Quote from: John MorrowIn fairness to RPGPundit, he did can controversial/"mature", with "mature" in quotes, so I think it's clear that he's looking more for the stuff that an adolescent would consider "mature" (i.e., controversial and/or shocking).

Like...once...when we were in town...the GM...he said we were in a shady part of town..and umm..in this bar...a girl...hehe...showed her boobies. :eek:

My group is all adult made up of adults. We have no issues like this.
 We do "boot"  or veto new players who don't fit in. Usually because they never quite grew up in their attitudes.



 Now, I do know a young lady ...who in her early 20s took off her top at an RPG session and the players were so into the game that they didn't even notice ....buts thats better talked about in another thread

Quote from: John MorrowIn fairness to RPGPundit, he did can controversial/"mature", with "mature" in quotes, so I think it's clear that he's looking more for the stuff that an adolescent would consider "mature" (i.e., controversial and/or shocking).

Oh, i wasn't commenting on Pundit's wants here really. Just a comment on what some people seem to think of as mature, which seems more often than not to be what an adolescent would consider adult. They're one and the same to some people right?

Quote from: One Horse TownOh, i wasn't commenting on Pundit's wants here really. Just a comment on what some people seem to think of as mature, which seems more often than not to be what an adolescent would consider adult. They're one and the same to some people right?

Indeed, although I think most responses were addressing the "controversial" aspect of the question.

Yes, by "mature" I was really meaning more like themes that a GM might introduce to the game ie. politics, religion, (and yes,) sexuality; not to mention addiction, family issues, philosophy, or other real-world hot button issues. Its a bit of a surprise, though I guess it shouldn't have been, that most of the accounts have ended up being about sexual controversy, and many have been more about "nutcase things players did".

In my case, speaking recently, I guess there could certainly have been an element of controversy to my Roman campaign when I basically told one version of the origin story of Jesus.  The campaign is a Highlander-style immortal game, so of course Jesus was an immortal, but the more controversial part was that I presented him within one of the current theories in religious studies, namely that Jesus was basically a freedom fighter (read: violent terrorist), that somehow turned around and became a pacifist of sorts as he increasingly came to believe in himself as a religious icon; and while I made him fairly special and charming and sincere, he clearly wasn't a God, nor did he ever believe he was (that was later, when Paul showed up).

Granted, that campaign also had its own element of sexual controversy, a little later when I had to basically present pederasty in its Roman context during the time of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian.  What's  more, I had to present it in a somewhat positive light, what with the story of Hadrian and Antinous and all.

My players, to their credit, are quite mature themselves, and I've never really had a problem with having to deal with players wanting to RP raping someone or something like what apparently a few of you have had to deal with (much less another PC! :eek: )

RPGPundit

Quote from: Serious PaulThere is pretty much no limits for us, at least as long as it falls with in the story line

That's about how I feel, but it's fairly easy for me. I've got one core group that's like that, another one not so much.  The first enjoys very dark and horrific campaigns, the favorites being Call of Cthulu and my own Dreamwalker.  In fact, with Dreamwalker a lot of times they were asked to delve into the minds of some really twisted individuals in order to help cleanse their psyches.  

My second group would have been apalled by this.  We played mostly Star Wars with the emphasis on epic heroism. It got dark at times, but never too graphic. It just didn't fit the game.

Pete

Quote from: RPGPundit(much less another PC! :eek: )

Yeah, that's pretty much over the top.  I just posted that my one group could handle pretty much any theme, but what I meant was any theme I presented.  I'm sorry, but I'd be hard pressed not to "punish" a character for raping another, although I'd probably do it within the context of the game.  Some conflict within a party is fun, but I can't see how one PC intentionally raping another (as opposed to being possessed by a lust demon, or something) would do anything but disrupt the entire campaign.

Pete

Rape amongst my player characters and recurring NPCs is just NEVER likely to come up as an event in a game.

 I've got three women players and one guy.

They are playing female characters that like to kick ass, use explosives or get into bar brawls ...and occassionally romance a stray pilot or engineer at the satarport bar.
Rape?  ....or an attack ? Just not gonna happen.

- Ed C.

I just want to say that it's very hard to tell from the content of a game how 'mature' it is.

