Conduct and Acceptable Themes

We as the Fated GM team wish for the game to be an enjoyable and memorable experience for all players involved. The following page concerns various sensitive themes and topics and how we intend to handle them, and advises a sensitive approach for players on dealing with these same themes within the Society Game.

The Conduct and Acceptable Themes Policy, also known as the CAT Policy, is the method by which we set out what themes we expect will or may come up in play, providing players with full knowledge of what themes to expect and how they will be handled. As an official ORPGSoc game, Fated is subject to the ORPGSoc CAT Policy and it is highly recommended players familiarise themselves with this policy before playing for awareness of what themes are allowed and disallowed. This page in some cases reiterates and in some cases adds more specific restrictions and clarifications that apply to Fated. Regardless of the CAT Policy, all players and GMs should treat each other with respect. If someone else asks out of character that you stop roleplaying a particular theme or topic around them, for any or no reason, respect their boundaries and stop.

We aim to create an environment in which all players can feel safe and comfortable. Whilst we use the following policy as a guideline in how themes in our game will appear and be handled, the policy should not always be taken literally and attempting to reason to the wording instead of the spirit of the policy will not be tolerated.

Many of the themes presented here and in this game are complicated and nuanced. If you have any questions about our explanations of, or our presentation of, certain themes, please feel free to contact the GMs.

If you feel the CAT policy has been breached, you can reach out to any member of the GM team. If you have a concern about a particular GM, you can reach out to the head GM, Rose, via email (rather than the usual game address, as those emails are seen by all the GMs). Any such issues will be handled with the specific case in mind and we will do our best to account for the safety and comfort of all players. If you have a concern about the head GM, please contact the Welfare Officer for the Society, Jasper H. either on Discord or through email. You may prefer to contact the Society President, Faith, either on Discord or through email.

All Fated players must be 16 years or older to play. Most players will be between the ages of 18 and 30. If you are under 18 years of age, you must disclose this to the GM team for safeguarding reasons. Fated player characters must also be 18 years old or older.

You may request not to roleplay with another player or GM before or at any point during the game, and we will do our best to ensure that you come into contact with that person as little as possible. You may ask us to inform that person of your request or you may keep your request confidential, though keeping the request confidential will prevent us from asking that person not to roleplay with you during the course of the game.

Society Games have certain safety calls that players must familiarise themselves with and respect in-session.

Due to the nature of Roleplaying Games, it is necessary to maintain a strong divide between In Character (IC) and Out of Character (OC) issues. This is generally referred to as the OC/IC divide, and means that all arguments, tension, or other in character feelings should not spill into the real world. Similarly, OC feelings should not be brought IC.

Please note that some people will opt into themes that other players wish to avoid. If you have opted out of a theme (e.g. via a Playstyle Quirk, including a note in your character creation submission, or informing the GMs directly), you will not be forced to encounter those themes in Downtime. However, players that have touched on those topics may discuss them in Uptime. In this case, you can use the safety calls mentioned above.

The following themes are banned in Fated, meaning these themes should not be referenced or recreated in-game.

• Sexual assault, sexual coercion or any other form of non-consensual sexual activity
• Sexual activity with those lacking the capacity to consent e.g. children
• Sexual harassment
• Use of real-world discriminatory slurs
• Suicide and self-harm as an expression of emotional distress
• Discrimination on the basis of gender or sex, sexual orientation e.g. homophobia, physical disability or mental health condition, real-world ethnicity or race, or real-world nationality
  • Discrimination on the basis of sexuality and gender is not common across the nations of Fated, but if your concept includes an idea centred around this (e.g. star-crossed lovers of the same gender, a woman struggling with a fate that has been shaped by gendered expectations) please discuss it with the GMs.
  • Discrimination may occur in other forms in this game, particularly around fates and their perceived value. Certain nations will have discriminatory practices towards people with particular physical manifestations. However, no real-world forms of discrimination should be referenced.
• Incest
• Eating disorders
• Forced abortion
• Genital mutilation
• Eugenics
• Genocide
• Genocide denial
• Real-world current figures and events and real-world historical figures and events
  • Fated is set in a fantastical world. For that reason no real-world figures or events will be mentioned or referenced in-game.

These are themes that we suspect may become relevant in Fated. Because they are sensitive themes, we ask that you read the information below carefully and respect the depictions of these subjects ingame.

