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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MechaPilot" data-source="post: 7381231" data-attributes="member: 82779">In general, my thought on the issue is this: If your game contains sensitive material, or bars certain material, as a DM you have an obligation to disclose that to potential players.Let me offer an example of how important this is.  I have previously related my worst moment as a player (<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?482661-Harassment-in-gaming/page17&p=6869821&viewfull=1#post6869821" target="_blank">here's a link, for the convenience of anyone who hasn't read my recount of it</a>).  That moment almost caused my to give up on the entire hobby of TTRPGs.  And, importantly, that moment could have been avoided if the DM had disclosed to me the content that would be allowed at that table, because I would have declined to play with them.Fortunately, I stuck with the hobby, and it's given me many years of joy.  However, that experience has stuck with me, and it informs how I behave as a DM.  The biggest of these outcomes is that I always disclose the nature of allowed and disallowed content to prospective players.  I use movie rating shorthand to describe it, because most people are familiar with what movie ratings mean, content wise.I describe my games as R rated: swearing is allowed (in and out of character); sex and romance are allowed (in character, that is); violence is par for the course (murder hobos, and all that); and tragedies like lost loved ones may be present.But, I also describe that R rating as a "light" R.  Yes, Sex and romance are allowed in character, but there will always be a fade-to-black before any sex occurs.  Yes, the world is violent (and so are the PCs, probably), but torture and sexual violence are completely off the table, as is the use of magic to compel participation in sex.  Yes, tragedies happen in the game, but they won't be lingered on or described in graphic detail.Apart from those limits, you can expect my game to potentially include anything you might see in an R rated film.  That said, this is a game, we play for fun, and I do my best to have some sense of tact and decorum.  If spousal abuse shows up in one of my games, it won't be in graphic descriptions.  Rather, it would be more of a shallow mention of the signs of it.  A shopkeep abused by his wife might jump when she calls him from another room of the shop, or have the odd bruise when the PCs arrive to buy something.Limits other than content include a bar on evil characters, unless I know the player well.  I've seen far too many players make evil characters as an excuse to be a jerk to other players.  Unless you've sufficiently illustrated your maturity to me, you won't be playing an evil character at my table.</blockquote>

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