Conduct and Acceptable Themes

We as the Happy Campers 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 an appropriate 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, Happy Campers is subject to the OURPGSoc CAT Policy ↗ and it is compulsory 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 Happy Campers. 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 CAMPO, Rei, 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 Welfare Officer for the Society, Jasper H., either on Discord or through email. You may prefer to contact the Society President, Faith, either on Discord or through email.

All Happy Campers 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. Happy Campers 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.

Calls are single-word messages that can be sent by players or GMs during Uptime to convey information quickly. Safety Calls are a subset of this that are used to ensure everyone is comfortable around the themes being roleplayed. If you see a Safety Call being used by anyone, you should respect it immediately. For a full list of Calls, see the Glossary. The Safety Calls, and what they mean, are:

[DOWN]: Indicates the player or GM wants to tone down an intense interaction without shutting down roleplay entirely. Other PCs should immediately tone down the intensity of the roleplaying.

[OUT]: Indicates the player or GM is not comfortable with an interaction and will leave it, but is happy for other PCs to continue roleplaying. Other PCs should treat the player character or NPC as having left/never having been there.

[STOP]: Indicates the player or GM is not comfortable with an interaction and wants it to stop, or that the interaction has strayed into forbidden themes. Other PCs should immediately stop whatever they're currently roleplaying.

[PAUSE]: 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.

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
• Use of real-world discriminatory slurs
• Suicide and self-harm as an expression of emotional distress
• Extreme violence and gore
  • Minor injuries may occur as a result of risky or adventurous downtime actions, and may be non-graphically referred to during uptime. There will be no extreme violence or detailed descriptions of wounds, and no characters (NPC or PC) will die in the course of Happy Campers.
• Miscarriage and stillbirth
  • Pregnancy and childbirth may appear in backstory only, but we request that no player includes themes of miscarriage or stillbirth.
• Eating disorders
  • Potentially abnormal eating habits may appear in game (rationing supplies on hikes, forest meals made entirely of mushrooms), but these will not be motivated by shape, weight or control in any way.
  • Real-world (named) eating disorders will not appear in game.
• Forced abortion
• Incest
• Genital mutilation
• Animal abuse
  • Accidental injury of animals is acceptable, and campers may be omnivorous, but systematic or intentional injury of living creatures will not feature in game.
• Eugenics
• Genocide
• Genocide denial
• Degenerative diseases or cancer
  • While chronic illness or injury may feature in game, we request that these include no deadly or degenerative diseases.
• Indiscriminate violence
  • While illness or injury may feature in game, acts of indiscriminate violence and/or large-scale catastrophes (intentional or otherwise) will not.

• Mind control or other means of removing agency
  • Campers may be kept 'in the dark' as to important goings-on in the camp, such that their actions may be misinformed or not fully autonomous. PC agency will not be directly removed at any point.
• Emotional/physical abuse, e.g. domestic abuse or bullying
  • Spousal/familial abuse will not occur in game. If present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs. The PC must not be the perpetrator of this abuse.
  • Teasing/pranking, which may border on emotional abuse, will be present in game.
• Mental illness
  • Many campers view Camp Ohiochester as a respite from the stresses of college life. Thus, references to mental illnesses are likely to arise. However, please note that references to or themes of suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders are not permitted.
• Physical disability
  • Degenerative diseases or cancer are not permitted.
• Gambling
  • Systematised gambling (casinos, markets) and its consequences (gambling, severe debt) will not occur in game.
  • Light-hearted betting or dares will likely arise.
• Real-world current figures and events
  • Happy Campers takes place in a world parallel, but not identical, to our own. While references to real-world cultural touchstones and experiences can occur, specific historical events may not have transpired.
• Real-world historical figures and events
  • While references to real-world cultural touchstones and experiences can occur, specific historical events may not have transpired.
• Dieting
  • Potentially abnormal eating habits may appear in game (rationing supplies on hikes, forest meals made entirely of mushrooms), but these will not be motivated by shape, weight or control in any way.

