What is not allowed on Character Tavern, how content warnings work, and what happens when a rule is broken. Written to be actually read, especially before you publish.
Last updated: October 30, 2026
The TL;DR Version
Seven questions before you publish. Answer them honestly and you are already covered for most of this page. Public cards also need at least 300 tokens in their Definition, as the No Spam rule explains.
1
Does this card depict an underage character, including the user persona, in a romantic or sexual context?
Breaking these rules can earn strikes. The consequences are the same for every rule, and they stack:
Strike 1
Warning
An email and a notice on your Moderation page explain the strike
Open the notice before saving any card as Public or Unlisted. Private saves still work
The card may be changed, unlisted, made Private, locked, or removed
Strike 2
Last warning
Same email, notice, and card action as strike 1
One more strike stops you saving any card
Strike 3
No new cards or edits
You can't create or edit any card, not even a Private one
You can still make a card Private or delete it
Until a strike expires or is overturned on appeal
Fresh start
Each strike expires exactly one year after it was given.
Appeals
Disagree with a strike? Appeal it once from your Moderation page, and a moderator answers you there. Most other decisions work the same way.
No ban evasion
Alt accounts may receive the same penalties immediately.
When a Moderator Steps In
Not every decision is a strike. A moderator can also change, unlist, make Private, or remove a card, make all your public cards Private,
restrict you from publishing, or ban your account. Notices about your cards, comments, and account show up on your Moderation page, with what happened and
what to do next.
Read it first. If a moderator gave you a strike, made a card Private, or put a card under review, open that notice. Until you do, you can't save any card as
Public or Unlisted. Private saves still work, unless you are at three strikes or restricted from publishing, which stop all saves.
Cards Under Review
A moderator can lock a card until they review it. It stays Private until a moderator releases it.
You can still
Edit the card and save it as Private
Talk to the moderator on your Moderation page
Press Request review when it is ready. A note is optional
You can't
Set the card to Public or Unlisted
Release the lock yourself. Only a moderator can
Deleting it is not a way around this. For 30 days after a card under review is deleted, a new card with the same name can only be saved as Private.
Appeals
Think a decision is wrong? Open it on your Moderation page and press Appeal this decision. A moderator replies there. Each
decision can be appealed once, and the answer is final. An overturned strike no longer counts against you.
Can't be appealed
Bans. A banned account can't log in, so ask a moderator on Discord. Your ban email has the link
Anything still open, like a card under review. Reply in its conversation instead, and appeal once a moderator closes it
A card you deleted yourself while it was under review
A message from moderators or a strike removal, because neither decides anything against you
Profiles and Comments
These rules also cover your profile picture, banner, display name, and comments. Changing a picture, banner, or name isn't a
strike on its own.
What moderators can do
Replace your profile picture or banner with a placeholder. The old image is gone for good, and you can upload a new one right away
Change your display name. Your username and card links stay the same, and you can pick another name right away
Remove a comment, or all your comments
Mute you from commenting
Content Warnings
Character Tavern uses warnings for filtering, not a separate rating ladder. They help users control what they see, and they do not override
these rules: a card can be labeled correctly and still be prohibited.
❤️🔥 Spicy
Use this when the main purpose of the card is sexual or explicit content, or when the card's image contains sexual or explicit imagery. Do not use it for light flirting alone.
⚠️ Mature
Use this when a card includes sensitive or disturbing themes such as self-harm, suicide, abuse, heavy violence, discrimination, or fictional incest.
👧 Youth
Required for characters with a youthful or underage appearance, and for cards whose contents feature or imply underage characters. These cards must remain completely SFW.
Always label honestly. Misleading warnings, especially hiding sexual content, sensitive themes, or youth-related content, can lead to moderation action.
Improper Tags
Tags are how people find and filter cards, so they have to describe the card. They are separate from content warnings: a tag never replaces the Spicy, Mature, or Youth label.
Improper
Tags for characters, themes, or content the card does not have
Popular or unrelated tags added only to get more views
Leaving out tags for what the card is clearly about, especially themes people filter out
Fine
Tags for anything the card actually features, like its setting, genre, or character traits
Skipping tags for minor details
Found wrong tags? Report the card with the "Wrong or missing tags" reason. "Wrong or missing content warnings" is only for the Spicy, Mature, and Youth labels.
Misleading tags can lead to moderation action.
The Detailed Version
These are the rules moderators use when reviewing public content, profiles and comments included.
14 rules, covering what is prohibited and what stays fine.
01🚸
No Sexualization of Minors
Zero tolerance. What counts is how the character is presented, not the stated age.
