(OOC) Consent in Roleplay
Section 1: Consent in Individual Roleplay
Section 2: Consent in Roleplay - Guilds
Section 3: Consent in Roleplay - Power levels
Section 4: Consent in Roleplay - Revoking Consent
Section 5: Last Words
1. Consent in Individual Roleplay
There are two distinct types of consent when discussing roleplay. Implied Consent and Communicated Consent. Implied consent could be considered any time your character joins a long term campaign or story where the details of such are given ahead of time and where you’re told of the potential long term effects, situations, or moral questions may come into play. It can also be considered when you are roleplaying in public and you have in your OOC TRP that walk-ups are welcome. You’re giving implied consent for a low impact encounter.
Low impact means that it has limited effect on the character(s) involved in the scene. It has no long term roleplay implication, there is no threat of violence or attack that would result in any character detriment, and there is nothing that should involve moral boundaries on the part of any of the characters.
Whenever you roleplay out a situation that affects another character, especially in any sort of meaningful and impacting way, requires Communicated consent. When you’re in a scene where there might be something that causes someone to have OOC feelings over the roleplay, or things that might change another character in any significant way, or even if you’re just uncertain of comfort levels, that’s when you should be communicating OOCly to the other individual(s) involved in the roleplay and gaining consent if you haven’t already discussed it ahead of time.
Some people think that ‘mature’ roleplay means, specifically, sexual roleplay or ERP, but it encompasses much more than that. Any situation that involves moral boundaries, involve the perceptions of good and evil and shows the darker side of human nature is mature roleplay and should require consent to proceed.
What if you’re uncertain? When are the times when this is appropriate and necessary?
Any time a scene becomes violent and there’s going to be a physical or magical attack against one of the people in the scene;
Any type of long term impact to another character, whether it’s a relationship, death, disease, trauma, rape, physical disability or mental disability;
There’s a moral question of any kind, drugging other characters, blackmailing them, stealing from them or anything that might fall outside of the long term impacts;
Real-life trigger topics, for lack of a better phrase, such as racism, politics, religion, or domestic violence; and
Sex/eRP. This topic should be self explanatory.
The discussion between characters for consent should be fairly straight forward. Explain what action(s) you’re attempting to take, the motives and reasons why you feel that the actions are appropriate to the scene and, if appropriate, negotiating the scene to something that is agreeable to all the active characters. In a situation that could have long-reaching effects or very intense, it is a good idea to take a screenshot of the conversation and consent gained. While we are all adults, that doesn’t necessarily mean that, later on, someone might change their mind about losing their hand or arm and say that it was done without consent. This could apply to any of the above situations, so use your best judgment.
Remember, no one can force your character into doing anything without your consent. If you are uncomfortable with a situation, communicate that discomfort and either give them an opportunity to change the scene to something that you are comfortable with or leave the roleplay entirely.
2. Consent in Roleplay - Guilds
Guild consent, in some ways, is very similar to individual consent and, in other ways, entirely different. When dealing with guilds, it’s appropriate for the GMs of the involved guilds to communicate with each other, and in some cases, their officers. When is gaining consent for guilds appropriate over gaining individual consent?
Any time there’s a long term effect or significant change to a guild, whether it’s a siege, attack upon the guild, establishing yourself as an enemy to the guild, or even any type of roleplay that would involve infiltration, theft of their items/members/buildings or anything that might be considered questionable under the same “trigger topics” such as politics, religion, or racism, the guild leaders should be meeting and communicating ahead of time as far ahead of the roleplay as possible. Proper time should be given to inform the guild members, for each guild involved, about the potential impacts of the roleplay and to allow them to opt out of the roleplay.
It’s important to remember that guilds are filled with individuals and what might be fine for one player may not be fine for another. That’s why consent is so very important in these situations and why communication and time must be given.
3. Consent in Roleplay - Power Levels
Power. Most, if not all, characters strive for some type of power within the game. For many, it’s the driving goal of the character. Without a doubt, it is an important aspect of many of the story and the game itself. However, there is an issue of consent to be considered here, as well.
In any scene where there is a test of power, albeit guild or individual, then there must also be an agreement that each party to the scene recognizes and agrees to the power levels of the participants. One character might claim that he slew Arthas himself, single-handedly, and now wields Frostmourne and is the true Lich King. However, for any sort of test of power, the other players must all be willing to agree that his character’s power level is acceptable to them when he decides that he’s going to kill them all and raise them as his death knight minions.
Much in the same way that this individual example is given, the same should also be considered when looking at guild levels of consent. While one guild may state that they have taken over the city state of Gilneas and are collecting tithes on the entire populace and have a naval fleet at their beck and call, the other guild(s) involved in the roleplay must also agree to recognize that if there is going to be a battle between them, for instance.
Likewise, with guild consent, the question of PC and NPC power levels must also be taken into consideration if there’s to be an interaction. If the other guild doesn’t recognize that there is a ship full of NPCs to man those ships and will only acknowledge PCs, then no true consent can be given.
All of the above examples are excellent times to utilize negotiation between the parties involved, especially when there is any question of power levels that may not be on equal terms.
4. Consent in Roleplay - Revoking Consent
It’s important to remember that just because consent has been given, if the scene reaches a point where a player becomes uncomfortable, it can be revoked. In a roleplay scene, it is entirely possible that someone who was comfortable at one point may begin to feel uncomfortable with it or it takes an unexpected turn that wasn’t fully discussed. When roleplaying, you’re not only interacting between characters, but the players behind the characters, too. It is perfectly natural for perceptions about a scene, roleplay or interaction to change depending on what happens and if it becomes uncomfortable, perfectly acceptable to renegotiate the scene, or in worst case scenarios, revoke consent entirely.
5. Consent in Roleplay - Last Words
With solid communication, an understanding of the importance of consent, there will be a deeper level of true enjoyment of the game itself and the stories created. It becomes true collaboration, which should be the very heart of roleplay.
