Zarban

When starting a new campaign for Dungeons & Dragons or an OSR game, you should set some boundaries for the game, so that everyone at the table knows what to expect in terms of the tone of the campaign. This may be done with a consent form or discussion.

Keep it simple. You don’t need a multi-page checklist of every possible mature theme. Or even a single-page one, like this. (Altho, if you want to use a checklist, this is not a bad one; it comes from here.)

Instead, you can just discuss with players your intended level of action and horror. It’s an adventure game, after all, not a torture-porn horror movie. Start by assuming the violence, creepiness, and romance are at PG-13 levels and talk about what aspects you want to take to R-rated levels.

You really shouldn’t have to ask if cancer or miscarriage is a sensitive subject–just stay away from them. Made-up diseases are more fun, anyway. (Who doesn’t want to die of the “trembling visions”?) Any potentially sensitive subjects you do want to use should be alluded to rather than role-played.

Even with the most detailed consent forms, there will still be landmines. I once joked that to make the next adventure work, all the player characters would need to have epilepsy (which is something that is not on either of the example lists above). I was then informed that one of the (guest) players actually did have grand mal epilepsy; all you can do is apologize for stepping on the landmine.

Even so, you might, create a short list of things you consider very much off limits, like torture (both of and by the PCs), racism, and explicit sexual imagery.