I guess I'd define mature provisionally as 'something that deals in a thoughtful, engaged way with emotionally serious issues'. But what's emotionally serious to one person isn't emotionally serious to another. There are some people for whom making their character fight a given monster that they really think might kill them is an actual instance of something like real-world bravery. They like their character and they don't want it to die, but they care about something (maybe just their friends' characters) enough that they're willing to risk it. But they're really attached, so it's hard.

That's totally normal gaming content, but it has more seriousness for that person in that context than more 'serious' or 'highbrow' issues do for other people in other contexts.

I'm not exactly saying 'never again', but as a player I'd mostly rather have wish fulfillment than mature content in my gaming. But some of my wish fulfillment involves content which might seem to other people to be mature or serious or whatever. It just depends on where you're coming from.

Definitely wanton Xenocide, Homocide, and Grand Larceny.  These are continuous mature themes dealt with in all of my games.  I mean the PCs are always greedy bastards who just want to kill things and take their stuff - I think most of my group has issues that they deal with through gaming as they're not a violent nor particularly larcenous group in reality.



Joking aside, does it not strike anyone as strange that most people jump right to "sex" when thinking of mature subjects and skip right on over the rampant extreme violence, theft, religious intolerance, racial/species intolerance, etc... that permeates RPGs?

Now to answer the question: I suppose the closest I've ever gotten was the typical "moral quandry" situation. i.e. Kill the entire boatload of innocent, yet horribly diseased child refugees, or watch the whole city die.  That sort of thing.

Quote from: architect.zeroJoking aside, does it not strike anyone as strange that most people jump right to "sex" when thinking of mature subjects and skip right on over the rampant extreme violence, theft, religious intolerance, racial/species intolerance, etc... that permeates RPGs?

Blame the movie ratings for that.  If it's X-rated, it's usually not because of racism or people being killed.

Pete

Quote from: pspahnBlame the movie ratings for that.  If it's X-rated, it's usually not because of racism or people being killed.

Pete

I know what you're driving at, but blaming the ratings, or even the raters, is not the right place.  They're just reflections (and reinforcements) of societal mores.  Not to mention that's a fairly US-centric POV too as much of the rest of the world has fairly different standards concerning sex and sexuality vs. violence.

Sorry, don't mean to derail.  Back to the regularly scheduled posting.

Quote from: architect.zero...................
Joking aside, does it not strike anyone as strange that most people jump right to "sex" when thinking of mature subjects and skip right on over the rampant extreme violence, theft, religious intolerance, racial/species intolerance, etc... that permeates RPGs?

Now to answer the question: I suppose the closest I've ever gotten was the typical "moral quandry" situation. i.e. Kill the entire boatload of innocent, yet horribly diseased child refugees, or watch the whole city die.  That sort of thing.

Architect,
 I wasn't quite sure what Pundit was looking for. Plus, my group doesn't ge "mad" or think of things as controversial if they are touched upon in my game.

We've had racism and species intolerance touched on or debated in my game several times. Specifically, Vilani dislike of Solomani, Hate or bias against Zhodani,  some humans hate of non-humans, whether androids and cyborgs havbe equal rights - that kind of thing.

 That quandry about a boatload of innocent children?

 My bunch of players would be working overtime trying to figure out a way to save both them and the city....


- Ed C.

Quote from: KoltarArchitect,
 I wasn't quite sure what Pundit was looking for. Plus, my group doesn't ge "mad" or think of things as controversial if they are touched upon in my game.

We've had racism and species intolerance touched on or debated in my game several times. Specifically, Vilani dislike of Solomani, Hate or bias against Zhodani,  some humans hate of non-humans, whether androids and cyborgs havbe equal rights - that kind of thing.

 That quandry about a boatload of innocent children?

 My bunch of players would be working overtime trying to figure out a way to save both them and the city....


- Ed C.

Oh it was a poor example Koltar. a) it's too simplistic a scenario and b) my players would've worked overtime for both solutions too.

Sounds like you have a very decent, level headed group.  That's all cool.  I'm just getting at the (seeming) fact that much of what makes up 90% of the RPG experience is a (very) mature subject to anyone but an avid RPG player's standards.

Quote from: architect.zeroNot to mention that's a fairly US-centric POV too as much of the rest of the world has fairly different standards concerning sex and sexuality vs. violence.

No doubt, but I would guess that most of the people who have posted to this thread are from the U.S. (I could certainly be wrong).  In any case, do the ratings of an American-made film change once it leaves the US?

Pete

EDIT:  Last question a blatantly off-topic post.  Please disregard.