Conduct and Themes

“For your own safety, please mind the gap between the train and the platform.”
—Ancient adage of the Line’s stations.

We as the Terminus 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, Terminus 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 Terminus. 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, Konstantine, 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 for all players. If you have a concern about the head GM, please contact the Society President, Sophia, either on Discord or through email.

All Terminus 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. Terminus 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
• 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, or nationality
• Use of real-world discriminatory slurs
• Suicide and self-harm as an expression of emotional distress
• Forced abortion
• Slavery and human trafficking
• Genital mutilation
• Incest
• Child abuse
  • Children may be included as victims of indiscriminate disasters, but will not be singled out as targets.
• Eugenics
• Real-world current figures and events and real-world historical figures and events
  • Terminus is set in a world similar to ours, but with an alternative history and several years into the future. For that reason no real-world figures or events will be mentioned or referenced in-game.
• Cannibalism
• Physical abuse, e.g. domestic abuse or bullying
• Miscarriage and stillbirth

These are themes that we suspect may become relevant in Terminus.

• Mental illness
• Physical disability
• Torture
  • We do not expect PCs to torture PCs or NPCs, and if this were to happen it would require OC consent between players and consulation with the GMs. There is a further chance that torture could be alluded to by an NPC with no details.
• Indiscriminate violence
• Extreme violence
  • Depictions of violence will likely occur, but this will be significantly toned down if you don't take the More Gore quirk.
• Extreme gore
  • This will only come up in-game for players with the More Gore quirk.
• Animal abuse
  • Harm to animals may occur, but not targeted animal abuse by humans.
• Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Pregnancy will exist as a theme, and childbirth will not be portrayed directly but will be implied to happen.
  • The medical dangers surrounding childbirth in a closed community with limited medical resources will not be referenced.
• Medical malpractice
  • Mismanaged medical resources may cause issues within the game. Deliberate harm from medical professionals towards their patients will not be a subject of the game.
• Degenerative diseases or cancer
  • We expect that degenerative diseases or cancer may arise in game as a result of the catastrophes of the Overground.
  • 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.
• Homelessness
  • Much like many other resources in Terminus, space is a limited resource. Safe housing and a lack of it may therefore come up in-game.
• Discrimination on the basis of religion or faith
  • Within the closed community Terminus is set in, new forms of religion and faith may have arisen, and these religions may be in conflict with one another. These religions do not represent real-life religions.
• Mind control or other means of removing agency
  • We expect mind-altering effects will occur in-game and affect all players. However, players will be able to choose a quirk to opt-out of detailed descriptions and explicit agency removal.
• Emotional abuse
  • Terminus is a game with manipulation as a core theme, and therefore we suspect emotional abuse to be a theme of the game.
• Genocide and genocide detail
  • The catastrophes of the Overground resulted in a mass-extinction event. However, attempts to wipe out specific human cultures will not be detailed.
  • Though Terminus is a game about limited resources, population growth control will absolutely not be a theme of the game. Players should not consider ‘culling’ an option and no NPCs will propose ideas of this type either; the community of the Underground is very tight-knit, and IC this would not be an acceptable idea.

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.

• Terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism
  • Acts that may be construed as terrorism may feature in this game, though none will consist of indiscriminate violence with the primary aim of maximising death.
• Other real-world biases and discrimination not covered in the above sections
• 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
  • While malnutrition and limited food resources are a theme of the game e.g. rationing food, these are not intended as allegories for eating disorders.
  • We ask that players do not represent eating disorders IC.
• 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.