Acceptable Themes

Anomalous is a game geared toward mystery, dread, and suspense, but there are some themes we would like to remind attendees to be particularly sensitive about, and some which have no place in this game.

We also want to note that while the game is set in the 1990s, we are adopting a “vintage style NOT vintage values” approach to a time that was generally less progressive than now. This means that while we will select and appreciate some things from the decade for the purpose of aesthetics and technology level, but our moral values and themes are firmly planted in the modern day.

Themes listed here as “Sensitive” may occur during the game, but please use them responsibly and be aware these themes are sensitive. If you are not comfortable with a theme being explored in a scene you may use the safety calls to disengage. If someone asks you to stop pursuing a topic of conversation, do so without question.

Themes listed as “Restricted” will not occur during the game and you should not make reference to them in play, in back story, or in any other way. Ignoring this rule is a good way to get yourself removed from the game.

If you have any questions at all about these, please do contact contact@unlikelystories.co.uk or speak to a member of the Core Team at an Event.

This page covers themes we don't want to appear in the game – see Style and Influences for the themes of the game we do want.

Sensitive themes that may occur:

• Death
• Infectious disease
• Self-harm
  • Bloodletting in order to progress plot may occur, but self-harm as a means of expressing distress is not a theme that this game will cover.
• Discrimination on the basis of physical disability or mental health condition
  • The world of Anomalous is dangerous both physically and metaphysically. Conditions which permanently harm the body or mind are likely to come up, and reacting to these in character is appropriate. Discrimination on the basis of OC disability or mental health condition is wholly unacceptable.
• Consensual sexual contact
  • This will never inform Plot and if referenced in play should be elided with a “fade to black”.
• Extreme violence and gore
• Torture
• Mind Control or other means of removing or restricting agency
  • Long term mind control or dominance over a Character will not occur. Mind Control or Agency loss will never be directed by a Player Character.
• Memory Loss
  • We will never force Characters to lose memories of events that the Player has already experienced, but we may inform you that your Character has new or different memories of events that have not been played out OC. We will never tell you what your Character did or did not do.
  • Effects offering voluntary forgetting of memories for Characters may be used but these will always be opt-in.
• Domestic Abuse
• Child Death
• Apocalyptic or genocidal threat
• Addiction
• Common phobias including, but not limited to, agoraphobia, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, fear of needles, fear of heights, fear of the dark.
  • Please inform us if there are themes you would prefer to not be exposed to due to phobia and we will attempt to keep these from you or warn you where we are unable to do so.
• Real-world discrimination (historical up to and including the 1990s)
  • Nostalgia and pop culture portrayals of the 1990s often erase the very real problems in society. As a game team, we want to avoid wearing rose-tinted spectacles about the world and allow space to explore these topics. With a heavy preface that Anomalous is not a game about discrimination, Anomalous is a game where those experiences can be brought up.
  • Therefore, Anomalous does not forbid the themes of real-world discrimination and accounts of discrimination may be presented (e.g. via historical documents or case descriptions). However, we are not intending to run plot where Player Characters will have real-world discrimination directed at them. We have explicitly written the modern Cross Foundation as a more inclusive space where the things that unite us are more important than those that divide us (as a matter of in-world policy).
  • Therefore, it is acceptable to play a Character who has experienced discrimination and to discuss that in game, but it is not acceptable to play a Character who participates in perpetuating that discrimination: such Characters would have had their employment terminated (we are not interested in playing out such an arc either – just don't do it).
  • When handling discrimination, perspective is important. As a game team we recognise our perspective is limited: while we are comfortable handling themes of sexism and homophobia – and therefore may include references to them in historical documents – we do not have experience with, for example, racism or religious discrimination and therefore will never include them in our writing. Similarly, we expect Attendees to acknowledge their own perspectives and only engage with discrimination that they have sufficient perspective on.
  • Regardless of context, real world discriminatory slurs are forbidden.
  • If you find yourself uncomfortable with someone else's engagement with these themes and believe they are doing so in bad faith, consult a member of the Core Team.

Restricted themes that will not occur at any Unlikely Stories event:

• Sexual assault, sexual coercion, or any other form of non-consensual sex
• Sex with minors
• Use of real-world discriminatory slurs

Restricted themes that will not occur at Anomalous:

• References to 1990s pop culture figures who have since been associated with one of the Restricted Themes above
• Actual persons, living or dead, who were prominent in the 1990s or later
• Major real world events that occurred after the year 1990