We, as the New Game Plus 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 themes within the Society Game. This policy should be followed at all times when interacting with the game New Game Plus including during Uptimes, when writing Emails, when writing Turnsheets, and when 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, New Game Plus 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 the ORPGSoc CAT Policy and in some cases adds more specific restrictions and clarifications that apply to New Game Plus. 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, Aric, either on Discord (@chaoticarbiter) or through 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 CAMPO, please contact the Welfare Officer for the Society, Fionn, either on Discord (@antedeluvia) or through email. You may also prefer to contact the Society President, Ben, either on Discord (@surge8016) or through email.

All New Game Plus 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. New Game Plus player characters must have an adult level of maturity.

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.

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. See the Guide for New Players page for more advice on this.

Society Games have certain safety calls that players should familiarise themselves with and respect in session, which must be adhered to once they are used – no questions asked. These safety calls should be formatted during play as an OC message, meaning that for clarity they should be surrounded by brackets, i.e. [ ]. However, please listen to these calls regardless of the technicality of the formatting, and also listen to messages to the effect of these calls.

They are:

• [STOP]: This call is used when a conversation that your character is in makes you uncomfortable OC and you want it to stop. When this call is made, the current topic of the conversation will be dropped and moved on from.
• [DOWN]: This call is for situations where you are okay with the topic continuing but need the intensity of the situation to be lowered.
• [OUT]: This call can be used to simply remove yourself from the conversation if you are uncomfortable, or for any other reason. The conversation continues as if your character was never present.
• [PAUSE]: This call indicates that a player would like to pause a high-stress or time-sensitive situation in order to look something up or ask a GM about something. This call will hold for a maximum of 5 minutes, after which it is automatically void, or can be ended early with a [DONE] call.

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

Player vs. Player Conflict of varying intensities may occur in this game. We expect that some PvP may arise in New Game Plus though, with the theme of Collaboration in the game, we do not expect it will be a key part of gameplay. For information regarding how we will be handling PvP in New Game Plus, please check the Resolving Conflicts page.

In case of intense and prolonged rivalry, we will treat this in the same way as ballgowning. Please consult OC with your counterparts prior to pursuing the rivalry.

These are themes that we suspect may 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-altering effects are planned to occur within the game.
  • These effects will only occur directly to PCs if the player opts in to the Mindbender Quirk. No loss of agency will occur to any PC without the respective player having been informed of the consequences and providing OC consent.
  • Mind-altering effects may include characters experiencing strange dreams and visions, as well as potential changes to behaviour. It is up to individual players how much their character leans into a particular change in behaviour.
  • NPCs are likely to experience these effects. PCs may hear conversation about such effects.
  • We do not expect total loss of agency, such as mind control, to occur to either PCs or NPCs.
• Animal abuse
  • Some monsters within the game may resemble animals. Harm to these is expected to occur, but will not be described in detail.
  • Torture to animals is not permitted.
• Gambling
  • Some minigame businesses within the world may resemble gambling.
• Fictional genocide.
  • Certain plots may involve fictional genocide. No real-world reference shall be drawn.
  • Genocide denial is not a permitted theme.
• Terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism
  • Non-player antagonists may attempt to claim power and enforce their rule in part by fear.
• Indiscriminate violence
  • Non-player antagonists may commit acts of large-scale violence indiscriminately.
  • If any player is planning to play an antagonist, and wishes to engage in the antagonist NPC’s themes of terrorism and indiscriminate violence, please contact the GM team for discussions on how this should be handled in game.
• Common phobia triggers
  • We expect that some creatures within the setting may resemble common phobia-triggering animals (e.g. spiders, snakes, insects).
  • In addition, some areas of the world may contain tight spaces that could trigger claustrophobia, or dark spaces.
  • Players are invited to disclose phobia triggers to the GM team, who will attempt to “direct” your character away from the triggers in question, or provide only minimal description, as necessary.
• Large-scale natural disasters
  • There will be mentions of past natural disasters that have occurred within Mydreign.
  • It is possible that some regions may face natural disasters during the course of the game.
• Famine
  • Food is not required mechanically for survival in the game.
  • However, food shortages and their consequences may happen as a result of poor harvests or natural disasters.

These are themes we are not expecting or planning to introduce in the game, but nonetheless may arise unpredictably. These should be handled sensitively both by GMs and players. OC consent between players is required in the case of PCs exploring these sensitive topics, and content warnings should be given.

