So recent threads have raised quite a ruckus on the specifics of "Oh my GOD!  How can you play such a game, or tell such a story?  That's ... sick!"

I figure the ruckus is largely a cluster phenomenon:  People who care, one way or another, get attracted to the noise, so the audience is self-screened to have strong opinions.

That said, I'm pretty interested in what a broader audience thinks:  Are there stories that should be off limits to RPGs?  If so, where is the line, generally, drawn?

Personally, I figure it's all fiction, so anything's fine.  If my buddy talks about his evil megalomaniac, and details the regime of selective infanticide that the madman uses to keep his workers in line, I say "Wow man, that's dark!" but it doesn't make me think my buddy is morally suspect.  Being able to imagine horrible acts doesn't mean that someone's inclined toward them.

But that's me.  I'm interested in how other people think on this subject.

I don't like stories in RPGs at all, so I didn't answer your poll, Tony. I put them in mine - I hire folks to write them - because it's demanded, but fiction belongs in novels or books, not in games IMO.

-clash

I don't know where the specific line is, but I have a suspicion it has more to do with how lovingly and graphically detailed said descriptions are than what actually goes on.  There's a huge difference between subtle hints or off-screen items, such as possible rape or child molestation, and then there's bubbling happily about such events, cheerfully describing them, and laughing about "basking in the description or (in-game) pursuit of said events.

What would concern me more is someone reveling in said nastiness, considering it enjoyable or holding it up as something worthy of admiration.

Depends largely on how it's done. I don't mind the existence of gore, rape, drugs and such stuff, and also not their implementation in actual play, but I don't want to play it out at length and in detail.

Quote from: Zachary The FirstThere's a huge difference between subtle hints or off-screen items, such as possible rape or child molestation, and then there's bubbling happily about such events, cheerfully describing them, and laughing about "basking in the description or (in-game) pursuit of said events.

Exactly. There's a huge difference between the incidental mention of atrocities and making graphic depictions of atrocities the main content of the game session.

Tony - I don't like the way you phrased the choices. One of those is phrased as a double negative or at least in a misleading way . The poll is a good idea tho.

 Here's my simple answer :

1) Rape

2)extreme brutality

...and sometimes...

3)overly-explicit sex in a mixed gender group of gamers.

Now I have had rapes or near-rapes mentioned in games that I have run - but they were "offstage" or "offscreen".  In My BANESTORM game a barmaid was raped and molested by Megalos Knights before the player characters arrived on the scene. They already knew her from previously in the campaign - so it wasn't a nameless NPC to them...it was a person that they had interacted with 2 or 3 game sessions earlier.  They were in pursuit and possible revenge mode after that.

Extreme Brutality??

Not my players bag or their idea of a good time.  Thats the kind of stuff that the bad guys have done that they fight against or organize others aganst. Evil characters do extreme brutality, heroes don't...normally.


Overly-explicit sex?

Not talked about aloud amongst the group. In notecards passed between the players and me the GM - they have written some pretty graphic, explicit stuff that they do with NPCs that they are romantically involved with.  Again, tho thats not "on-screen" for the whole group to see. (Tho some players have guessed stuff about other characters' activities)
The most they ever say in group mode is "My character is looking for single men at the starport Bar, Anat is feeling frisky. " or is she says that in first person mode "Can I buy you a drink? " - said to an NPC she has already figured out is single and close to her character's age. All "sex scenes" with that character are handled "ST: TNG","Deep Space Nine", or BABYLON 5-style - we fade to black or the equivalent of a commercial...and when we resome its the next morning.


 As a reminder : my usual group of players is 3 women and 1 man. The youngest player is in her early 30s, the oldest is 60 something.


- Ed C.

I live in the real fucking world, I don't need or want any of that bullshit in a game.

I can't think of any boundary that our group hasn't crossed at times, usually while laughing themselves sick, yes we're bad people :deflated:


Vadrus

I can't imagine being offended or bothered by anything depicted just about anywhere. I enjoy short fiction in my gaming materials if it helps set the scene in some way.

Quote from: flyingmiceI don't like stories in RPGs at all, so I didn't answer your poll, Tony. I put them in mine - I hire folks to write them - because it's demanded, but fiction belongs in novels or books, not in games IMO.

But, like ... when you play a game, things happen in it, right?  What kind of things are okay to have happen?

Tony.
Don´t mess with us. What´s your stance on the recent revelations.
Is that okay for you, or not?

Simple question.

For me, it's never that an individual run game *or* a system has or can have such things as rape, brutally described murder, or other horrible actions take place, but rather a combination of things. What I end up asking is "why" and "how" did these things come to be in the game.

For example, nobody denies that someone can be raped in D&D. Or Mage (any iteration). Or GURPS, or whatever. It's possible, without a doubt. But to the best of my recollection, the actual systems don't give you bonus points for doing so.

In some cases there might be tangenital rewards for things like torture or extreme, graphic violence, but those are typically situational and either come with penalties (WoD) or no bonus at all. Again, typically, those situations are totally optional to the group (and really, are usually thought of as in awful taste).

But sometimes, not. In any case, you don't lose anything from the game by excluding these topics.

In some cases, you do 'lose' something from the game by choosing not to go that path. I'm not making a moral judgement, because even though that's not a place I want to go, it does depend on how the game treats it. But, for anyone who never wants to go there, and feels strongly about it, these games are going to seem like anathema, and for a pretty good reason. For me, they're far too limiting, and I probably wouldn't enjoy them because of the play they'd facilitate.

Quote from: TonyLBBut, like ... when you play a game, things happen in it, right?  What kind of things are okay to have happen?

I don't want to pick on you, but there are people that will have a concrete answer to this, and those that will have a nebulous one. The more nebulous answers won't fit on a quiz.

Quote from: SettembriniTony.
Don´t mess with us. What´s your stance on the recent revelations.
Is that okay for you, or not?

Simple question.

The whole rape/necrophilia thing that came out of Poison'd?  That's a fuckin' dark story.  But it's just a story.  I think it's fine to tell sick, dark, nasty stories.

Quote from: Thanatos02I don't want to pick on you, but there are people that will have a concrete answer to this, and those that will have a nebulous one. The more nebulous answers won't fit on a quiz.

Yeah, I get that.  I hope those people will use the discussion thread (as Koltar has!) to make themselves clear where the multiple-choice format doesn't work for them.