• Extreme Violence
  • Your character may experience and witness violence during this game. By choosing the Hit Me Harder Quirk, you will be opting in to your character potentially suffering greater violence with more written description than normal.
• Extreme Gore
  • You will only receive detailed descriptions of gore if you opt in to the Make It Gory Quirk, which means you may receive descriptions of body horror and cannibalism over the course of the game.
• Discrimination on the basis of nationality, religion or faith
  • As stated previously, Fated is not set in the real world, and therefore discrimination on the basis of real-world nationality, religion or faith will not appear ingame. However, it does have nations and faiths that may experience conflict and disagreement, and as a result have certain discriminatory practices against one another that you may represent during the game.
• Torture
  • Your character will only experience torture if you opt in to the Hit Me Harder Quirk.
• Medical malpractice
  • This theme will only be encountered in detail if you take the Make It Gory Quirk.
• Cannibalism
  • Fated draws heavily from classic fairy tales in its inspirations. Cannibalism is a common theme in these stories, and therefore we wish to allow players to explore this theme in their characters. If you wish to include this theme in your character submission, please discuss it with the GMs.
• Slavery and human trafficking
  • Some fates may take the form of servitude or slavery, e.g. a knight fated to be loyal to their lord. We as GMs are especially keen to avoid direct parallels to real-world justifications for slavery.
  • Fate is not passed down genetically. However, this is not necessarily known in-game, and therefore some social dynamics may be shaped by the understanding that certain fates lead to the slavery or servitude of certain individuals to others. E.g. a family who believe that their fates are always intertwined with the royal family’s, such that they are to serve them.
  • If you intend to explore this theme, please discuss with the GMs beforehand to ensure it is in line with the overall tone and theme of the game.
  • We do not expect human trafficking to play a part in this game.
• Mind control or other means of removing agency
  • While mind control will not specifically feature in the game, agency, particularly with regards to fate, is a huge theme of the game, and therefore themes of agency loss will be unavoidable. Please consider this in signing up to play Fated.
  • A Gameplay Quirk is available to opt-in for More Agency for your character during the course of the game.
• Emotional/physical abuse, e.g. domestic abuse or bullying
  • Fated draws heavily from classic fairy tales in its inspirations. Emotional and physical abuse is a common theme in these stories, and therefore we wish to allow players to explore this theme in their characters, especially in their backstory. If you wish to include this theme in your character submission, please discuss it with the GMs.
• Child abuse
  • Fated draws heavily from classic fairy tales in its inspirations. Child abuse is a common theme in these stories, and therefore we wish to allow players to explore this theme in their character backstory. If you wish to include this theme in your character submission, please discuss it with the GMs.
• Animal abuse
  • If you choose to give your character a pet, please be aware that the pet might not be safe from violence during the course of the game.
• Degenerative diseases or cancer
  • Some manifestations may be reminiscent of degenerative diseases. We discourage making these very directly related to the physical decline of the character. We ask that you consult the GM team if your character concept relates to this theme.
  • Fated draws heavily from classic fairy tales in its inspirations. Degenerative disease and cancer are common themes in these stories, and therefore we wish to allow players to explore this in their characters’ backstory, i.e. with backstory NPCs. If you wish to include this theme in your character submission, please discuss it with the GMs.
• Drug or alcohol addiction
  • Addiction to certain substances that claim to be related to changing your fate is a theme that we expect to feature in Fated.
• Gambling
  • The Floating Market features a casino, and some characters may be heavily involved with gambling.

These are themes we are not expecting in the game, but nonetheless may arise unpredictably. These should be handled sensitively both by GMs and players. The following are taken from Appendix B of the CAT Policy:

• Consensual sexual activity
  • While this may occur and be referenced in game, it will not be detailed. If it occurs in Turnsheets, it will be handled in a fade-to-black style.
• Pregnancy
  • We ask that players do not portray pregnant player characters in the Palace. However, pregnant backstory characters and discussion of pregnancy is permitted.
• Childbirth
  • Similarly, players may discuss childbirth, but we ask that you do not attempt to represent this during the course of the game.
• Miscarriage and stillbirth
  • Fated draws heavily from classic fairy tales in its inspirations. Miscarriage and stillbirth is a common theme in these stories, and therefore we wish to allow players to explore this theme in their characters’ backstory. If you wish to include this theme in your character submission, please discuss it with the GMs.
  • Please note that, in line with pregnant characters and childbirth being banned from player character submissions, miscarriage and stillbirth should not occur during the course of the game.
• Mental illness
• Physical disability
• Suicide and self-harm as anything but an expression of emotional distress, e.g. self-sacrifice
• Homelessness
• Terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism
• Indiscriminate violence
• Other real-world biases and discrimination not covered within Appendix B
• Dieting
• Chronic illnesses