Conduct and Acceptable Themes Policy

We as the Fourth Place 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. This policy should be followed at all times when interacting with the game Fourth Place including during Uptimes, writing emails, writing turnsheets, and sending messages on the game's Discord Server.

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, Fourth Place is subject to the ORPGSoc CAT Policy and it is essential that 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 Fourth Place. 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 always be taken in good faith and attempting to reason to the wording instead of the spirit of the policy will not be tolerated.

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 CAMPO, Kris (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 CAMPO, please contact the Welfare Officer for the Society, Fionn either on Discord or through email. You may prefer to contact the Society President, Ben, either on Discord or through email. If you wish to contact someone outside of the GM team, then please contact the Society PALRO, Harry W, on Discord or through email.

All Fourth Place 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. Fourth Place player characters must also be of adult mental and physical maturity 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 IC/OC 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.

Before making OC physical contact with another player while roleplaying, you should always ask for consent.

Romantic or similarly emotionally intense relationships — including intense rivalries — between characters (known as Ballgowning) should be checked OC with other players or GMs involved before beginning. NPCs will not initiate romantic relationships with Player Characters unless they have the Romance Me Playstyle Quirk.

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 Turnsheets. However, players that have touched on those topics may discuss them in Uptime or emails. In this case, you can use safety calls.

PvP only ever involves Player Characters and other Player Characters. This can appear in many different ways, whether it may be physical, political, ideological, etc. You should not expect to be mauled by someone each Uptime, as PvP comes in different levels of intensities that you will consent to through your actions throughout the game or through OC negotiation.

We expect some PvP in Fourth Place. Players will be members of different organisations with different ideologies, and conflict between these organisations is expected to be part of the game. This conflict will typically be pragmatic and organisation driven, with more personal conflict covered by Ballgowning. Physical PvP is primarily expected to occur in Downtimes, although it is possible for physical PvP to occur in Uptimes. This will, however, be exceptional, and will only happen after planning with GMs and the other player(s) involved. Before doing any physical PvP in emails, you must notify the GMs. Physical PvP in emails should only occur with the OC consent of all GMs and Players involved.

Player characters in Fourth Place will only die with the OC consent of the player. If your character does die, there may be options to play a new character. The GMs will warn you if you attempt to take an action which may result in death.

• 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
• Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation e.g. homophobia
• Discrimination on the basis of gender identity e.g. transphobia
• Incest
• Forced abortion
• Eating disorders
  • Eating disorders are not a theme that will be explored in Fourth Place — however, rationing caused by lack of resources may occur.
• Emotional/physical abuse, e.g. domestic abuse or bullying
  • We do expect strong and vitriolic ideological views to be expressed in Fourth Place. This must not amount to personal or targeted emotional abuse or bullying.
• Slavery or human trafficking
  • The history of the domestication of animals and plants will not be referred to as slavery.
• Genital mutilation
• Genocide
• Genocide denial
  • The disappearance of humans was not a genocide and will not be treated as such in game.
• Discrimination on the basis of real-life nationality, religion or faith
• Discrimination on the basis of neurodivergence or mental health condition
• Discrimination on the basis of physical disability
• Discrimination on the basis of real-world ethnicity or race
• Suicide and self-harm as an expression of emotional distress
• Discrimination on the basis of gender or sex
• Animal abuse
  • No abuse towards non-sapient animals will be present in Fourth Place. However, predation for food and hunting will happen in game.
  • Discussions about the history of domestication and sapience are allowed.
  • Violence towards sapient animals (Smarties) may be present but will not be analogous to animal abuse.
• Torture
• Dieting
• Drug or alcohol addiction
• Degenerative diseases or cancer
• Real-world current figures and events
  • Real-world historic figures and events will be discussed later in the CAT Policy.
• Pregnancy
• Miscarriage and stillbirth
• Childbirth
  • The above three topics exist within the setting, but will not be depicted in the game.
  • Childbirth and pregnancy, and their analogues amongst the various Kingdoms, may be discussed.

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

• Mind control or other means of removing agency
  • Mind control will not take place in Fourth Place.
  • Mind-altering effects that affect the way characters perceive the world will occur, but will only affect your character if you take the Weird Root Playstyle Quirk.
• Discrimination on the basis of fictional species, culture, or faith
  • The Kingdoms of the Fourth Place do not have a concept of race, however, there are tensions and conflicts between the fictional cultures in game. They should not be treated analogously to specific real life racial/cultural/faith conflict.
  • Prejudice based on fictional culture may be expressed by characters in game, however it must be calibrated OC with everyone involved.
• Eugenics
  • Eugenics of sapient creatures will only be explored in a historical context referring to the domestication of animals and plants.
  • Discussion of human eugenics is forbidden in Fourth Place.
  • Eugenics of non-sapient animals and plants, such as selective breeding, may occur or be referenced.
• Cannibalism
  • Cannibalism is the act of a sapient creature eating parts or the whole of another sapient creature’s body. In Fourth Place, no sapient creature will consume human flesh.
  • The main forms of cannibalism that will appear in Fourth Place are decomposition of corpses by Myconids or Triffids, or consumption of fruits or other non-integral, replaceable parts of a Myconid or a Triffid.
  • Further cannibalism may appear in the game or occur to your character if you take the More Gore Playstyle Quirk. If you have concerns about this, please contact the GM team.
  • A character will only be cannibalised in a permanently altering way if they have the Injure Me Playstyle Quirk.
  • In any case of cannibalism, OC consent will and should always be asked for.
• Terrorism
  • Destruction of the Fourth Place within Fourth Place for ideological or personal gain will occur in game.
  • Other forms of terrorism will not occur during the game, though may appear in character backstories.
  • Contemporary political causes that give rise to terrorism are not present in the future world of Fourth Place.
• Real-world historical figures and events
  • As long as they do not break the CAT policy, figures and events from 2000 and earlier are considered canon and may be possibly referenced.
  • This includes figures alive pre-2000 who lived beyond that year, although any of their actions post-2000 are not considered canon in the world of Fourth Place.
  • Under this rule, parody is still allowed. For example, your character may have heard of a hit human device YCube, even though the existence of XBox is not canon.
• Homelessness
  • Some characters that move to the Fourth Place will consider themselves homeless prior to this. It will not be treated analogously to modern homelessness.
  • Nomads will not be treated as being homeless.

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.

• Extreme violence
  • A player will only receive GM descriptions of this theme if they take the Injure Me Playstyle Quirk.
• Extreme gore
  • A player will only receive GM descriptions of this theme if they take the More Gore Playstyle Quirk.
• 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.
  • Sexual activity should not be described or joked about in explicit terms, IC or OC.
• Child abuse
  • Player characters may have experienced child abuse in backstory. They may neither inflict or have inflicted abuse on children. It should not be depicted in game.
• Medical malpractice
  • You will only receive GM descriptions of this theme if you take the More Gore Playstyle Quirk. Your character will only be a victim of medical malpractice if you also take the Injure Me Playstyle Quirk.
  • Medical malpractice may also be present in Fourth Place in the form of poor medical practices due to lack of knowledge or skill, rather than intent. Let the GM team know if you would rather not encounter this.
• Mental illness
• Physical disability
• Suicide and self-harm as anything but an expression of emotional distress, e.g. self-sacrifice
• Gambling
• Indiscriminate violence
• Other real-world biases and discrimination not covered within Appendix B
• Chronic illnesses