Roleplay guidelines

0.0The Golden Rules: the three L’s

• Play to lift. Write in ways that give others hooks, spotlight, and chances to shine. Don’t only serve yourself.
• Play to logic. Keep your character’s actions consistent with the setting, their knowledge, and cause and effect. Don’t break plausibility.
• Play to lose. Accept setbacks, defeats, and mistakes. Let tension exist by accepting that you won’t always win, or by choosing to lose.

Immersion and a high standard of roleplay matter to us, and these rules help protect them. The behaviors below are examples, not a complete list, of what we consider problematic. Staff may issue warnings or other measures for behavior not listed here that fits these definitions.

1.0Powergaming

We define powergaming as roleplay or behavior that negates the agency of other players. Examples:

• Imposing injuries, conditions, reactions, or death on other players with no reasonable chance to respond. (“I put my gun to his head and shoot him, killing him instantly.” “I grab your arm and twist it, making you scream and yield to me.”)
• Describing feats that are unlikely or physically impossible for a human. (A self-described petite librarian lifts a washing machine alone.)
• Not responding to roleplay when a scene calls for it, such as being addressed directly, held at gunpoint, or threatened. Even if it is “what your character would do,” this is both powergaming and FailRP.

2.0Metagaming

We define metagaming as using information learned out of character to your advantage in character. Examples:

• Messaging a friend or group out of character for help in a situation they would have no reason to know about or join in character.
• Using pictures or videos another player posted to find their base or judge their loot for a raid.
• Learning about an incoming raid out of character and building defenses or moving when you had no prior plans to.
• Sharing information out of character with the server during an ongoing situation, including in our media channels. Screenshots are great, but wait until conflicts or events are resolved before talking about them or sharing them.

3.0RPQM and FailRP

We take Roleplay Quality Management (RPQM) seriously. Players may be cited for violating RPQM, or for FailRP, which we define as intentionally engaging in roleplay that is not realistic or grounded and that disrupts others’ immersion. Examples:

• Not responding to roleplay when a scene calls for it, such as being addressed directly, held at gunpoint, or threatened.
• Not emoting, or poorly emoting, mechanical actions such as looting and combat.
• Referring to events, memes, or culture that would not exist in canon. (Mentioning K-pop group BTS in the 1990s, or calling someone your “oomfie” in 2001.)
• Slang, abbreviations, or writing quirks that break immersion: emoticons like “:3”; abbreviations like “LOL,” “LMAO,” “bc” for “because,” or “wym” for “what do you mean”; non-stylistic grammar mistakes like “tho,” “you’re” for “your,” or “there” for “their”; slang like “huzz.”
• Using out-of-character chat for in-character interaction, or the reverse.
• Trope-driven, stereotyped, or insensitive portrayals of a character’s race, ethnicity, sexuality, or other characteristics.

Even the best roleplayers slip once in a while. Genuine mistakes happen, and that’s okay. Repeated RPQM violations become a concern and may lead to a ticket.

4.0Bugs & bad faith

Project Zomboid is a flawless game without any bugs, issues, or cheese. Said nobody, ever. Whether you have played for one hour or a thousand, it doesn’t take long to see that the game is a work in progress at the best of times and broken at the worst. We understand that bugs, harmful and helpful, will happen. We will not tolerate the behaviors below, because they break immersion and give unfair mechanical, roleplay, or other advantages.

4.1Exploiting

We define exploiting as using bugs or game limitations to gain an advantage, mechanical, meta, or otherwise. Examples include duplicating items, and building or breaking into areas you are not supposed to reach.

Accidental, one-off quirks are fine: open a ticket so we can fix things. Taking advantage of an exploit, or doing it repeatedly, can be punished up to and including a ban.

4.2Griefing

We define griefing as harming other players, their belongings, or the server experience without proper planning, reasoning, or justification. Examples:

• Duplicating items.
• Destroying bases or vehicles outside of raid tickets.
• Unauthorized raiding or other bad-faith actions.

