The setting of The Equinox Institute LRP reflects our modern world and, accordingly, it suffers from the same issues which many of us experience today – including discrimination and prejudice.
The Equinox Institute Game Team, where possible, do not want to diminish or ignore the effects of prejudice or discrimination on our real-world history (in so far as that is reflected in the games background) or its impact on day-to-day society. At the same time, we also acknowledge we are not best placed to write or comment on all topics and that first and foremost the safety of our attendees physically, mentally and emotionally comes before this.
With this being the case, we have aimed to create a policy which does not ban the topic of discrimination entirely but which, we believe, allows attendees to explore those topics in a safe environment from a game team that feels best placed to write about those topics. For us, one of the most valuable aspects of LARP is that, as a medium of storytelling, it is able to create worlds where discrimination is either not present or, which provides a safe environment for attendees to create characters that can confront discrimination directly and triumph. We want to primarily facilitate this through our plot, our in-game documents and carefully selected and briefed members of our cast and crew.
With this being the case, it is never acceptable for a player to create or play a character who is discriminatory on the basis of any of the characteristics set out in our Banned Themes.
It is also never acceptable for an attendee to play a character who goes beyond the scope of any restrictions set out in our Restricted Themes below.
To-do so is in breach of our Acceptable Behaviour Policy and may result in a caution, warning or ban.
Finally, where a discrimination theme is Banned, the game team can confirm this will not arise in-game under any circumstances.
To that end, our policies on various protected characteristics and how they are to be addressed in the body of our game, is set out below for the purposes of transparency:
Age
Discrimination in-character on the grounds of age is a Restricted Theme.
No matter who you are, it is difficult to avoid others in the LRP community who will not make assumptions about you based on your age. Many of us remember attending our first LRPs many years ago and being unable to interact with the game due to being seen by others as children, despite being young adults. At the same time, as we get older, certain characters or parts seem to become locked away for us due to being seemingly reserved for younger players. The Equinox Institute Game Team are keen to create a community where everyone respects and makes one another welcome regardless of age. As part of our on-going aims to make our games more accessible, we intend to cast our events with individuals from a wide range of ages.
The Equinox Institute is not concerned with an individual’s age when it comes to recruitment. Youthful prodigies and experienced researchers sit side by side in helping the Institute achieve its aims. That is not to say that discrimination based on age does not occur – more than it occurs quietly within Cells or between individuals. That means attendees may see stories where characters are overlooked due to a lack of experience or because they are older than others. We all age and it is therefore our opinion that these experiences are valuable to capture, depict and discuss in the course of our events. We however want to have control over that narrative and not allow our attendees to be discriminatory towards someone’s age based on the characters that they play.
With this being the case, we expect attendees to:
- Play characters who do not discriminate on the grounds of age;
- Not make assumptions based on an individual’s age or experience;
- Depict characters who are older or younger than their actual age carefully and respectfully being aware of how such roleplay may be interpreted by other attendees; and
- Not to submit or create Cells which treat its members differently based on their age or experience. Any background which suggests this is the case will not be approved.
Disability (Mental Health)
Discrimination in-character on the grounds of mental health is a Restricted Theme.
The Equinox Institute is a difficult place to work. Characters may experience traumatic events or be forced to carry out work which is unpleasant. To that end, this can have an effect on a person’s emotional, psychological and social well-being (which is reflected in some of the selectable character Backgrounds). To that end, Equinox employs expert psychologists and therapists to provide support to its members and the organisation as a whole takes individuals’ mental health seriously. In the history of the game-world however, this has not always been the case.
With this being the case, we want to avoid any and all insensitive and harmful portrayals of mental illness, mental distress and disability during the course of our game – especially “Hollywood” portrayals of the same (more information of which can be found here). At the same time however we do not want to ignore the existence and treatment of mental health issues (whether presently or historically) and want to promote open, healthy conversations about them in the course of our story.
As part of this approach, it is our responsibility as game runners to always consider the mental health themes that may arise in the context of our stories and determine ways we can tweak this to make a positive impact. It is our job to make sure we move past negative stereotypes and to provide transparency as to how these themes come up during the course of our games. Where this theme is a core theme of our game, we will make sure to share this with you as soon as possible ahead of the game.
In return, we have expectations that we place on our attendees. We expect attendees to:
- Play characters who do not discriminate on the grounds of mental health and treat mental health conditions seriously, respectfully and in a supportive manner; and
- Think carefully about how they portray mental health conditions affecting their characters and to do so in a manner which does not stigmatise or reinforce harmful stereotypes; and
- Speak with us if they are ever uncertain with regards to their own or another person’s portrayal of mental health.
Gender and Sex
Discrimination in-character on the grounds of gender or sex is a Restricted Theme.
The Equinox Institute LRP is run by a gender and sex diverse team that does not want to ignore the effect of historic sexism and gender discrimination on the formation of the Equinox Institute. Similarly we also want to tell stories respectfully depicting the impact of discrimination around gender, sex and transgender status in the modern era and how this impacts communities and organisations such as Equinox.
