What's unsafe about a game played in the imagination? Absolutely nothing...

What safety tools do you need more than an age rating? RPGs are as safe as any other media. And some stuff is not meant for children.

Only people who are in some way mentally deficient would actually be upset by 'fantastical' elfgames, horror movies, books, or scary comics.

  This does make me circle back to a key idea though.  Don't you guys vette the people you are going to play with?   Time is a limited resource, pretty much the only one that once wasted can never be replenished, so I do not take chances on wasting it with people I have no idea about how they play or anything about them.   Maybe there is a different feeling to playing consistently with strangers, but I honestly never need X cards, safety tools, or anything else because I am not going to play with people I have not vetted to some degree.

None of the games I have written include safety tools.  But I'm really tempted to add if you're under 40, get written permission from your parents.  :-)

I used to run convention games. For those games, I was given a form to fill out by the convention staff. They wanted to know what sort of content was being used at their conventions. And usually, they used movie ratings.

My personal movie ratings for my games run at a convention never went beyond PG. Conventions are a public place. So I treat them like it.

The methods I used were good enough for the convention organizers. In fact, I got members of the convention organizing team to play in the games I ran. And there were never any incidents or objections raised by them. So I must have been doing everything right.

Quote from: zircher on June 01, 2022, 06:41:02 PM
None of the games I have written include safety tools.  But I'm really tempted to add if you're under 40, get written permission from your parents.  :-)

Such a sad state we're in now that you're warning to those "under 40, get write permission from your parents." is not entirely laughable. When I got my first rpg it was labeled "For 3 or More Adults, Ages 10 and Up".

Quote from: Darrin Kelley on June 01, 2022, 01:42:04 PM
I know my opinion on RPG safety tools. I want yours!

I want to see what people have to say on the topic.

If you need RPG safety tools to play, then you shouldn't be playing.

Quote from: oggsmash on June 01, 2022, 06:40:49 PM
  This does make me circle back to a key idea though.  Don't you guys vette the people you are going to play with?   Time is a limited resource, pretty much the only one that once wasted can never be replenished, so I do not take chances on wasting it with people I have no idea about how they play or anything about them.   Maybe there is a different feeling to playing consistently with strangers, but I honestly never need X cards, safety tools, or anything else because I am not going to play with people I have not vetted to some degree.

It is pretty tough to vette the players coming in to a convention game that you are running. You can kick one out after they do something bad, but by then they have already done something bad.

I don't use any tools. I communicate.

I don't mind instructions or guidelines that everyone can agree on before the game though. Something like a classification system sort of like an age rating before a movie (could be useful if were playing at someones house and the home owner have kids of varying degrees of age that might accidentally hear stuff not meant for kids ears). I emphasize Before The Game but between sessions is fine too, if you know that next adventure might get a bit... hmmm ...controversial.

Just recently I explained after the players freed a couple of slaves, including sex slaves, that this is a totally legal thing the bad guys were doing, and freeing the slaves would  be just as illegal as taking them and sell them off themselves! But selling them wouldnt be a Lightside deed, but a darkside deed. (the game is set in post endor star wars on a remnant planet where slavery hasnt been outlawed yet by the new republic.)

Any player who would feel slavery would trigger them would simply be told to watch the movies again. It's canon.


A couple of years ago I ran a game set in early 20th century Europe. I told my players that a lot of the NPCs they meet will use antisemitic and racist slurs in casual talk, but I wouldnt necessarily say them. The players would just have to use their imagination and mentally inject slurs here and there. Whenever I did use slurs in a NPC dialogue was to point out to the players that THIS particular guy would be considered over the top racist even for its time.

My point is, have a talk with your players to get the feel of what they are comfortable with. No need for safety tools.
Since I've played with the same players for years we got a feel what lines shouldnt be crossed -maybe safety tools are more useful for those often playing with strangers?

Quote from: oggsmash on June 01, 2022, 06:40:49 PM
  This does make me circle back to a key idea though.  Don't you guys vette the people you are going to play with?   Time is a limited resource, pretty much the only one that once wasted can never be replenished, so I do not take chances on wasting it with people I have no idea about how they play or anything about them.   Maybe there is a different feeling to playing consistently with strangers, but I honestly never need X cards, safety tools, or anything else because I am not going to play with people I have not vetted to some degree.

Greetings!

Exactly, Ogg!

Can you imagine playing with a group of Marines? Or a group of veterans and redneck girls?

