Hi there, it’s been a while since I’ve attended empire and I’ve been reading back up on the wiki regarding rules, and code of conduct.
In simple terms my question is what profanity/swear words are acceptable at empire?
I obviously want to respect the rules and not make people uncomfortable. Just wanted to know what words to avoid, and what words are good replacements.
For example:
C#NT or C#CK are to a degree gendered but I’m not sure if they’d be against code of conduct. As they specifically refer to genitals and not specific genders, and are more often used to mean idiot, and are typically interchangeable.
Obviously it all comes down to the group you’re with but what are Peoples opinions/experiences with this?
Appreciate the responses 
Amusingly, the ones you DON’T want to use are the religeous profanities… because they don’t do well in the setting.
Other than that, keep an eye out for the number of children around, and try to make up something more interesting and characterful.
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The side effect of the “no religious ones” does mean there’s a lot more eff-ing this, eff-ing that at times
Folks still use hell quite a bit, I’ve heard a lot of assorted other IRL languages, and some impressive boulderised ones, and the one that is fair gendered that folks get twitchy about when talking about people is female dog
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Well the specific rules are “Empire is not a family-friendly event - profanity is permissible” and it clarifies a few paragraphs down “As with all language in Empire, you should make sure it fits with the setting.”
https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Conduct#Language
So as long as you avoid stuff like “Jesus Christ!” and other stuff that just doesn’t fit with the game you’re ok. People do slip up and people try to ignore it, just try to do your best.
About the words you mention, one is generally out here IRL considered “worse” than the other and there is going to be some carry over into the game from player sensibilities.
As for IC replacements as a character in Highguard I’ve used “Six Hells” (in reference to the six magical realms) and that works and doesn’t seem too forced. Likewise I’m pretty sure I’ve used “horse trading/trader” in a pointed fashion. But if you’re not from Highguard it might not fit your character.
Looking back people talked about this right at the start of the game on here but I’m not sure any of them actually became popular and survive in game now.
Maggot is a classic in Wintermark and genuinely in use on the field.
I’m pretty sure I’ve used “Virtue’s Sake!” and “For the love of Virtue!” and heard that used, so sticking Virtue in as a replacement for “God” works I think.
Also swearing around the names of various Eternals I’m sure I’ve heard, but my mind has gone blank on good examples so perhaps other folk can tag in there
. You can also use the names of Paragons and Exemplars as well come to think of it.
And I’ve just been reminded of this excellent post on the subject of “how to be insulting” by LARPHacks so go give that a read
.
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Telling people to ‘Die and Get Lost’ is another particularly nasty one from an IC perspective.
I’ve heard more people swearing at eternals than by them…
I’m fond of “Inga Tarn and Courage the Donkey”. You see Inga Tarn - Empire rode a donkey called Courage - at least in the stories my governess told me