How We Cast MEC’s Magical Characters
- Kaz
- Mar 20
- 3 min read
Non-player characters (NPCs) are an integral part of the MEC experience. Without them there would be no teachers to give classes or magical creatures to enrich them, no peculiar strangers to liven up the afternoon or evening, no creepy crawlies to make the woods unsafe after curfew, no persuasive parents to progress players' personal plots, or indeed no main plot to tie the whole event together!
But how do you get from a written role on paper to having an actual person play out the part? That's what casting is all about, and in this blog post we'll ever so slightly lift the veil so you can catch a glimpse of the magic going on behind the scenes.
And not to worry – this blog post is entirely spoiler free, as to not ruin any surprises we have in store for you!
Comfort before curtain call
When it comes to casting, the core of all our decision making is that everyone feels comfortable at all times. This applies to our players, but also very much to our NPC actors: some roles may have costumes that are more revealing than others, or require you to act in a way that not everyone is comfortable with.
So before we do any casting at all, we ask our actors to fill in a questionnaire to establish their boundaries. These include be physical boundaries, like whether they're okay getting wet or playing physically demanding roles, but also psychological boundaries like whether they're okay playing plot critical roles (lots of pressure on those!) and which parts of their body they are comfortable having exposed. We also give them the opportunity to bring up anything they can think of that they would like us to keep in mind.
That way, we can make an informed guess whether someone is comfortable playing a role before we even ask them.
The stakes it takes
Having done this, we look at the actual roles we have that need an actor to play them. When we consider casting an actor, these are the kind of question we consider:
Does this role have requirements the actor has stated they're not comfortable with?
Is the actor available to play this role at the time we need them to or are they already playing something else?
Does the actor fit the role? Is it something that fits into their natural range, or are they less familiar with it?
Does the actor's physical appearance fit the role? For example, if we need an imposing character for an important plot, a taller actor may be a better fit than a smaller one.
If the role is very important or difficult, does the actor have enough experience to properly execute the role and handle any unexpected issues?
Has this actor already been assigned a lot of roles? Is everyone getting their fair share of roles to play?
No script? No problem.
Once we have found someone we think best fits the role, we ask them if they want to play it. If they say yes, we brief them on what the role entails. Due to the nature of MEC – or LARPing in general – we do not have scripts for our actors to learn: almost all of it is improvisation.
Instead, we give our actor the details of the plot and what their role in it is. We tell them where to be and when, the personality of their character, key pieces of dialogue they should mention and how they should respond to certain player actions.
Because we can never cover everything, we also rely on our actors to improvise their way out of unexpected situations. This can be very challenging, but also a large part of the fun!
Robes fit for frontline
After the actors have been briefed and know what is expected of them, it's Team Bunker's turn to make them look the part, providing them with costumes, wigs and make-up!
Then, when the time is right, we send them out into the field where they can make the magic come alive! And that, in short, is how the NPC casting process for MEC works!
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With this glimpse behind the scenes, you can see that the role of casting director is no easier than that of our very own sorting dragon.
With every role carefully assigned, every costume adjusted, and every actor stepping onto the field, the world of MEC takes shape. We can’t wait for you to experience the results in 2025—because dragon or not, we’ll make sure every person finds the place where they truly belong.