• Suicide and self-harm as anything but an expression of emotional distress, e.g. self sacrifice
  • Characters may put themselves in incidental harm's way for the sake of protecting others, or may seek out adventurous or risky activities, but will not intentionally seek harm at any point.
  • No characters (PC or NPC) will die in the course of Happy Campers.
• Consensual sexual activity
  • Romantic/sexual relationships between human characters are permitted, but will be handled with explicit player/GM consent, at GM discretion, and in a fade-to-black style.
  • While all human characters will be legal adults, romantic/sexual relationships between a camp counsellor and a camper will not be permitted, due to the inherent power imbalance.
  • Other staff are romanceable by players. However, GM-Player discretion should be used due to the variety of ages and backgrounds.
• Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy and childbirth may appear in backstory only.
• Childbirth
  • Pregnancy and childbirth may appear in backstory only.
• Medical malpractice
  • Incompetent handling or poor supplies may arise, but no malevolent abuse of position will occur.
• Many campers view Camp Ohiochester as a respite from the stresses of typical life. Thus, themes of discrimination may arise. However, discrimination will not occur in game.
• Discrimination may appear in backstory.
• Discrimination on the basis of gender or sex
  • Sexism or misogyny will not occur in game. If present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs. The PC must not be the perpetrator of this discrimination.
• Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, e.g. homophobia
  • Homophobia, biphobia, aphobia, etc, will not occur in game. If present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs. The PC must not be the perpetrator of this discrimination.
• Discrimination on the basis of gender identity e.g. transphobia
  • Transphobia will not occur in game. If present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs. The PC must not be the perpetrator of this discrimination.
• Discrimination on the basis of physical disability, mental health condition, or neurodivergence
  • Ableism will not occur in game. If present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs. The PC must not be the perpetrator of this discrimination.
• Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or race
  • Happy Campers takes place in a world parallel, but not identical to, our own. While references to real-world cultural touchstones and experiences can occur, specific historical events may not have transpired.
  • Racism, xenophobia or colourism etc. will not occur in game. If present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs. The PC must not be the perpetrator of this discrimination.
• Discrimination on the basis of nationality, religion or faith
  • Happy Campers takes place in a world parallel, but not identical to, our own. While references to real-world cultural touchstones and experiences can occur, specific historical events may not have transpired.
  • Our real-world religions are not present in the universe of Happy Campers.
  • Religious discrimination, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, will not occur in game. If present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs. The PC must not be the perpetrator of this discrimination.
• Other real-world biases and discrimination not covered within Appendix B
• Torture
  • References may be made to torture, in a fairytale- or mythological-adjacent context - akin to the actions of Rumpelstiltskin in folk stories.
  • Torture will not actively occur during the course of the game.
• Cannibalism
  • References may be made to cannibalism, in a fairytale- or mythological-adjacent context - akin to the actions of the candy house witch in Hansel and Gretel.
  • Cannibalism will not actively occur during the course of the game.
• Slavery or human trafficking
  • References may be made to slavery or forced servitude, in a fairytale- or mythological-adjacent context - akin to the work of the dwarfs in Snow White.
  • Slavery will not actively occur during the course of the game.
• Child abuse
  • References may be made to child abuse, in a fairytale- or mythological-adjacent context - akin to the treatment of the children in Hansel and Gretel.
  • Child abuse will not actively occur during the course of the game.
  • If child abuse present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs. The PC must not be the perpetrator of this discrimination.
• Drug or alcohol addiction
  • Addiction will not occur in game. If present in backstory, it must be non-graphic, and consent must be sought before sharing details with other PCs.
  • Drug/alcohol use will be present in game; this comes as a design choice due to the nature of coming-of-age stories (especially among young adults) – however, you do not need to engage with this theme if you do not wish to, and we ask that players ask OC permission before discussing substances/alcohol.
• Homelessness
  • While characters (PCs, NPCs or backstory) may possess no fixed address, due to personal choice or financial struggle, this will not be motivated by, or involve, severe mental health crisis, active addiction, or military discharge.
• Terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism
  • Indiscriminate violence and genocide are not permitted, but ecoterrorism (say, releasing a suitcase load of tadpoles into a lake) may occur, at GM discretion.
• Chronic illnesses
  • While chronic illness or injury may feature, we request that these include no deadly or degenerative diseases. No NPCs or PCs will die in the course of the game.