Rules Question: Criminal Activity

[Chalybs Levitas]

Some games and campaigns have players engaging in illicit acts, and in building a world, choosing rules and consequences is important for the cities and towns the players end up in. Is there a safe way to discuss these issues, or should I go somewhere else for those specific concerns? (I'd apply this to the drugs clause as well, but I have no reason to discuss that personally)

Mostly, I'd like to know where the boundary is. The list of rules says that these issues are still taboo when intersecting with gaming, but I wasn't sure if that applied to in game ciminal/illicit activities as well or not.

Thank you for your time.
~Levitas

[Mystic Muse]

While the mods will give you a more definitive answer, a good rule of thumb is "When in doubt, don't do it." for anything you expect will break the rules.

Hasn't steered me wrong so far.

[Jarian]

As I understand it, you are allowed to discuss things such as hypothetical drugs or criminal activity so long as it is constrained to the discussion of a homebrew world or game recruitment, as long as it's clear that it's a fantasy element. What isn't okay is drawing parallels between such activities (X drug seems a lot like Y real world drug; N event sounds a lot like what happened at Z real world thing).

Note: not an official response, just what I've gathered from what I've seen.

[SPoD]

I agree with what Jarian says, and would add that my understanding is that you also shouldn't post anything that could instruct another person on how to break the law, even in a fictional discussion. So, you can't have your d20 Modern character in a play-by-post describe in detail how they commit insurance fraud, even if it's a fictional story, because other people could read that and go try it out.

[HalfTangible]

My rule of thumb for stuff like this: if it can be done in real life, avoid it. If it can't be avoided, just say it's what happened.

I was under the impression that this specific rule applied to describing what you, specifically, may have done, or a way to do it.

[Drolyt]

Posts containing illegal content - including but not limited to discussion of how to commit illegal activities, discussion of the use or acquisition of illegal substances, or posts that violate a law in and of themselves - will result in an immediate ban for the poster.

Well, what you are describing doesn't break any laws in and of itself, so the last part doesn't apply. So you are asking about whether discussing in world illegal activities would come under "discussion of how to commit illegal activities or discussion of the use or acquisition of illegal substances". So I imagine discussing imaginary illegal activity is fine so long as you do not discuss how one would go about it in the real world. I would further think that while discussing the specifics of a mage performing magical crimes would be fine, describing realistic crimes, even if fictional, would break the rules. Wait for a mod to be sure, but I highly doubt I'm wrong on this one.
Edit: Certainly discussing a (fictional) legal system without giving information on how to commit crimes or encouraging people to commit crime wouldn't be breaking the rules.

[unosarta]

Unfortunately, the rules are a little vague in this case, because they also mention in the Inappropriate topic section that you cannot talk about criminal activity even when it intersects with gaming.


Inappropriate Topics
The following topics are always off-limits on these forums, no matter what (hence, Inappropriate Topics). Any posts including these topics will be edited, and any threads started to discuss these topics will be locked. Please note that, as specifically stated below, these topics remain off-limits even where they intersect with gaming or other activities discussed on these forums, and that putting an alert for "Adult" or "Mature" content on the thread does not allow circumvention of this rule. Likewise, if you can't post something under the Forum Rules, please don't link to that content.

Real-world religions (including religious reactions to gaming)
Real-world politics (including political reactions to gaming)
Graphic violence
Illegal drugs
Illegal/Criminal activity
Giving legal advice
Explicit sexuality


The rules are pretty vague in this case, and I think it has been brought up before.

[Roland St. Jude]

Yes, this has come up before.


Sheriff: As long as you keep it fictional and don't dwell on or fetishize the drug use (or violence), it's fine. FFRP is a bit more sensitive than PbP because in FFRP anyone can join at any time. So try not to get into too much detail about the drug use and you should be fine.


Sheriff of Moddingham: As said, fiction=yes; real world=no. Keep it fictional, don't drag in real world analogues in your OOC, and don't get super-detailed about how to commit criminal acts in [the] real world.