In-game, the modern-day Equinox Institute employs individuals of all gender identities with all roles within the organisation being open to them. That is not to say however that sexism does not exist. Due to the fragmented nature of Equinox’s organisational structure, some Cells may be more sexist than others – with behaviour within these Cells allowed to foster through toxic working relationships and isolation from the rest of Equinox. Even with this being the case, unconscious bias may have led to characters being overlooked for senior roles within the Institute on the basis of their sex or gender. Equinox encourages members to speak out regarding this but whether this actually takes place is situation dependent.
In order to tackle this topic in a safe and sensitive manner, the Game Team acknowledges it is our responsibility to alert attendees to sexism and transphobia being a core theme of our game as soon as reasonably possible once this has been determined. We intend to depict historic cases of sexism and transphobia accurately and respectfully in any materials we produce for our games.
The Equinox Institute Game Team expects individual attendees to:
- Play characters who do not discriminate on the grounds of another character’s sex or gender;
- Respect the gender that any players or characters self-describe and identify with (including using the correct pronouns when asked to); and
- Not to submit or create Cells which treat its members differently based on their sex or gender. Any background which suggests this is the case will not be approved.
Nationality
Discrimination in-character on the grounds of nationality is a Restricted Theme.
The Equinox Institute LRP Game Team come from a variety of Western European backgrounds. During the course of the game we want to be able to explore and tell stories that respectfully depict the harmful impact of nationalism and related politics in the modern era. Many of us look back at the years since Brexit and can see the increased nationalistic rhetoric that has emerged and want to explore this in the context of a government organisation such as The Equinox Institute. We want to speak with others who have been affected by this and capture their experiences accurately. That being said, we also do not want to promote nationalism and facist rhetoric. Indeed the history of The Equinox Institute and the presence of The Pact Britannia exist, in part, to show that nationalists are not welcome in The Equinox Institute. We do in fact want you to punch Nazis.
Still it is difficult to run a game involving a government organisation that does not touch on the themes of nationalism. The Equinox Institute’s foundation is rooted in the earliest days of British colonialism and, as it grew throughout the centuries, it was complicit in some of the worst actions carried out by the British Empire. Even in the modern era, it can be difficult to avoid the fact that one of the Equinox Institute’s primary goals is to protect the United Kingdom and its allies from paranatural threats. It is possible for an attendee to play a character who is loyal to the United Kingdom (or indeed another country) and this is acceptable in-play. What is not acceptable however is to play a character who promotes that their country should assert supremacy or control over groups of individuals or other nations. We therefore expect attendees, when portraying their characters, to think carefully on how any national rhetoric they share might be conceived by others.
Politics will arise in-game as to the scope of Equinox’s role and this may bring it into conflict with other national organisations or bodies such the Central Paranatural Bureau or UNAC. Due to the lived experience of the Game Team however we have focussed the topic of nationalism primarily on North American and Western European countries or International Organisations and we intend for these countries and their political views to be depicted respectfully. As recent elections have shown – there are considerable differences in political idealogies within the population of a given country. It is therefore acceptable for characters to be in-conflict with international groups due to differences in political idealogy but not purely as a result of their place of birth.
The Equinox Institute Game Team expects individual attendees to:
- Be able to play characters within The Equinox Institute who are not UK citizens and come from a variety of backgrounds;
- Be mindful as to how any national rhetoric they share might be conceived by others;
- Not play characters who promote facist or national idealogy including, for the avoidance of doubt, supremacy over a group of people or other nations;
- Have political roleplay between national groups focussed on differences in political idealogy and not be based on the country of another character’s birth and
- To focus political roleplay on North American and Western European countries and International Organisations only.
Paranatural
Discrimination in-character in respect of the paranatural is a Core Theme.
The Equinox Institute LRP is a game about investigating, studying and managing the paranatural. We draw inspiration from a number of sources regarding this including the SCP Foundation, Hunter: The Vigil, Torchwood and more. In all of these media there is a degree of discrimination against supernatural entities. The SCP foundation locks away anomolous items and indiviudals and has an entire Ethics Committee established to discuss the appropriate way to deal with this. Hunter: The Vigil depicts dozens of organisations hunting down supernaturals – some to kill them and others to offer support and assistance. Torchwood historically have tried to help aliens as much as destroy them.
We want our attendees to be able to engage one another in debate on the topic of the paranatural and how it should be managed. In order for us to allow that to happen, we need to give permission to our attendees to discriminate against others on the basis of various elements of the paranatural. For the avoidance of doubt, it is acceptable for an attendee to play a character who discriminates against an individual on the basis of:
- Whether they have a paranatural ability or detect as being paranatural;
- Have an obviously inhuman physical features. Examples may include wings, animal or alien features (such as bark or stone skin, animalistic eyes, fangs, claws, horns, etc) or an obviously inhuman skin tone (though attendees must be mindful of not being discriminatory on the basis of Physical Form, Condition or Appearance as this is a Banned Theme – see below);
- The character being under the influence of a paranatural power;
- Having a political view on how paranatural phenomena may be studied, investigated and managed; or
- Faith in or worship of a clearly paranatural phenomena (please see our comments on Religion below for further information).