To keep the server running smoothly and the world furnished, these also count as griefing:

• Dismantling structures, containers, or furniture to level skills.
• Dismantling vehicles with engine quality above 20%.
• Excessive litter, including leftover car parts, logs, and pipes.

See Server rule 2.3: Dismantling.

5.0Character portrayal & immersion

All characters must be 18 or older and portrayed realistically for a post-apocalyptic setting. This includes:

• Clothing. Outfits should make sense for survival, not mimic modern fashion trends or meme aesthetics. Staff won’t strictly police clothing, but anything badly out of place may be addressed.
• Names and references. Characters need realistic names typical of the era they were born in. No symbols, numbers, modern pop-culture references, or names taken from existing media.
• Behavior and speech. Characters should fit the tone and social norms of the setting. Avoid modern slang, unrealistic backstories, and behavior that breaks immersion.
• Depth and personality. A personality shouldn’t center on a single trait or one aspect of identity.
• Intent and development. Characters should be fully realized people, not self-inserts or personas created only for ERP, romance, or wish fulfillment. Relationships can form naturally, but every character needs believable motivations, flaws, and goals beyond intimacy or attention.

6.0Sensitive & explicit roleplay topics

No Way Out is strictly 18+ because of the mature and potentially distressing themes of a post-apocalyptic setting. Players may encounter violence, trauma, death, and other dark themes. This section is required reading for all members.

The following may only happen in secluded, private settings with the permission of everyone involved:

• Torture.
• Graphic or excessively gruesome depictions of injuries.

Explicit sexual or erotic roleplay (ERP) is strictly forbidden in any publicly accessible chat on our server, under any conditions. Using a public chat for it can be punished up to and including a ban.

We are largely not responsible for interactions in direct messages or on servers not affiliated with No Way Out. Engaging with players outside our moderated chats is a decision for each participant to make with consent, and is generally outside our moderation.

If someone tries to coerce, pressure, threaten, or manipulate you into ERP or any other roleplay, report them to Discord, block them, and open a Concern ticket with us. They are violating Discord’s Terms of Service and our zero-tolerance rules, and can be banned or face legal action.

The following topics are prohibited in every form, including active participation, explicit or detailed reference, or accusations in roleplay:

• Rape.
• Pedophilia.
• Bestiality.
• Necrophilia.

6.1In-character prejudice and bigotry

Characters may hold bigoted attitudes as part of their roleplay, but:

• Slurs are strictly forbidden in character.
• Prejudice should come through nuanced roleplay, not offensive language.
• Bigotry must be one aspect of a character, never their defining trait, and cannot be used to target or harass other characters beyond reasonable in-character conflict.

7.0Broadcast rules and radio use

The radio exists to support storytelling, not to act as an out-of-character chatroom or social media feed. Communication is a powerful tool and must be used properly. All in-character radio communication must happen in game, or through approved RP beacon posts in the designated Discord channel.

We define improper radio use as using radio systems in ways that break immersion, stretch plausibility, or recreate out-of-character platforms. Staff may remove or moderate radio content that doesn’t meet immersion standards or misuses RP beacons. Repeated misuse, including out-of-character discussion, excessive posting, or low-effort “spam signals,” may lead to warnings or temporary restrictions from radio features.

The goal is not to limit creativity, but to keep radio a meaningful storytelling tool rather than background noise. The examples below are guidance, not a complete list.

7.1In-game radio

Owning a walkie-talkie or radio lets your character talk to other survivors. In Project Zomboid, only two-way devices can transmit and receive; standard radios, such as car or home radios, only receive. For players to talk, everyone involved needs a two-way radio tuned to the same frequency. Each device has a broadcast range in kilometers, and the game checks it: if two players are too far apart, they cannot communicate. Limits:

• Characters cannot whisper over the radio. Trying produces broken transmissions that are nearly impossible to understand.
• Because dice combat and normal gameplay run at different speeds, walkie-talkie use is limited once combat starts. Using one during a hostile situation before combat can count as hostile intent and the start of initiative.
• Characters can roleplay using the radio during combat, but the actual message is sent or posted after combat ends, whatever the result.
• Characters must have their name, or the name they are commonly known by, visible when using the radio. Avoid pseudonyms.

