Conduct and Themes policy

We as the White Raccoon GM team wish for White Raccoon to be an enjoyable and memorable experience for all players involved. In the style of many other Society Games, White Raccoon is a largely open ended game inviting players to create their own stories and plotlines, exploring the game's central premise and themes in ways enjoyable to them.

The Conduct and 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. We have based our policy on the Oxford University Conduct and Acceptable Themes Policy and it is highly recommended players familiarise themselves with this policy before playing for awareness of what themes are allowed and disallowed. 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, 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 will use the following policy as a guideline in how themes in our game will appear and be handled, the policy should not be always taken literally and attempting to reason to the wording instead of the spirit of the policy will not be accepted or tolerated.

We acknowledge that 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 and NPCs via email or Discord.

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 head GM (or CAMPO), Aric, via Discord or email on white_raccoon@outlook.com. If you have a concern about the head GM, please contact the Society President, Sophia, either via Discord or at justmeinasillyhat@gmail.com.

All White Raccoon players must be 16 years old 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. White Raccoon characters must be adult animals.

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.

The following is a breakdown of the themes listed in the CAT policy and whether they will appear in the game and in what manner.

The following themes will not be permitted in Official OURPGSoc Events:

• 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

The following list contains topics that may require careful handling. GMs should make a judgment call as to whether such themes are needed to deliver a better game. Even for themes passing this criterion, GMs may wish to consider if they can be addressed “off screen” (e.g. fade to black). The following list may be added to by majority vote of the committee, and both added to and removed from during General Meetings by majority vote. If a topic from Appendix B is declared to be included in a game, this declaration must include warnings of how that topic is expected to be portrayed or manifest itself during the game.

• Suicide and self-harm as an expression of emotional distress
  • This will not appear in game
• Consensual sexual activity
  • Sexual relationships exist in the setting, but because all the characters are animals the GM team would prefer to not depict these sides of relationships even in the usual “fade-to-black” that is often allowed in other Society Games
  • We therefore ask players to not reference or discuss any consensual sexual activity
• Extreme violence
  • Player vs Player (PvP) and Player vs Environment/Enemy (PvE) violence is allowed and may appear in game, but players should remember that no animals are carnivores in this world, so attacking or killing another animal would be treated with the same shock and severity as killing a human in our world would
  • If violence does appear in game, portrayals will not be graphic
• Extreme gore
  • This may appear in game, but any descriptions of this will be kept to a minimum with appropriate content warnings, and if it appears during Uptime descriptions will be spoilered
• Miscarriage and stillbirth
  • This will not appear in game
• Childbirth
  • Live birth may occur off-screen only
  • Laying eggs may occur off-screen only
  • Hatching from eggs may occur on-screen because the GM team understands that this is less graphic
  • We will not be dealing with birth that results in the death or serious injury of either the parent or child
• Medical malpractice
  • This may appear in backstory, but GMs do not expect this to appear in game
  • If players wish to discuss this topic in game, they should use appropriate content warnings plus spoilered text if it occurs in Uptimes
• Discrimination on the basis of gender or sex
  • This is not permitted in game
• Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation e.g. homophobia
  • This is not permitted in game
• Discrimination on the basis of gender identity e.g. transphobia
  • This is not permitted in game
• Discrimination on the basis of physical disability or mental health condition
  • Some animals may hold opinions and prejudices based on other species’ abilities, but it is widely understood that all creatures have their own advantages and disadvantages, and there is no oppression based on species
  • Discrimination based on physical disability is not permitted in game
  • Discrimination based on mental health conditions is not permitted in game
  • A certain creature’s plan may lead to ecological conditions which may indirectly discriminate against disabled animals if successful. We do not expect this plan to actually be successful. PCs are not allowed to pursue similar plans.
• Discrimination on the basis of real-world ethnicity or race
  • Player characters in this game are not human and do not represent real-world ethnicities and races
  • Although some animals may hold opinions and prejudices on different species, it is widely understood that all creatures have their own advantages and disadvantages, and there is no oppression based on animal species
  • Special identity (i.e. due to species) is far less significant in the world than regional identity
• Discrimination on the basis of nationality
  • There are no nations in the world of White Raccoon, but regional identities do exist based on where animals live
  • Some animals may hold opinions and prejudices based on where others live, but there is no oppression based on where animals live
  • Regional identity is much more significant than religious or special (i.e. due to species) identity
• Discrimination on the basis of religion or faith
  • Animals have various faiths and beliefs, and some may hold opinions and prejudices based on what others believe, but there is no oppression based on what animals believe
  • These faiths and beliefs are not based on any real-world faiths and belief systems, and there will be no real-world religions in game
  • Religious identity is far less significant in the world than regional identity
• Eating disorders
  • Eating disorders due to emotional distress are not allowed
  • Starvation and severe hunger may appear in game. Any parallels to eating disorders should be handled sensitively
• Forced abortion
  • This will not appear in game
• Incest
  • This will not appear in game
• Torture
  • This may appear in game, but physical torture will not be described in detail
  • If physical torture is to occur to player characters, it must have OC consent from all parties and have appropriate content warnings, plus spoilered text if it occurs during Uptime
• Cannibalism
  • This will not appear in game
  • All animals in White Raccoon are herbivores
  • Although animals are aware in the past some animals ate other animals to survive, it is now considered with the same taboo that cannibalism is to us today
• Slavery or human (/animal) trafficking
  • In the distant past some animals were kept as pets or working animals by humans. This is before the animals had sentience, and is not intended to be an allegory for slavery
  • Players may bring up animal ownership in this context
  • Ownership of animals does not occur in the modern day
• Mind control or other means of removing agency
  • Some forms of this may appear in game, but this will only happen to players who take the Mind Bender Quirk and will not be permanent
• Emotional/physical abuse, e.g. domestic abuse or bullying
  • Domestic abuse will not appear in game
  • Other forms of abuse, such as bullying, may appear in game
  • If instances of repeated one-sided harassment occurs between player characters, OC consent should be obtained from all parties involved
• Genital mutilation
  • This will not appear in game
• Animal abuse
  • This may appear in game
  • Animals in the world of White Raccoon all have human levels of sentience, so abuse to animals in the game’s world is viewed in a similar way to abuse to humans in our world
• Child abuse
  • Themes of child abandonment may appear in game
  • Targeted physical child abuse will not appear, but forms of indiscriminate harm to children, such as starvation, may occur
  • All player characters must be fully grown “adult” animals
• Eugenics
  • This will not appear in game
• Genocide
  • The disappearance of the humans is not due to genocide, and animal theories as to how humans disappeared do not include genocide
  • Threats to the survival of animals may appear in game, but these will not be targeted towards specific groups
  • Ecological disasters may appear in game and may affect different types of animals differently, but this will not be targeted
  • Some beings in the world may seek to harm large groups of animals to achieve a specific goal, but this goal will not be to kill all animals.
• Genocide denial
  • See genocide