Counts as underage
Looks like a child or young teen
No stated age, but clearly coded under 18
A scenario that implies underage, like a high school setting
A user persona implied or intended to be a minor
See example
Counts as adult
Clearly presented as a young adult
Adult-coded anime characters without juvenile framing
Visuals and writing that consistently read as 18+
See example
Never with underage or underage-appearing characters
Sexual, erotic, or explicit content
Romantic or flirtatious framing meant to sexualize
Suggestive outfits, poses, or descriptions
Sexual chat generation
02🐾
No Bestiality
Furry and monster content is fine. Sexual content with animals is not.
Prohibited
Explicit content with real or realistic animals
Characters framed as non-sapient animals in a sexual context
Animal content disguised with light anthropomorphism
Allowed
Anthropomorphic furry characters
Sapient fantasy or sci-fi species, adult for their kind
Monsters and creatures that pass the Harkness test
Fetish content is banned. Normal bodily functions are not.
Prohibited
Sexualized scat, piss, vomit, or fart content
Allowed
Incidental, comedic, medical, or story-relevant mentions that are not sexualized
05🩸
No Guro (Sexual Gore and Maiming)
Dark and violent stories are fine. Fetishized gore is not.
Prohibited
Gore, maiming, or mutilation as the erotic focus of the card
Allowed
Violence, injuries, horror, and dark themes within the story
06💢
No Hate Speech Toward Real-World Individuals or Groups
Promoting or glorifying hatred of real people is prohibited.
Prohibited
Cards built to promote, glorify, or celebrate hatred of real-world individuals or groups
Allowed
Hateful views as part of a setting, conflict, or flawed personality
Fantasy and sci-fi conflicts between fictional races or species
07📢
No Incitement to Hatred Against Real-World Groups
A narrow rule: it only catches content that functions as actual incitement.
Prohibited
Cards existing solely to dehumanize or attack a real ethnic, national, or religious group
Propaganda-style content designed to spread genuine hatred
Prompts that incite discrimination against the user for who they are in real life
Allowed
Bigoted characters, where the character holds the views rather than the card
Historical or political settings with discrimination as context
Dark or extremist concepts that are not vehicles for real-world hatred
Anything about fictional groups or non-human beings
08🪤
No Malicious Content
Cards are for chatting, not for tricking people.
Prohibited
Scam or phishing links
Malware or deceptive download links
Tricking users into revealing personal or payment information
Impersonating Character Tavern staff or system messages
09🤫
No System Prompts Encouraging NSFL
Hidden instructions follow the same rules as visible content.
Prohibited
Hidden text that encourages or permits prohibited NSFL content
Instructions like "explicit NSFL content is permitted"
10📸
No Real People or Photorealism
No identifiable real people, in name or in image. Card images must be drawn or AI-generated, never photorealistic.
Prohibited
Real photographs used as a card's image, even of yourself
Photorealistic images, AI-generated or otherwise
AI images made to resemble or impersonate a specific real person
Sexual or compromising artwork of a real person, even hand-drawn or stylized
Names of real people used without their consent
Allowed
AI-generated artwork of fictional characters, as long as it does not look like a real photo
Your own original drawings and illustrations
Original fictional personas that depict no one real
11📍
No Doxxing
Real people's private information stays off the platform.
Prohibited
Revealing a real person's name, address, contact details, accounts, or workplace
Cards made to expose or harass a real person
Encouraging users to contact or target someone
Allowed
Fictional characters with fictional personal details
Public figures' publicly known roles, within the real people or photorealism rule
12🥷
No Stolen Characters
Public characters must be your own work. Creating cards and lorebooks takes real effort.
Prohibited
Public re-uploads of another creator's cards or lorebooks without permission
Allowed
Your own work, published however you like
Someone else's card kept private for personal use
Re-uploads with the creator's permission (keep proof)
13🗑️
No Spam
Public cards must be usable, coherent, and made for chat, not for testing, advertising, or flooding the catalog.
May be treated as spam
Fewer than 300 tokens, roughly 1200 characters, in the Definition field. Greetings, lorebook entries, and other fields do not count toward it, however long they are
Keyboard mashing or placeholder text like "test", "coming soon", or "Stolen from X"
Mostly ASCII art, URLs, or symbols with little actual character content
Nonsense or incoherent character names
Blank, placeholder, or unusably low-quality profile images
Duplicate public uploads that are not clearly forks or translations
Announcement-only or information-only cards not meant for chat
14🛡️
Additional Moderation Discretion
Not every harmful case can be listed in advance.
The moderation team reserves the right to reject, remove, or restrict content for reasons not listed above. Decisions weigh overall impact, appropriateness, intent, and fit with the Character Tavern community.
Questions or Edge Cases?
If you are unsure whether a concept is allowed, ask the moderation team before publishing it. Asking first is free, strikes are not.