Players can agree to set aside the combat-related radio rules at any time, and Storyteller exceptions may override them. Without agreement, the default rules apply.

7.2RP beacons

RP beacons are short, atmospheric “signal flares” that point to ongoing roleplay or events. They are hooks, not conversations: something your character could stumble across or hear about in the world. Strike out your post when it expires, like so. Examples:

• “The jukebox echoes down the empty street. The Salty Spitoon is open tonight.”
• “Gunshots echo far to the west of Brandenburg. Perhaps someone is fighting a horde?”
• “Flyers litter the town, announcing a gathering on [date].”

Beacons invite roleplay; they don’t replace it. Avoid out-of-character commentary, meta information, and long back-and-forths.

7.3Major radio broadcasts

Full radio transmissions are reserved for players who have established in-character access to broadcasting equipment, such as a working antenna or radio station. Treat them as major events, with real effort, preparation, and risk. Acceptable major broadcasts include:

• Emergency alerts or public warnings.
• Organized news segments or community bulletins.
• Faction-wide announcements or story-driving transmissions.

Always say where you are broadcasting from (for example, Brandenburg), and whether the broadcast is only audible in a specific area, such as an intercom announcement.

Radio is not a personal diary, gossip board, or social media feed. It should sound like radio: sparse, atmospheric, and believable.

7.4Voice changers and voice recognition

Given the technology and resources available, characters normally cannot mask their voices artificially. Other methods may be tried, but whether a voice is recognized is up to the listening characters. Basic disguises and performances are fine, but they depend on skill and plausibility.

Acceptable:

• Speaking through a weak or damaged radio whose static or distortion makes a voice harder to place.
• Keeping transmissions short or vague to avoid revealing who you are.

Not acceptable:

• Using a digital voice changer or pitch modulation to sound like someone else.
• Insisting nobody could ever recognize you because you are “using a voice changer.”

Many unacceptable kinds of voice masking come close to powergaming. These rules keep the setting grounded. Radios add mystery and tension; they are not tools for perfect anonymity, futuristic voice modification, memes, or long-form storytelling.

Etiquette & best practice

Much of what follows feeds into how we handle RPQM. At No Way Out we want realistically portrayed people, not just characters. We expect full-sentence to multi-sentence narrative posts that engage with the world around your character, not only the character you write, and that help build the theater of the mind.

That may sound demanding, but it makes for an immersive, engaging experience. Read these sections with that in mind, and think about whether you are following them before you write. The server is at its best when everyone shares the same approach to scenes and to each other.

A useful habit: write longer posts outside the game, in Notepad or a word processor, so you can proofread. Type a quick line in the chatbox to show you are writing, then finish the post outside the game. Handy shortcuts:

These practices are recommended by staff and by most of the playerbase, shaped by player feedback across many writing styles. Adjusting to each other is the best way to create a good experience for everyone.

1.0Scene flow

In group scenes, and even one-on-one, follow the unspoken turn order that most roleplay communities use. Joining a scene is like merging onto a highway: pick someone to post after, then keep that order for the whole scene. Breaking it is like leaving your shopping cart in the parking lot.

Scenes flow best when person A emotes, then B, then C, and repeat, much like dice combat. This gives the scene a natural structure and stops faster typists from talking over slower ones.

Be considerate and avoid huge walls of text with many things to respond to. Over time that can make others feel like characters in your story instead of co-authors, and in some cases it amounts to soft powergaming. There are exceptions, but in group scenes it keeps things from getting lost in the flood.

Avoid rapid-fire messages. Sending two, three, or four messages in a row can overwhelm players who send one combined message. Take your time, think about what your character says and does, and send it in one post. Brief rapid messages for a specific comedic effect are fine in moderation, as long as they don’t disrupt the scene or wink at the camera.

