- The Equinox Institute Game Team (and the wider Reality Checkpoint LRP Team) expects all attendees, whether players, referees or crew to behave in a respectful and responsible manner.
- The Equinox Institute Game Team (and the wider Reality Checkpoint LRP Team) reserve the right to eject players from the game who breach our policies. No refunds will be offered where this occurs. Offenders who breach these policies may be banned from all Reality Checkpoint LRP events and further legal action may be taken in appropriate circumstances.
- All policies set out below are created with the intention of safeguarding attendees and providing them with the means to protect and support themselves. While The Equinox Institute will take steps to ensure players are comfortable, it should be noted that all attendees are primarily responsible for their own physical and mental wellbeing.
- This policy does not legislate for every possible situation but aims to make clear the general principles we expect all attendees to behave by. Even if an incident or action is not covered by this policy, we will look to investigate and take action where appropriate to ensure a safe environment for our attendees.
Behaviour Policy
- Except where set out clearly in our Content and Themes Policy, you may not play a character who is prejudiced against others on the basis of any of the following Protected Characteristics:
- Age
- Dietary Requirements and Choices
- Disability (Including Mental Health and Neurodiversity)
- Gender (Including Transgender, Agender and Nonbinary identities)
- Language Proficiency
- Nationality
- Physical Form, Condition or Appearance
- Relationship Status (Single, Married, Polyamorous, etc)
- Race
- Religion or Belief
- Sex
- Sexual Orientation
Attendees are encouraged to respond to any perceived prejudice of this kind in-character with disgust and disdain when these themes are included in our events.
- The Equinox Institute Game Team expects all attendees to not display prejudiced behaviour based on the above list of characteristics when out-of-character. Where we suspect discriminatory behaviour is occurring, we will actively take steps to resolve this issue up to and including contacting the authorities and issuing a ban from all future Reality Checkpoint events.
- It is always acceptable to drop out-of-character to correct someone’s use of pronouns. If you do not feel comfortable correcting someone, it is always acceptable to ask a member of The Equinox Institute Game Team to speak with that attendee to correct them. While we will take into account the background of each attendee, repeatedly failing to use someone’s correct pronouns will potentially be seen as prejudiced behaviour and subject to the same procedure as above for out-of-character behaviour.
- While drinking is allowed at The Equinox Institute, we would ask that you drink in a safe and responsible manner. We also ask all attendees to respect other attendees’ decisions with regards to drinks. If you are drunk and are posing a threat to the safety of attendees, a member of The Equinox Institute Game Team may ask you to go to an out-of-character until this is resolved.
- It is unacceptable to use any illegal intoxicating substances. We will ban any individual breaking this rule and will alert the authorities as appropriate.
- You may not ‘ship’, write fiction about or communicate any perceived or romantic relationships between characters (whether at an event or between events) except where all attendees who play those characters have provided their out-of-character consent that they are comfortable with this being the case.
- When roleplaying a romantic relationship or discussing topics of a sexual nature with other attendees, you must be aware of the comfort of other attendees around you. If another participant at the event asks you expressly out-of-character to stop roleplaying a romantic relationship or discussing a topic of a sexual nature for whatever reason you must respect their request. You may take your roleplay to another location where this occurs.
- You may never depict a sexual act in-character at an event. Nudity, overt sexual displays and performance based on sexual displays are never acceptable at our events. All clothing and costuming should therefore ensure that genitalia is covered at all times.
- You must not interfere with other people’s belongings, particularly any mobility or sensory aids.
- You must not film or photograph our events without the consent of The Equinox Institute Game Team prior to the start of the game.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment of other attendees will not be tolerated in any context. For the avoidance of doubt, sexual harassment includes the following behaviour:
- Repeatedly asking an attendee to socialise or interact when the other party has indicated they are not interested in this being the case;
- Repeatedly remaining physically close to another person without their express out-of-character consent;
- Sexual comments, banter, jokes or innuendo carried out with individuals who are not comfortable with this;
- Sexualising or sexually objectifying another person without their consent;
- Touching a person in an intimate or sexual way without their consent; and
- Any form of criticising or stigmatising of someone for their real or perceived sexual behaviour, attire or expression (aka ‘Slut Shaming’).
If an attendee carries out any of these acts, then we will treat this as sexual harassment and will carry out an investigation accordingly.
Please see here for more information on how Romance and Sex may be safely approached in game.
Consequences of Breaching this Policy
If you break any section of this policy, The Equinox Institute Game Team will carry out an appropriate investigation in line with our Reporting Policy.