Justin makes some good points about the X card.

In the end though, I still believe in handling your own shit.  If you don't think you can sit at a table and game with strangers without being uncomfortable, triggered, whatever, then don't do it.  Stick to gaming with friends that know your issues and respect them.  Maybe have some FLGS sessions with mostly friends and a couple new people and acclimate.  The end goal of anyone who has experienced trauma is to be able to re-integrate with the world without the world making concessions for you...because it mostly won't.

The "subject matter ban" aspect aside, I can see the use as an immersion-keeper, a quick "back on track", "joke-time's over" type of thing.  Of course, that's all emergent use, the card wasn't created for that reason.

Quote from: CRKrueger;996490The "subject matter ban" aspect aside, I can see the use as an immersion-keeper, a quick "back on track", "joke-time's over" type of thing.  Of course, that's all emergent use, the card wasn't created for that reason.

I've used an egg timer for that (from the GM seat). I'm about to try it out as a player option sitting in the middle of the table.  It's worked very well for me as, "You guys are just horsing around too much.  Wind it down before the 3 minutes of sand runs out, and let's get back to the game."  I've found 3 minutes to be an almost perfect transition for that kind of thing, as it doesn't shut people off completely.  Plus, the sand ticking (if you get a big enough timer) is very mesmerizing.  

Quote from: Dumarest;996117What's an "X-card"?

It's the RPG equivalent of a safe word.

Quote from: kk7;996224I'm only discomforted by the ritualism in "holding up a card", instead of talking with your fellow gamers and saying "whoa, knock it off". You know, the way people who are friends, or at least are friendly with each other, do -- rather than taking autism as the default mode of human interaction.

A couple people have posted replies along the lines of "why would you play with people like ___?" -- which is kind of missing the issue. No, I don't play with those gamers, and neither do you. We still encounter them, sometimes a lot; and they're still out there, gaming, oblivious to our sensibleness. They're part of our hobby and part of our practices -- best or worst.

The reason it might be better than simply talking about it is probably because saying "no, I don't like that" or "my husband might see where you did that" might be misinterpreted as something your character said. People have to respect your boundaries but they do not have to respect your character's boundaries.

Quote from: fearsomepirate;989634One of the worst practices is the "Rule of Cool" rubric to let players get away with doing "creative" things that break the game and are nearly impossible to walk back, like letting a player use Create or Destroy Water to dessicate an enemy after a cut. Congratulations, idiot, you have now given a 2nd-level character Power Word: Kill. Same thing goes with "You can try anything!" meaning "I will set a meaningful target DC and give a minimum 5% chance for any nonsense you come up with to happen!"

Isn't this the entire foundation of OSR style play though?

Also the #RuleOfCool deals with things that are cool, not clever or smart.

Quote from: CRKrueger;993413The die falls off the table, it's a miss, period.
The die falls off the table side across from you, it's a critical fumble, period.

Funny, I never seem to have any wild dice problems from players.  

Quote from: CRKrueger;993523Oh, every miniature I have to place back up, I also add in an additional enemy.  If there was no enemy, and they knocked out a PC, "Whoop, surprise!".

I have literally ZERO die probems at the table now, going on decades.  It's just the oddest thing.

Apparently, when there's consequences, normal, healthy players magically no longer roll dice like they're having Grand Mal seizures.

Weird how rules like this can modify behavior

Quote from: The Exploited.;994567Someone that uses the dreaded 'X-card'.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;996233if you are going to push things that far (whatever their boundaries are), they can be quickly rendered speechless and unable to respond in a timely, rational manner.  Something is likely to build up and burst out all at once, probably with ill effects.  Plus, having the card as an out lets some people relax that otherwise wouldn't.  It's a very effective counseling technique to substitute a simple, planned physical movement for speech.  It's the same way that they are taught to simply walk away from certain situations rather than try to engage verbally.

Quote from: Justin Alexander;996437When correctly implemented, the purpose of the X-card is to minimize the disruption to the flow of game play. It provides a signal separate from the primary communication channel of gameplay (i.e., talking) that allows the game to be redirected (usually in slight ways) instead of grinding to a halt. In this capacity it's particularly useful for groups achieving high levels of focus and immersion; it's comparatively less useful for beer-and-pretzel groups where the focus frequently shifts from in-character to metagame.

The other useful aspect of the X-card is that, because it ISN'T conversation, it doesn't invite conversation. For the types of issues it's frequently used to flag, the person experiencing discomfort doesn't necessarily want to have a conversation about their feelings, either.

Yep.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;996233As soon as someone said they needed an X card, maybe, to handle something being in the game, my immediate response would be, "OK, that's not going to be in the game at all.  I'll see to it.  So that you can relax and have fun the way we want to."

Nope.

Because the #XCard isn't there to avoid certain concepts entirely, but to provide a safe way to engage them. Nobody at a BDSM event has a safe word to avoid engaging in the activities they're there for.

Quote from: Nerzenjäger;996457The GM shouldn't make suggestions or point to conclusions

e.g. "Well, there's an empty space at the eastern end of the hideout, maybe you should wait for an ambush there... or something like that"

That's a big one for me. Part of the fun is figuring things out and maybe even doing them in a way the GM didn't expect.

I'd venture that just like #Metagaming this is impossible to avoid entirely, and a GM can't help but make 'suggestions' in the way they describe things. For example, simply adding more detail to a subject will cause players to act on it. The division is also not clear, For example, saying an NPC looks nervous is often acceptable shorthand for describing how they aren't making eye contact and sweating, and then leaving it up to the player to figure out why.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;996601Nope.

Because the #XCard isn't there to avoid certain concepts entirely, but to provide a safe way to engage them. Nobody at a BDSM event has a safe word to avoid engaging in the activities they're there for.

Right, but I'm not playing that game.  If the only reason they are there is to push up against something that triggers them, then they can go find someone else to facilitate that for them.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;996601Isn't this the entire foundation of OSR style play though?

I wouldn't know; I'm not an OSR gamer at all. Just seems to come from idiots who want to use Minor Illusion as Major Image.

The person running this website is a racist who publicly advocates genocidal practices.

I am deleting my content.

I recommend you do the same.

Quote from: Itachi;989605What do you think are the worst practices in RP gaming?

Showing up late, and not bringing snacks.

One of my friends gets sleepy early so he just gets up and leaves without saying anything.

One minute he's at the table, the next, I call his turn and realize he has gone home.

But eh, I have like 10 people over to play every time so it's not really a big deal. Just kind of random.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;996233The thing is, for some people, if you are going to push things that far (whatever their boundaries are), they can be quickly rendered speechless and unable to respond in a timely, rational manner.

Unless people play the X-card a lot in their games or have some means of keeping it handy despite seldom using it (necklace pendant?) they are going to have as much trouble finding the card when they need it insttead of saying something or just getting up from the table and walking away.

This is starting to sound like a Medic Alert bracelet...

Quote from: Opaopajr;996916This is starting to sound like a Medic Alert bracelet...

If someone built one and marketed it right for gamers, it would sell.  Probably needs to double as a d10.

I sense a business opportunity! It should be splatted like WW/OP games. Perhaps by color, game fandom, and neuroses -- and if it really takes off, by preffered pronouns? :confused:

Quote from: AsenRG;995794What are the odds of you playing Dr. Who at the time, I wonder:D? Well, knowing you, I'd guess they are approximately zero.

You know that I was one of the playtesters of the current Doctor Who RPG, and that several of the main mechanical features of the game were my contribution to the game, right?

I have run Doctor Who various times, but this wasn't one of them. The player was part of my Dark Albion group; he just happens to be a big doctor who fan.