• Suicide/self-harm as anything but an expression of emotional distress (e.g. self-sacrifice)
  • Self-sacrifice, in which your character puts themselves in harm's way to protect someone else, is allowed.
• Consensual sexual activity
  • This may occur between characters (with the OC and IC consent of everyone involved) and may be referenced in very general terms to have occurred.
  • It may not be portrayed directly, but can be implied by a fade-to-black in a scene, meaning a collective OC implication is made that a scene involving sex occurred IC but does not go into detail describing it.
• Pregnancy
  • Players can introduce this (including playing pregnant characters).
  • No physical harm will come to characters while pregnant. In turn, we expect that, if you are playing a pregnant PC, you will not purposefully put your character into danger of physical harm.
• Childbirth
  • This may be referenced, but not depicted or described explicitly.
  • Pregnant characters may give birth off-stage, without description of the physical experience.
• Extreme physical violence
  • Depictions of violence (as expected in a fantastical setting) will likely occur, but the details will be significantly toned down without the More Gore Playstyle Quirk.
• Extreme gore
  • Extreme gore will not occur in GM-written writeups unless the player has opted in to the More Gore Quirk.
  • Players are advised to be sensitive when describing levels of gore to other players or GMs in in-character Uptimes and emails or in out-of-character discussions, and to provide content warnings or ask other involved parties their preference levels as appropriate. Details of gore on the Discord server should be hidden using spoiler text ||like this|| with content warnings provided.
• Medical malpractice
  • Permitted to occur both with or without the intent to cause harm on the part of the practitioner.
  • This can only happen with OC consent from both the practitioner and the patient.
  • To avoid accidental malpractice, healing attempts will never make the problem worse.
• Discrimination on the basis of class
  • Someone holding personal biases against people of certain class is allowed but must be handled sensitively.
• Emotional/physical abuse, e.g. bullying, manipulation
  • Domestic Abuse is not a permitted theme.
  • Bullying will only occur with OC consent.
• Mental illness
  • This may be explored by players. This should be portrayed in a sensitive manner.
• Physical disability
  • Characters may be injured during the course of the game in a way that may permanently or temporarily render them disabled. Such severe injuries will only happen with OC consent.
  • This may be explored by players. This should be portrayed in a sensitive manner.
• Chronic illness and degenerative disease
  • This may be explored by players. This should be portrayed in a sensitive manner.
• Homelessness
  • A character may experience homelessness. This should be portrayed in a sensitive manner.
• Other biases and discrimination not covered on this page

• 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
• Miscarriage and stillbirth
• Forced abortion
• Incest
• Domestic Abuse
• Child abuse
  • Child PCs are not permitted.
  • There may be child NPCs. They may come to harm as part of a general attack or disaster, but characters will not target children for harm.
  • Player characters may neither inflict or have inflicted abuse on children.
• Genital mutilation
• Discrimination on the basis of fictional nationality, religion, or faith
• Discrimination on the basis of fictional species
  • Inter-species romance is an accepted and established part of the world, and discrimination against characters on this basis is not allowed.
• Discrimination on the basis of gender or sex
• Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation e.g. homophobia
• Discrimination on the basis of gender identity e.g. transphobia
• Discrimination on the basis of physical disability, mental health condition, or neurodivergence
• Discrimination on the basis of real-world ethnicity or race
  • The species presented in New Game Plus are not representative of real-world ethnicities or races.
• Discrimination on the basis of real-world nationality, religion, or faith.
  • New Game Plus does not take place in the real-world, and so real-world nationalities and religions do not exist.
• Real-world current and historical figures and events
  • New Game Plus takes place in a fictional world, and so real-world figures do not exist.
  • Meta-level or OC references are allowed (provided they do not fall under any other prohibited themes), on the understanding that any reference made within the context of New Game Plus is distinct from a real world thing.
• Torture
• Cannibalism
• Slavery or human trafficking
• Eugenics
• Real-world genocide & genocide denial
• Fictional genocide denial
• Degenerative diseases or cancer
• Eating disorders
  • Famine is a topic that may arise in game. This is not intended to be analogous to disordered eating, and should not be treated in that way.
• Dieting
  • Famine is a topic that may arise in game. This is not intended to be analogous to dieting, and should not be treated in that way.
• Drug or alcohol addiction
  • Use of alcohol or drugs/magic consumables that have effects equivalent to real-world drugs may occur, but should be handled sensitively.
  • Drug or alcohol addiction is not a theme we will explore.