I recently conducted an interview with Gary Alan Fine after a writing an article about American biases in fantasy role-playing games. To wit, in Fine's book Shared Fantasy, he quoted MAR Barker as saying that Tolkien's form of evil was a "gentlemanly evil." This accusation, undoubtedly a result of Barker's particular sensitivity to separating his Tekumel universe from Tolkien's, offended some readers. So to get to the bottom of Fine's thoughts on the matter, I asked him about it.

Fine pointed out that because a full range of alignments were possible to play in early Dungeons & Dragons, evil had to be "palatable." Basically, evil in games can only be as gross or disturbing or unethical as the culture that plans to play it. Sexual forms of evil, like rape and child molestation, are usually off limits. Why? Because it makes the players uncomfortable.

This is one of the fundamental shifts that White Wolf presented in its morally gray World of Darkness series. No character archetype was off limits because he was "too evil." Therefore all characters were presented as templates that could potentially be played – yes, including child molesters. See my Followers of Set review for an example.

Another point Fine mentioned in our interview is that the definition of acceptable evil is ultimately shared by the group. Players and game master determine what's acceptable. Because one of my classmates was molested by a priest I knew well, I find the mere notion of playing this sort of evil to be very distasteful.

Especially because gamers sit around a table and look each other in the eye, it's important that the shared reality they create is acceptable to all. And yet, horror is about pushing those boundaries. Thus, I've used child molesters as villains, specifically in the Cthulhu Now scenario Love's Lost Children, and my players didn't blink an eye. On the other hand, my wife and I found the sodomy and necrophilia in Crisis in Freeport to be over the top.

This doesn't make any of these gaming supplements ethically better or worse, it just means that my own personal standards (and ultimately what makes one uncomfortable is deeply personal) don't mesh with the tone of the aforementioned products.

So where to start with a horror game? Probably the direct approach – asking players about what they're comfortable with – is best. That said, even asking a player directly doesn't mean he or she knows exactly what his comfort level is until he experiences it in-game. Tread carefully.

Your Turn: How far is too far in an RPG?

Michael "Talien" Tresca is the National RPG Examiner