Conduct and Themes

Our hope is that, in common with other Society Games, playing Scripture will be a fun and memorable experience. The game is deliberately open to a range of different game paths—you can explore the setting; form relationships with other players’ characters; or focus on the NPCs and their stories.

The CAT policy sets boundaries to make sure this openness is compatible with your right to feel comfortable and safe when roleplaying. Short for “Conduct and Acceptable Themes Policy”, it provides advance warning of potential triggers in the game, and establishes some ground rules for players to follow. In other words, it sets out Scripture's safeguarding policy, and fleshes out the basic expectation that all of us will be respect one another’s boundaries during the game. If at any point in the game you are asked to stop by anyone at any point for OC comfort reasons, please listen.

Our policy is based on the Oxford University Role Playing Game Society's Conduct and Acceptable Themes Policy, and it is expected that all players and GMs will be familiar with this policy when playing Scripture. When in and out of character, all players and GMs are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner toward all other players and GMs and in accordance with the Society's Conduct and Acceptable Themes Policy, as well as the University policies mentioned within it.

We ask that above all, players and GMs uphold a supportive and respectful environment where participants can feel comfortable discussing sensitive themes both in and out of character. The spirit of the policy is always more authoritative than the exact wording, and so legalistic attempts to defend breaches of acceptable behaviour will be interpreted as being in bad faith and will not be accepted.

If players ever have a concern that the CAT policy has been breached, you may reach out to any member of the GM team. In the event that players have a concern about a particular GM, please contact one (or both) of the co-CAMPOs, Connor and Ivan. If you have a concern about the CAMPOs, please contact the RPGsoc president Konstantine via email.

Minimum Age

You must be at least sixteen years old to take part in the game. Most players will be between the ages of eighteen and thirty. You are asked to declare whether you are under 18 in character submission for safeguarding purposes.

Requesting Not to Roleplay with Someone

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.

Conduct

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.

These are themes that will not occur during the course of the game and players will not be allowed to engage with them

  • 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
  • Forced abortion
  • Genital mutilation
  • Incest
  • Eugenics
  • Real-world current figures and events and real-world historical figures and events
    • Scripture is set in a magical fantasy world. Discussion of real world events is nonsensical.
  • Child abuse
    • Child abuse is not a theme in the game. Some fantasy creatures may have a childlike appearance, e.g. the fey, but every PC and NPC in this game will be a full adult.
    • Players are allowed to have traumatic backgrounds when creating their character, for example growing up in a neglectful family, but players should be careful bringing this up in game, making sure to spoiler and content warn any potentially triggering descriptions of their backstory.
  • Miscarriage and stillbirth
  • Discrimination on the basis of gender or sex, sexual orientation e.g. homophobia, gender identity e.g. transphobia, physical disability or mental health condition, real-world ethnicity or race, nationality, or neurodivergence.
    • Animosity is allowed with The Enemy, but this should be due to their aggression and threats, not any intrinsic bias.

Themes which are expected to be relevant in some plots of Scripture.

