Conduct and Themes Policy

We as the Transference 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 OURPGSoc game, Transference is subject to the OURPGSoc 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 Transference. 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, Tenaya, 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 Society President, Konstantine, either on Discord or through email.

All Transference 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. Transference 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.

• 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
• Extreme violence
• Extreme gore
• Terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism
• Miscarriage and stillbirth
• Forced abortion
• Medical malpractice
• Eating disorders
• Incest
• Torture
• Cannibalism
• Slavery or human trafficking
• Mind control
• Genital mutilation
• Animal abuse
• Child abuse
• Eugenics
• Genocide
• Genocide denial
• Real-world current figures and events, as well as real-world historical figures and events
  • Transference takes place on an Earth-like planet but not on Earth; no characters will be aware of or familiar with real world events or figures, and no places or societies are meant to be directly analogous to real world places or societies.
• Discrimination on the basis of real-world ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, faith, gender or sex (e.g. misogyny, transphobia), sexual orientation (e.g. homophobia), physical disability, neurodiversity, or mental health condition
  • Discrimination on the basis of in-universe equivalents is permitted in a limited way; please see below.

These are themes that we think are likely to come up during the course of the game.

* Xenophobia

• It is not permitted for any characters to be discriminatory or bigoted towards any other characters on the basis of any of the protected characteristics listed below during the course of the game.
• However, it is permitted for characters to show distrust of outsiders purely on the basis of their not previously belonging to the community, as we do not want to ban the tensions which may arise as a result of the Transference.
• If you want to explore themes of discrimination with your character, please discuss in advance with the GMs.

You are allowed to include these themes in your character’s backstory, and these themes may form part of NPC backstories. This means that these themes may come up during the game as topics of conversation or things some characters handle, but will not be depicted beyond references in conversation. However, please remember that Transference is intended to be a relatively light-hearted (if bittersweet) game and some players may prefer not to interact with these themes. If you are ever asked to change the topic and stop a conversation, please respect this request.

If you intend to include any of these themes in your character's backstory, we ask that you discuss this with the GMs in advance so that we can discuss with you how you want to interact with the theme.

• In-universe discrimination
  • on the basis of gender or sex (e.g. misogyny, transphobia)
  • on the basis of sexual orientation (e.g. homophobia)
  • on the basis of physical disability, mental health condition, or neurodivergence
  • on the basis of ethnicity, race, nationality, or faith
    • Because Transference is set in a world similar to ours but with an entirely different history, discrimination is always on the basis of in-universe versions of these phenomena. For instance, the world religions of the real world do not exist in the Transference universe, and therefore discrimination on the basis of faith must be an in-universe faith. If exploring these themes in backstory please do not reference specific real-world events characterised by discrimination. Discrimination in the world of Transference can be broadly understood to be created by a distrust of difference, not by any of the historical events that generate discrimination in the real world.
• Emotional/physical abuse, e.g. domestic abuse or bullying
  • The abuse may not be ongoing during the game itself. It is permitted to either have this as something in your character’s past or to have your character be separated from their abuser by the Transference, but it is not permitted to have their abuser present in the game, and it is not permitted to play an abusive character.
• Drug or alcohol addiction, Gambling
  • Your character may have struggled with these in the past, but cannot be dealing with this addiction during the course of the game.
• Homelessness
  • We recognize that the effects of the Transference may have some similarity to housing instability. Anchor Rock is the kind of small community that will ensure that every person has a roof above their heads, even if the situation feels impermanent.
• Other means of removing agency
  • The Transference event could constitue a loss of bodily agency, since a transfer is relocated with no volition of their own, however, this is expected to be a unique incident. Whilst the environment may change in ways out of control to the characters, there should be no other incidences of loss of bodily autonomy. Manipulation of the mind is not expected to come up. The Dreamer and Touch The Veil quirks will allow more interaction with the existentially large cosmos, which is outside of character control (and perhaps of the mind's comprehension), but they will not involve mind-control or other loss of mental or bodily autonomy. It is permitted to discuss the sense of loss of control that might be provoked by The Transference, but please do not depict mind-control or loss of agency, as these are not themes we intend to explore.
• Indiscriminate violence
• Dieting
• Childbirth
  • Childbirth is a permitted in backstory and as a topic of conversation, but discussion of traumatic childbirth is not permitted.
• Pregnancy
  • We ask that no characters are pregnant during the transfer.

While the GMs are not intentionally bringing the following themes into the game, they are permitted and may come up unpredictably.

• Mental illness
• Physical disability
• Suicide and self-harm as anything but an expression of emotional distress, e.g. self-sacrifice
• Other real-world biases and discrimination not covered in the above sections
• Chronic illnesses; Degenerative diseases or cancer
  • It is not permitted to play any character whose health would be dramatically impacted by the Transference. Although we are aware that this could be a potential consequence of such an event, it’s not a theme we want to deal with. Therefore, it is permitted for your character to have a chronic illness or degenerative disease, or to know someone who does, on the condition that they can go several weeks without medical intervention and therefore will not have medical issues in Anchor Rock.
• 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.