Physical Form, Condition or Appearance
Discrimination in-character on the grounds of a person’s physical form, condition or appearance is a Banned Theme.
The only discrimination which is allowed in-game relating to physical form, condition or appearance is in respect of those characters with paranatural features. These features must be obviously in-human and the minimum phys-rep requirements for this (which apply equally to us as a Game Team) are set out in the Game Team Notes to the Alien Physiology section of Character Backgrounds. Because these are tied closely to our policies surrounding discrimination of the paranatural, we have split these off seperately from this section.
All attendees must be mindful, especially in respect of discrimination surrounding those individuals who have overtly paranatural features, that they do not discriminate on the grounds of a person’s physical form, condition or appearance.
RACE OR ETHNICITY
Discrimination in-character on the grounds of race or ethinicity is a Banned Theme.
We are aware thatThe Equinox Institute LRP is written and ran by a team of white individuals. With this being the case, we do not feel we have the experience or knowledge to write on topics in relation to race or ethnicity. We do not want to pretend that racism and prejudice against individuals with respect to ethnicity have not occurred historically and are not still continuing to this day. These events occurred and cannot be ignored but will never be a point of focus in the course of The Equinox Institute’s story.
religion
Discrimination in-character on the grounds of religion is a Restricted Theme.
It is difficult to write a LRP about supernatural horror without touching on the topic of religion. Notwithstanding the classic cults of Call of Cthulhu, both the SCP Foundation and Magnus Archives touch on groups of individuals who are dedicated religiously to the worship of supernatural entities and preaching of supernatural mantra. It is a staple of horror and one which we will no doubt touch on, in-part, during the course of our game. We treat these groups as being within the remit of discrimination regarding the paranatural and such groups will be clearly signposted as worshiping or being involved with an entity that has no affilitation to a real-world religion.
That being said, The Equinox Institute LRP Game Team consists of a number of individuals who have various religious backgrounds and beliefs. Due to our own beliefs and experiences we do not want to touch upon whether a real-world or ancient religion has ties to the paranatural. We understand and respect that other LRP systems look at these in detail including having the presence of angels, demons, ancient gods and more. We do not feel that The Equinox Institute is the place to tell those stories and you will not see any plotlines in which entities from any real-world religion (including ancient religions) interact with attendees. That being said, we want to respect the fact that having faith in the face of the unknown is a powerful means of remaining hopeful and staying alive.
With this being the case, it is acceptable for attendees to play characters who hold real-world religious beliefs (including ancient religions) but it not acceptable to discriminate against them on this basis. Your character may carry out prayers and appropriate religious ceremonies but these must be conducted thoughtfully and respectfully with attention paid to how your roleplay may be seen by others who hold those same real-world beliefs.
With this being the case, at The Equinox Institute Game Team expects individual attendees to:
- Not discriminate on the basis of a character’s religious belief where that religious belief is founded on a real-world religion (including ancient religions);
- Depict real-world and ancient religions respectuflly in play, taking into account how others with those real-world beliefs may see that roleplay; and
- Not imply, suggest or research that any real-world or ancient religious is paranatural in nature or has ties to the paranatural.
Sexual Orientation
Discrimination in-character on the grounds of sexual orientation is a Restricted Theme.
The Equinox Institute LRP Game Team consists of hereterosexual, asexual and queer members. As with many of the topics above, we do not want to ignore historic and on-going prejudices with respect to an individual’s sexual orientation and want to ensure that the impact of this is explored, where appropriate, safely in-game. As part of our responsibilites to our attendees, the Game Team acknowledges it is our responsibility to alert attendees to where discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation may arise in the context of an event. Where this topic arises, we intend to depict this in a thoughtful manner which is accurate to historic cases of sexual discrimination at the time.
The Equinox Institute welcomes individuals of all sexual orientations but due to the size and form of its organisational structure, there are those Cells where discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation still occurs. Cells who are discovered to be implementing these internal policies are often shut down by the Court but that does not prevent discrimination from taking place quietly elsewhere. To that end, the Institute encourages its individual members and Cells to speak out where such discrimination occurs wherever possible.
With this being the case, at The Equinox Institute Game Team expects individual attendees to:
- Play characters who do not discriminate on the grounds of another character’s sexual orientation;
- Assume players and characters are of the sexual orientation they self-describe as having and to be respectful with respect to this; and
- Not to submit or create Cells which treat its members differently based on their sexual orientation or relationship status. Any background which suggests this is the case will not be approved.
Attendees may find it useful to also view our commentary on Romance, Sex and Pregnancy which addresses those specific topics further.