The following list contains topics that are likely to appear in many games or may arise unpredictably and therefore their inclusion does not need necessarily to be declared at the start of the game. However, these themes should still be handled sensitively, and GMs should consider whether or not an explicit note about how these topics will manifest themselves in a game is necessary.

• Mental illness
  • This may appear in game, but should be handled sensitively
• Physical disability
  • This may appear in game, but should be handled sensitively
• Suicide and self-harm as anything but an expression of emotional distress, e.g. self-sacrifice
  • This may appear in game
• Degenerative diseases or cancer
  • This may appear in game
• Drug or alcohol addiction
  • Animals in game may have access to and use drugs and alcohol found from natural sources (e.g. in the form of wild psychedelic mushrooms and fermented fruit), but addiction should not appear in game
• Gambling
  • This may appear in game
• Homelessness
  • The GM team want the theme of home to be an important aspect of the game, and therefore the lack of a home may be explored by characters
  • Homelessness will not be a widespread, systematic problem at game’s start
• Real-world current figures and events
  • The events of the game take place in the real world, but the GMs do not want to be specific about the location of the City
  • Humans disappeared a long time ago, and thus although there is some memory of their culture, it is very fragmented and poorly understood
  • The GMs ask that references to real world figures, events, and culture be kept to a minimum
• Real-world historical figures and events
  • See real-world current figures and events
• Terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism
  • There are some figures who attempt claim power over some part of the City and enforce their rule in part by fear
  • Terrorist attacks will not appear in game
• Indiscriminate violence
  • Ecological disasters may occur in game
  • Certain spirits may exhibit violence towards animals
• Other real-world biases and discrimination not covered within Appendix B
  • Other real-world biases and discrimination may occur in game, but there will be no oppression as a result of this
  • The GMs expect regional differences (i.e. where animals live) to be the largest source of stereotypes and prejudices
  • See Appendix B for more info on in game discriminations
• Pregnancy
  • This may appear in game
• Dieting
  • Animals may consciously chose to eat less for food conservation, but not to improve body image
  • Dieting is not a concept that is known to animals
• Chronic illnesses
  • This may appear in game