1.1Fourth-wall breaks

Fourth-wall breaks can be funny, but they easily become excessive and damage immersion and the integrity of a scene, especially when done for an out-of-character reaction or to bait players with in-jokes. We may handle these more strictly through RPQM. Keep them to a minimum, especially in serious or group scenes.

1.2Grammar and perspective

Always make clear which character you are addressing. If you don’t know their name, describe them. Avoid vague phrasing like:

/me regards the woman

In a scene with several women, that emote gets lost. Be specific instead:

/me tilts their head toward the towering woman in front of them, raising a brow in curiosity.

Avoid the second person when addressing another player. It confuses group scenes and reads like first-person writing, which we prefer to avoid:

“/me passes you a lighter” versus “/me hands CrystalChris a lighter.”

Don’t use /env in group scenes without naming your character, and effectively never use it during events, so players and staff always know who is acting.

1.3Consistent portrayal

Characters can develop and change dramatically through roleplay. Unrealistic portrayals, sudden personality shifts, or breaking the portrayal written in your application may lead to an RPQM ticket. A character’s core traits should take significant or traumatic events, or long development, to change.

1.4Leave room to respond

When leaving a scene, wait until the other players acknowledge your character’s exit. This matters most in disagreements. If another character means to stop you leaving, exiting mechanically without giving them the chance is powergaming, and will be dealt with more firmly than a simple RPQM ticket.

1.5Don’t be a greedy writer

Make your posts a back-and-forth: a call and a response. Leave room for others to work off your writing instead of writing only for yourself. Purple prose can be lovely, but make sure it gives others something to build on. Don’t be the main character. Engage with your fellow writers, let them engage with you, and build the scene together.

1.6Keep it realistic

Your character can’t hear conversations through walls just because you see them in the chatbox, can’t hear whispers, and can’t see what happens behind them without turning around. Your character’s limits matter too: a five-foot bookworm isn’t lifting a machine gun with ease; someone badly hurt isn’t heading straight back into the wilds after their broken leg was set; and even a bodybuilder isn’t lifting a semi truck. It all comes down to one rule: keep your character’s current state, mental faculties, emotional wellbeing, abilities, and skills in mind when you roleplay.

This applies to events too. We don’t reward whoever arrives first, and many events have no mechanical reward at all; they exist for the story, and as walls for the community to climb together. So take time to have your character react to the event and the environment the way a person would, before racing to the finish.

A meteor crashes with a sonic boom overhead? Stand in awe for a moment, talk with others, plan, then head for the crash site if your character would. A storm rolling in? Your character would bundle up and look for shelter rather than linger in it.

1.7Keep it in character

Everything your character does should be considered in character, within reason, excluding horrible bugs, crashes, and other common-sense exceptions. Your character snags their pants on a fence and tears them? Annoying out of character, sure, but it’s a chance for roleplay with a tailor and a conversation starter, instead of running up to one out of character to get your clothes fixed. Treat mistakes as story beats.

1.8Mechanical vs. canonical skills

Project Zomboid is a game: a vessel for story with a loot loop attached. Our characters can cut through thousands of the dead for hours without tiring. That gap between story and gameplay is called ludonarrative dissonance.

Our mechanical characters are not our canonical characters. On No Way Out, dice encounters are often the only thing truly canon, because they carry the stakes and narrative weight that our tireless mechanical characters lack.

So as not to discount mechanical actions completely, a useful rule of thumb is to divide mechanical kills by a hundred: every 100 kills is one canonical kill of a nightmarish creature.

1.9Event etiquette

Writing in large group events is hectic, and more so when players aren’t considerate of each other. Everything above matters even more in large groups, plus:

• Use /w and /low where possible so you don’t flood the chatboxes of players across the event. Admins can see every message, whatever command you use.
• Avoid purple prose when your character is talking to or acting toward another player. It’s fine elsewhere, but in big events it holds back other players, event staff, and you.
• Be understanding. It is easy to miss someone’s emote when twenty other people are writing.
• Don’t use /env during events. Not knowing who is acting quickly snowballs into frustration for players and staff and slows the event down.