a role.
Get everyone involved. When performing as your Cast character, try your best to get as many players involved as possible. If you are a messenger coming into town, yell out your message so lots of people can hear it. Don’t be shy, just walk up to PCs and start talking to them to get them involved. Remember that the goal is to entertain as many PCs as possible. Whenever it is logical and reasonable to do so, do everything in your power to involve many players.

Know your character. When someone deals with you as Cast, they are looking at part of your character’s life. It helps to give your character a life for them to see, and it makes role-playing more fun and more natural. If you are playing something with an intelligence enough to talk, you should have some background information prepared in case the players question you. This should generally be basic and simple; you don’t want to accidentally contradict some important piece of information Plot has in mind for the world.

Have a name for your character. Whether it’s supplied to you or not, every character has a name. If you don’t have a name assigned, try to come up with one that sounds distinctive and shows a little imagination.
Know the script. As Cast you always have some sort of guide to your role. It may be a quick briefing from the Monster Marshal, but it may sometimes be a more detailed script to the weekend or a module. Read the whole write-up to understand how you and your encounter fit in and read your own encounter until you know that you can do your part. The success of the adventure often depends on everything fitting together completely and knowing what you’re building is the start.

Be creative with every character, no matter how weak or powerful it might be IG. More experienced Cast are given more powerful monster cards. It can take some time to learn to play more complex Cast cards appropriately in battle; this isn’t a slight against newer players and is a “reward” for consistently playing Cast.
Wear costuming, masks, and makeup appropriately. This helps the PCs understand what they’re seeing and can help you really inhabit the character. This is especially important if you are playing different characters during the weekend. If you haven’t changed your look between the time you went out as the evil assassin and the time you went back to town as the innocent urchin, you are certain to be mistakenly identified and ruin the fun for lots of players. Your costume is as important as your face. It’s the thing people will notice first. Bring a few things of your own to augment the costumes you can use in Cast camp. Jewelry, hats, sashes, belts, and armor all make distinctive changes in your appearance, and thus in your character.

Answer “What do I see?” questions properly. Because it is hard to tell certain monsters apart simply because of the make-up, players can ask, “What do I see?” When asked this question, give only the basic description as written on the Monster Card: “Skeletal figure” and not “Lich with 145 Body Points and seven rituals.” Remember to just give a description; don’t identify what you are. You only need to answer this question if the players have enough light to see your makeup and costuming; if asked “What do I see?” and you think they can’t see you well (because it’s dark, or you are wearing a hood), you can respond “Describe to me what you see.” 

This all assumes that you are playing a bipedal creature like a High Orc, goblin, or troll. If you are playing a monster with a much different than human shape (bear, snake, unicorn, etc.), then you should read the “what do I see” description even if they don’t ask first. This includes things like insects, animals, giant worms, and oozes.
Die when you’re dead. Your role-playing should continue through your death. If your Cast dies, lay there until the party goes away (unless you are told otherwise by the Monster Marshal). The only time you should even talk is if someone is doing a described search on you. Never walk around, congratulate the party on their good fighting Skills, read over the marshal’s shoulder, or otherwise get in the way.

Return props, costuming, and makeup to their proper place. In many encounters, there will be some sort of prop used. Unless you or the other Cast bring your own, these are REFUGE LARP property, and you may be asked to sign out for them. Afterwards, try to make certain that all props get back where they belong, and all private gimmicks are returned to their owners. Disappearing props are an expense that drains money we could be putting into improving events.

Wear an OOG headband when not IG. A white headband is how we tell players that you are not there IG. If you are OOG, be sure to have a white headband on. Try not to make that happen too often. If you are playing Cast on a weekend and you wish to travel from the Cast camp to the town to get a bite to eat, rather than show up in the tavern with a white headband on, play a farmer or traveler who is heading into town for a meal. Ask the Monster Marshal and maybe there will even be some information you can give out while you are there.

Never improvise Skills or creatures. While creativity in performance is welcome, taking major liberties with your Cast is not. It is fine to use your imagination within the confines of your Cast character, such as finding new ambush sites, playing new tricks on the players, or otherwise role-playing as your character would. It is quite another thing to give yourself new Skills, powers, or treasure. Your Cast card will describe exactly what your character is capable of; you cannot go beyond your card (although if appropriate you can always use less than what is listed on the card).

It also includes not adding new plots. If your assignment was to go to the tavern and sell some potions, don’t create a backstory where you’re actually enslaved to do so, and your evil master is just outside of town. If you want to write plots, we encourage that, but it must be done in advance, approved by the Plot Committee, and not on-the-fly.

Never target players. Your Cast probably does not know anyone IG and therefore should treat all players the same. Walking around town looking for your friends to interact with (or for your enemies to attack) is a certain way to get demoted and removed. Keep your Cast neutral (unless the Monster Marshal specifically tells you to target someone).

Don’t see the players as the enemy. Too often, Cast forget that their primary purpose is to provide the players with a fun and challenging encounter. An unwinnable battle that can’t be run away from is no fun. playing Cast is not your excuse to be the powerful being your PC character is not.

As Cast you should never give a Killing Blow unless you have been instructed to do so by the Monster Marshal. In any event, every time a Killing Blow is given it should make sense. Players generally do not object to taking a death if they have done something wrong or if they lost a winnable battle through their own incompetence but they do object if there was nothing they could do about it—and that usually happens when the Killing Blow doesn’t make IG sense.

In combat, try to calibrate what you’re doing to the players you’re fighting. If you are given a powerful monster card and a brand-new PC runs up to you, don’t just destroy them with a single attack – parry for a bit and demonstrate your Skills on other PCs nearby. If they try to withdraw when realizing they’re outclassed, let them do so. Of course, if they continue to press you even after being given ample opportunity to get away, let loose on them!

Let the players do cool things. Along the same lines as the last point, if the players do something interesting that would make a great story, you should probably let them do it. We’re all in this together to make the best story we can, and sometimes it helps the game to let the players get away with something even if the Cast could have stopped them.

Don’t let the players bully you. Some players on a weekend will try to follow you around when you are OOG, waiting for you to put on your mask so they can rush in and attack you. Or they may merely “hang out” near the Cast camp waiting for you to come out. Do not play with them. They are cheating. If they continue to do such things, be sure to report them to the Monster Marshal.

Some players treat non-monster Cast characters differently from PCs. These players will kill a human Cast character quicker than they would a human PC. This is metagaming and should be discouraged. If a player asks you the OOG question “Are you Cast?,” you shouldn’t answer, whether you’re playing Cast or PCing. They shouldn’t be asking that question in the first place. If they kill you, you should check with the Monster Marshal to see if your Cast would Resurrect in the local Earth Circle. If the Monster Marshal approves it, then do what your Cast would logically do—either try to exact revenge or bring charges up to the local law authority.

Report people who break the rules or violate the code of conduct to a marshal. If you encounter a cheater or a metagamer, do not attempt to argue the point with the player. Your recourse is to ask for the player’s name, not to lecture. Let the Marshals straighten out conflicts. That’s what they’re there for. Similarly, if that player is upset with you and wants to know your name, you should give it.

Don’t argue. Remember that everyone in our game—both players and Cast—always has the right to ask the OOG names of other players. You should not feel insulted if someone asks you.

Also: report good players! Players who are excellent role-players, never cheat, and help make a fun game for everyone should be acknowledged and thanked. Tell a marshal (and when you’re a player, be sure to report good Cast too).

{{page>Cast Documentation}}
{{page>Monster Cards}}
{{page>Monster Types}}