The Equinox Institute LRP is a horror system. That horror manifests in many different forms including supernatural, personal, psychological and political horror. When confronted with these terrors, characters become vulnerable and in that vulnerabilty may forge strong relationships with others around them as they look to protect and hold close those that they cherish most.
It is for this reason that it is almost impossible to talk about horror without briefly touching upon romance and, because we are a system dealing with adult themes, sex and pregnancy. We want to make sure these topics are dealt with in an honest and sensitive manner and that all of our attendees are clearly aware of our expectations regarding their behaviour and roleplay in respect of these.
Romance
Romance, in the context of this section, means deep emotional and often passionate connections between individuals which are typically categorised by expressions of love, afffection and desire. This is a Restricted Theme.
Roleplaying can invoke a variety of strong emotions including romance. While such emotions can be interesting for some attendees to explore, it is also understandable that some attendees would rather avoid these topics. We do not want to prevent attendees from exploring these feelings through their characters but we also want to make this an opt-in process. It is not appropriate for any attendee to assume that another attendee is interested in playing out a romantic relationship with their character or indeed any other character.
Commencing AND ENDING an in-character Romantic Relationship
In order to roleplay a romantic relationship with another character, you must :
- Seek the express out-of-character consent of the attendee portraying that character;
- Agree clear boundaries for physical contact and respect these once agreed; and
- Must acknowledge that consent, from either party, may be withdrawn at any time. If consent is withdrawn you must cease romantic roleplay immediately. This includes avoiding any references to the historic romantic relationship your characters previously had.
To assist with this, we have addressed these in the Safety Calls we have created and the Acceptable Behaviour Policy that we have in place. By way of a summary however:
- Attendees may not ‘ship’, write fiction about or communicate any perceived or romantic relationship 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;
- All of our attendees may use the Safety Call “OC: BACK OFF” to request another attendee either immediately cease all physical contact with them; and
- All of our attendees may use the Safety Call “OC: STOP” to request an immediate cessation of any interaction between them and another attendee both in-character and out-of-character.
Depicting Romantic Relationships in Play
When depicting romance in play, attendees must respect the comfort of others around them. Consensual hand-holding, cuddling, hugging and kissing is acceptable in game-areas but if things are progressing to a “hot and heavy” or sexually intense level, this is not acceptable. Similarly, while it is possible to roleplay dysfunctional, emotionally toxic or tempestuous relations – it is vital that attendees take into account our Contents and Themes and are aware of the comfort of other attendees around them when roleplaying this. This is a core part of our Acceptable Behaviour Policy.
If another participant’s romantic roleplay makes an attendee uncomfortable, you can ask them to stop if you feel able to do so. If someone out-of-character asks you to do this, you must respect their request. You may take your roleplay to another location where this occurs.
The Game Team will depict romantic relationships in the context of an events plotline. Where we have written characters who are involved with romantic storylines, we will look to work closely with the individual portraying these roles to ensure they are comfortable with depicting the role in play.
It is a Banned Theme to discriminate on the basis of a character’s relationship status. This means that characters who are single, monogomous or polyamarous and more are all welcome at our game and attendees are expected to play characters who do not discriminate on this ground.
Sex
Sex, in the context of this section, means the sexual contact between individuals undertaken for reproduction, pleasure, intimacy or a combination of these purposes. This is a Restricted Theme.
The Equinox Institute LRP is a sex positive setting. Characters may refer to having sex or sexual relations in their character backstories, so long as these are consistent with our Content and Themes. You must follow the same process for commencing and ending an in-character sexual relationship as you would a romantic relationship set above.
Sexual Relationships in Play
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. Failing to do this is a breach of our Acceptable Behaviour Policy.
While you may discuss sex and sexual relations in-character, if another participant asks you to stop discussing topics of a sexual nature, you must respect this and take your roleplay or discussion away to another location where this occurs.
The Game Team will depict sexual relationships in the context of an events plotline – usually through Game Team created character backstories or established relations between characters. Where the Game Team has written characters who are having (or have had) sexual relations with other characters, we will look to work closely with the individual portraying these roles to ensure they are comfortable with depicting this relationship in play.
For the avoidance of doubt the following are Banned Themes which are related to sexual relations and will never be a topic of our events (nor should be included in any character history or relationship roleplay):
- Incest;
- Rape;
- Sex with minors or animals; and
- Sexual coercion and violence.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment of other attendees will not be tolerated in any context. See our Acceptable Behaviour Policy for further details.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a Restricted Theme at The Equinox Institute LRP.
Pregnancy and the portrayal of pregnant characters in stories has a shameful history. Even the most positive portrayals of pregnancy are filled with misunderstandings or broad sweeping statements that do not apply to all pregnant individuals. It is also an incredibly sensitive topic and one which we, as a Game Team, do not feel best placed to write about. That being said, we also do not want to ignore the existence of pregnancy within the context of the setting.
What this means in context is that, while Pregnancy is a Restricted Theme, we will not write any stories or events where pregnancy is a core theme of the event. While we will not write characters who are pregnant expressly, we may incorporate pregnancy into a character briefing where the attendee depicting the character is pregnant and has given their express consent for us to include this as part of the character’s story.
As a Game Team we welcome pregnant individuals to book for our events. That being said, we request that all pregnant attendees contact us as soon as possible once this becomes apparent so we can make accessibility arrangements where necessary. If we feel that we cannot make appropriate arrangements to ensure your safety we will inform you that this is the case as soon as possible.
Finally, we want to reiterate that Forced Abortion, Miscarriage and Still-Birth is a Banned Topic and may not come-up in any capacity during the course of an event or in a character backstory.
Families and Children
So long as it is in compliance with our Content and Themes, characters are allowed to have off-screen children and family referred to in their character backstories.
For the avoidance of doubt however, it is important to state that The Equinox Institute LRP is an 18+ event and all attendees must be of this minimal age in order to attend our events.