To be or not to be ?

Are there limits to what someone should role-play ? Would role-playing a SS Nazi from the Second World War be appropriate ? Is torturing in-game really alright ? All of these come down basically to a single question : can we laugh about everything ?

I personally believe that yes, we should be able to laugh about anything. However, we should not laugh with everyone, since some people are easily offended. How does this transfer into role playing games ? Through role-play.

I have had a character in Vampire : The Masquerade who was a guy surnamed “Herr doctor” because he's a German doctor who “operated” on Jews during second world war. I basically had to defend Nazism and tell the glory of the Reich at every occasion. I played this character with players from Arabic origin, and all went very well because we all know that it's in the game. If I could play this character, it is all because I was with open-minded people, and that I was not serious at all when talking through my character. Most players were laughing out loud since I talked with a strong German accent and kept saying “Ach Ja” from time to time. These details let you get a little distance between the character and myself which is a good thing considering all what the character said or did. The character died, but will remain for a long time in the memory of the game master and the players, at it was shocking, yet humorous.

However, in other conditions, a player could be unable to do a choice that the character would do because the player feels guilty if he does it. My character would be capable of raping that woman, but me, telling the game master that I'll be doing it is something very hard to do, especially if the game master is good, and that my character had an interaction with said woman. This limitation is personal, and I know that some other players would feel no guilt in having their characters kill and rape, while others would be unable to make their characters be aggressive. Of course it's all in the game, but when someone is immersed into the game, a player tries to blend with the character in order to make the right RP choice. However, the most important part is to know how to leave the character once you have finished playing.

Playing an evil/controversial character requires some things in order for it to be accepted around a table : firstly, the player needs to know how to play him correctly. Secondly, the game master must be 100% alright about it. Thirdly, take into account the spirit of the group of players (are they going to punch me if my character back-stabs theirs or if my character says racist/homophobic/whatever things ?). Fourthly, will it be enjoyable ? It's a role-playing game, so everyone must enjoy themselves.