Introducing "X-Cards" would get you mercilessly laughed at and ridiculed to no fucking end.

I routinely keep my Marine K-Bar at my game table. Sometimes, my Glock .45 is nearby as well. My Glock .45 pistol is my ultimate "X-Card".

I have a game table set up in one part of my garage, which also serves as a hobby table. Just feet away, are extensive work tables and a reloading bench. Lots of weapons and ammunition. Welcome to the "House of Guns!"

I have one group of players that routinely smoke cigars, and bring whiskey to drink while playing. The girls smoke cigarettes. The room is often filled with people running their mouths with *no filters* whatsoever. Savage humour. Proclamations of conquest and ruthless violence abound. The hate flows like sweet syrup. Sexual humour, making fun of retards, expressing derision for cock-sucking pussy SJW's is absolutely routine. Guns, liquor, cigars and cigarettes. The men are men, and the women are women. No one is fucking "confused" about their fucking gender. Women actually like to fuck real men, and the men like to fuck real women. No one is confused or somehow opening their mouth with emotional diarrhea about "Gender Fluid" they are. It is also interesting how this group--and many others I have played with--never snivel and worry about the fucking Orcs being some oppressed minority, and them being victims of "White Supremacy" and "Colonialism". Drow Elves are wicked and evil, and should always be relentlessly exterminated.

Most monsters and traditionally evil humanoid races likewise are simply put to the sword, or cast into the great fire. Let their tortured cries and the smoke from their death be as a sweet incense to the Heavens!

Yeah, SJW's wouldn't be comfortable in such a group, for sure. Let them fucking REEE all they want. Most normal gamers will continue to gather together with like-minded, normal gamers, and play and enjoy the game properly, and not have the game corrupted by SJW pussy crybabies.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: jeff37923 on June 01, 2022, 06:56:24 PM

Quote from: Darrin Kelley on June 01, 2022, 01:42:04 PM
I know my opinion on RPG safety tools. I want yours!

I want to see what people have to say on the topic.

If you need RPG safety tools to play, then you shouldn't be playing.

If you need RPG safety tools to play an RPG, then you shouldn't be playing, and you shouldn't be trying to substitute an RPG game for a therapy session. The gaming table is not the place to work your shit out.

If you want to use RPG safety tools you're a manipulative leech looking to turn RPG games into a therapy session so you get your kicks off other people's drama. "Oooh, John touched the X-card as I described that the bloodthirsty Vikings have engaged in rape, pillage and plunder of the village they've come across. I wonder what kind of issues John has?"

John should not have signed up for a medieval fantasy game where bad guys are going to do bad things if that was going to bother him. The game master should not have put the X-card out to trick John that the game would have somehow been safe. Everyone going to know now that John has issues he can't handle at an RPG game, and even if John wanted that attention, it does John harm to feed that kind of self-centeredness.

If someone is going to go beyond any normal limits of good taste ("fade to black" for sexy time as someone mentioned before) an X-card isn't going to save anyone. That person will plow beyond any decent boundaries before the X-card can be invoked, or they'll ignore the X-card. That's a 1-in-a-thousand scenario at best, and creating a useless safety tool for that rare situation just reveals safety isn't the actual point of the X-card. If you somehow keep running into the 1-in-thousand scenario, then that indicates that you have issues, and you need therapy, not trying to substitute RPGs for therapy.

SHARK:

I'm going to say this once. I grew up around veterans. I grew up around active military. One of my uncles served in Vietnam. And I was the first person ever to thank him for his service genuinely.

I made him cry like a baby in doing so. Where he was finally able to open up and tell about the things he saw and did in the war. To say he saw action and lived the horror of war is understating things. And he is the first person to stand up and say he was no hero.

Your macho Marine act doesn't work on me. A real man, a real soldier, doesn't act like a child pretending to be an adult.

Quote from: jeff37923 on June 01, 2022, 07:04:45 PM

Quote from: oggsmash on June 01, 2022, 06:40:49 PM
  This does make me circle back to a key idea though.  Don't you guys vette the people you are going to play with?   Time is a limited resource, pretty much the only one that once wasted can never be replenished, so I do not take chances on wasting it with people I have no idea about how they play or anything about them.   Maybe there is a different feeling to playing consistently with strangers, but I honestly never need X cards, safety tools, or anything else because I am not going to play with people I have not vetted to some degree.

