The Adult Questions

How adult is your game world? PG? PG-13? R? X?

Before you get too worked up about this, hear me out. However "adult" you want your game world to be, as long as it is enough for you and your gamers, you are correct and doing it right. I'm just here to pose questions, discuss some options, and you can pay as much or as little to this as you wish.

Does your gameworld contain rape, slavery, homosexuality, bastard children, cannibalism, adultery, prostitution, and poly-marriages? How about abortion, orphans/adoption, child abandonment, transgenderism, spousal abuse, rape ("you said rape twice" "I like rape"... which used to be a funny joke in an even funnier movie, but now just brings screams of misogyny and trigger words), alcoholism, and drug abuse/addiction/trafficking? How do people in your world deal with birth, child rearing, marriage, divorce, and death?

I know, I know, I call all this "adult" but what we're really talking about is how real your fantasy world is. At its base, D&D and the like are fairly unreal, high fantasy - most of what I asked about above are rarely touched upon, if ever, and the game is kept rather mild... once you discount all the murdering, foul language, stealing, and physical/mental assaults that happen in a normal adventure. Opposite that, in the real world, today and more so in our past, we know that all of the above existed, and depending on the place and time period, were considered the norm. So how adult is your game world? Do you let your morality or the morality of your players influence what goes into your game world?

Of course you do, we all do. If we didn't, the games we play would be too uncomfortable to be fun. But a little discomfort, a little squeamishness, a little bit of nervous laughter around the table, it can make your game more interesting, more exciting. Notice I used the word "can" and "little", as you as a game master have to figure out what "little" means for your group (and it's different for every potential "adult" theme) and when "little" turns suddenly into "way too much". And sometimes "any" turns "can be fun" into "no fun at all".

What should you include in your game world? As I said, your average RPG, modern, futuristic, or medieval in setting, already contains murder, robbery, phsyical/mental assault, and for most groups, foul language. Beyond those, it's up to you and the makeup of your group. What could send one group spiraling into outright anger and hate could be seen by another group as everyday, same old same old. That's why I included homosexuality and poly-marriages in my list above, not that I believe those who practice either are inherently evil, but as it wasn't all that long ago that homosexuality was not only viewed as morally wrong but was outright illegal in many parts of America, and poly-marriages, while becoming more acceptable in mainstream America, is still not legal. You have to gauge the feelings of your players (not their characters, but the players themselves), and avoid venerating any of the above with groups that find that subject or act utterly abhorrent. No matter what you purport your PCs to espouse or embrace, if they do something you the player or game master find utterly taboo, you will not like yourself at the end of the day. Definitely avoid any subject that your players have experienced in real life, for instance, someone who is a victim of child abuse is probably not going to have fun at the table if you include child abuse in your game world... or might enjoy it too much by getting vengeance on anyone they see performing it, and derailing the game for everyone else in pursuing their new quest.

I am not going to rant at you about my own views of everything I have listed above, but let me pose these questions to you to help you define for yourself what any of the above topics mean to you.
     - Why does this make you uncomfortable or why do you see it as taboo? Is the reason you find it distasteful tied to the fact that it was taught to you as part of a religion (whether you still follow that religion or not)?
     - Are there any situations where this would be acceptable to you in real life?
     - Are there any of the above that used to be taboo in your real life but are now fully acceptable? How about the opposite?

Please note that all of the above may already exist in your game world, but when you "include" any of these, you are bringing that idea or act to the attention of your players. Your game world may be ultra realistic, X-rated already, but what you are showing your players is only the PG level stuff. Any of these that you decide could spice up your game world also requires you find a moral justification for the NPCs in your world to not also find it immediately abhorrent.