  • Mental illness
  • Physical disability
    • Players may choose to enter the game as a character with a physical disability, or may acquire some injury that makes the player disabled. Players are encouraged to roleplay this with care and to avoid common tropes around disability.
  • Torture
    • PCs are not expected to torture NPCs and PCs, doing so would require explicit consent from all players involved. Torture by an NPC may be alluded to. It may be described to players who take the More Gore Quirk.
  • Indiscriminate violence
  • Extreme violence
    • This will not be described in detail unless players take the More Gore Quirk.
  • Extreme gore
    • This will not be described in detail unless players take the More Gore Quirk.
  • Animal abuse
    • Given the various races in the world, some people may look and partially act like animals but will have human levels of sentience, so violence towards them will be treated as violence towards humans.
    • Monsters inhabit the world and in-universe people would consider these as being distinct to animals. The distinguisher the GMs will use for this is that animals are any non-sentient creature that exists in the OC real world, whereas monsters are mythical or made up creatures. Monsters are expected to be fought and hurt/killed.
    • Otherwise, targeted animal abuse towards non-sapient beings is not expected to occur.
  • Degenerative diseases or cancer
    • Some characters in the game may be getting progressively more unwell unless they receive help. This is a fantasy disease where a cure is possible to find. This is not intended to resemble a real life disease or any specific disease at all.
    • Players may choose to represent degenerative diseases or cancer so long as they do so with consideration for the fact this is a sensitive theme.
  • Discrimination on the basis of religion or faith
    • Gods walk amongst the people, and some people do pick sides, give offerings, and occasionally fight in conflicts (Ex, between Cinder and Ember for the title of god of fire). No gods in this game are meant to resemble any gods from real life religions.
    • At the start of the game there is no systemic discrimination on the basis of faith, and there is not expected to be during the course of the game.
  • Mind control or other means of removing agency
    • Magical notes and other sources of magic in Scripture can have mind altering effects. This means that notes such as “happy” and “sad” can affect people's mood, which could be viewed as a loss of agency. However, whilst the character's mood may be swayed, the character, and thus ultimately the player, will have full agency over their actions. There is a Quirk players can take to opt out of descriptions of explicit mind control and loss of agency.
    • Additionally, there exist ways to alter NPCs (not PCs) memories in Scripture.
    • Finally, there will be ways the GMs in this game plan to manipulate the way different PCs and NPCs see the world and interact with each other. This is not opt in, and instead is a theme every player of scripture will likely come across, but GMs are always happy to specifically explain what each PC has seen.
  • Emotional abuse
    • PCs and NPCs alike are likely to mislead and manipulate each other during the course of the game.
  • Genocide and genocide denial
    • There will be points in the game where past and future extinction events may be discussed. These are indiscriminate and inhuman, and so are not intended as allegories for genocide.
  • Terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism
    • The Renegade, alongside other forces, are enemies of the Kingdom and may perform acts which could be interpreted as terrorism. These acts will not be carried out with the goal of a loss of life.
  • Physical abuse, e.g. domestic abuse or bullying
    • Domestic abuse is strictly not a theme of the game. However, some dynamics involving gods could be interpreted as abusive, with the gods using their power callously and people trying to strike back.
    • Players are allowed to have traumatic backgrounds when creating their character, for example living in a neglectful family, but players should be careful bringing this up in game, making sure to spoiler and content warning any potentially triggering descriptions of their backstory.
  • Slavery and human trafficking
    • Some dynamics with the gods could be viewed as slavery adjacent. No enslavement of people by other people will occur.

These are themes that the GMs are not planning to occur in Scripture, but could occur unpredictably. These themes should be handled carefully, by players and GMs alike.

  • Pregnancy and childbirth
    • We are not planning to have childbirth nor pregnancy in this game. Nonetheless, if a player has an idea for a character the GMs find appropriate for Scripture, this theme may be present.
  • Medical malpractice
  • Homelessness
    • Holbert's House has infinite a lot of rooms, so homelessness in the City can be avoided. Nonetheless, it is possible that player events will lead to the destruction of housing, which could cause homelessness, albeit likely temporary.
  • Dieting
  • Chronic illnesses
  • Drug or alcohol addiction
  • Gambling
  • Suicide and self-harm as anything but an expression of emotional distress, e.g. self-sacrifice
  • Eating disorders
    • Some fantasy creatures can have specific eating requirements, e.g vampires need blood. This is not intended as an allegory for eating disorders, and this game will not feature real life eating disorders.
  • Cannibalism
    • Some fantasy creatures can have specific eating requirements, e.g. vampires need blood. This is not an allegory for cannibalism. Cannibalism will not occur.
  • Consensual sexual activity
    • While this may occur and be referenced in game, it will not be detailed. If it occurs in turnsheets or emails, it will be handled in a fade-to-black style.
  • Other real-world biases and discrimination not covered in the other sections
    • Players are asked to recall that explicit references to the real world are not permitted.