It is pretty tough to vette the players coming in to a convention game that you are running. You can kick one out after they do something bad, but by then they have already done something bad.

  This was what I figured this stuff was more relevant to.  I think a pretty simple 10 or so point list of things that are general rules around behavior would be needed for something like that, but the safety rules seems like such a nebulous term, it is almost a gotcha waiting to happen.

Quote from: wmarshal on June 01, 2022, 06:30:08 PM

Quote from: HappyDaze on June 01, 2022, 06:16:29 PM

Quote from: wmarshal on June 01, 2022, 06:07:05 PM

Quote from: HappyDaze on June 01, 2022, 04:35:58 PM

Quote from: wmarshal on June 01, 2022, 02:44:26 PM
If I'm in a game with an X-card I plan on hitting it the next time I fail a critical roll, or it looks like my character is about to go down. "Sorry, I am terribly terrified of failure, and I thought this was a safe space. In fact, questioning my use of the X-card is invalidating my lived experience. How dare you!"

I think that this can be used to show their value. Any player that let's something like this bother them enough that they show their ass like the poster above describes gets a boot from the game.

Just going by the rules of the X-card from the creative license:
TO USE THE X-CARD, AT THE START OF YOUR GAME, SIMPLY SAY:
"I'd like your help. Your help to make this game fun for everyone. If anything makes anyone uncomfortable in any way... [ draw X on an index card ] ...just lift this card up, or simply tap it  [ place card at the center of the table ]. You don't have to explain why. It doesn't matter why. When we lift or tap this card, we simply edit out anything X-Carded. And if there is ever an issue, anyone can call for a break and we can talk privately. I know it sounds funny but it will help us play amazing games together and usually I'm the one who uses the X-card to help take care of myself.  [ pause ] Does everyone consent to using the X-Card?  [ pause ] Or is there another tool you would rather use?  [ pause ]  Either way, the people playing here are more important than the game we're playing. Thank you for helping make this game fun for everyone!"

Malicious compliance is a great reason for booting an asshole from the table.

The X-card tool itself is malicious. Nobody should feel bad about using the tool's own rules against it. I encourage anyone who has this put out in a convention game to just touch tap the card about every 15 or so minutes. Point out that you shouldn't have to explain why, but make up some sob story to explain why you tapped the card. The more melodramatic the better. If you find yourself at an X-card table just realize that your original hopes for a decent game were already lost. Now you might as well get your entertainment wrecking a Woke game, and maybe, just maybe you'll get one of the Woke to question their cult beliefs.

HappyDaze, your butt-hurt reaction just shows what a lame tool the X-card actually is, and that your afraid of just how easy it is to turn it on itself.

Any rule can be turned to bad ends, but it is your butt-hurt that is driving you to encourage others to do it here. Look at your post. You're encouraging people to go to games and disrupt other people's fun to prove some stupid point. Why are you the enemy of fun?

The X-card can be fine if everyone is using it in good faith. If someone is not, then it can also become an effective asshole detector. Ditch the asshole and get back to having a game with people that are trying to have fun.

I have never used them and consider them unnecessary for most settings. I do sometimes run grim-dark and horror-themed games and those require a bit of explanation before we start. I try to describe the types of things players might encounter and also mention a few things that I won't include in a game. Then they decide if they want to play or not. I'm not sure if that is considered a safety tool.

Only once have I had a player who was troubled by the content after we began the campaign. He did the right thing and quit the game without asking the rest of us to water it down. I'd be happy to have him back in a different campaign with a lighter setting.

I have also never been a player in a game with anything like X-cards, nor have I encountered anything in any game that made me feel like I needed that.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley on June 01, 2022, 07:26:38 PM
SHARK:

I'm going to say this once. I grew up around veterans. I grew up around active military. One of my uncles served in Vietnam. And I was the first person ever to thank him for his service genuinely.

I made him cry like a baby in doing so. Where he was finally able to open up and tell about the things he saw and did in the war. To say he saw action and lived the horror of war is understating things. And he is the first person to stand up and say he was no hero.

Your macho Marine act doesn't work on me.

Greetings!

Salute for your family members that served, Darrin Kelley.

As for my "macho Marine act" not "working on you"? WTF?

No act about it, Darrin Kelley. I didn't just spend time around veterans. I am a veteran. So, you do you, Darrin Kelley. There's no need to approach me with some kind of chip on your shoulder, man.

Have a nice day.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK