The new Powder Mage setting for Savage Worlds (which is terrific) has a extensive section on the importance of using the X-Card, which struck me as weird at the time because it's 100% a Military Fantasy game that would probably only be played by people who read the books and are therefore into Military Fantasy, so unless you're some weirdo GM I don't know why it's so vital in this situation.

Can GM's use the "x-card" if they're creeped out by a player?

Robin Laws new Yellow King  RPG, which is terrific and a must buy if you're at all into Cthulhu, Campaign Play, and Gumeshoe, spends a lot of time on the X-Card and is very prescriptive (e.g., if "your group" decides that they don't need it, then if you get a new player the "group" has to decide again not to use it.

Am I the only one who has considered that X-cards are a godsend to a disruptive player?

"I don't like that my character didn't get the best bit of treasure or has been killed, so I throw down an X-card!"

Quote from: PencilBoy99;1061308Can GM's use the "x-card" if they're creeped out by a player?

Robin Laws new Yellow King  RPG, which is terrific and a must buy if you're at all into Cthulhu, Campaign Play, and Gumeshoe, spends a lot of time on the X-Card and is very prescriptive (e.g., if "your group" decides that they don't need it, then if you get a new player the "group" has to decide again not to use it.

I think that's a really interesting example, and the fact that Robin Laws is an advocate certainly makes me give it more credence. I don't own Yellow King - I need to rectify that asap - but I'm guessing it is all up and about inflicting teh Carcosan mindfucks. It's a horror genre, so I think people need to have some tolerance for creepy, but the X-card could be a great tool to waive a player or a GM off before a particular element impinged on someone's enjoyment too much.

(As for Powder Mage, no idea, other than maybe creators that are sold on the concept want to promote it.)

Quote from: PencilBoy99;1061308Can GM's use the "x-card" if they're creeped out by a player?

Yes.  Most iterations of X-card rules I've seen do explicitly state that the GM can use it, too.  Also, in the document I linked earlier, the "inventor" of the X-card states that he's used it as a GM several times himself.

Can you use an X-card to object to the use of an X-card?

Quote from: HappyDaze;1061338Can you use an X-card to object to the use of an X-card?

That would be X-ceptional....

Quote from: jeff37923;1061348That would be X-ceptional....

I'm sad because this made me laugh.

Quote from: HappyDaze;1061338Can you use an X-card to object to the use of an X-card?

Hard to say because as per RAW your not supposed to voice let alone tell anyone about the objection to the X-card.

Quote from: Xuc Xac;1061279I just read the X-card rules to see what it actually says. It's slightly ambiguous. "You don't have to explain why" can be interpreted two ways.

You use the x-card to indicate that something bothers you.
Option 1: You don't have to explain what made you uncomfortable. "What's wrong?" "I don't have to say!"
Option 2: You don't have to explain why the thing you carded makes you uncomfortable. "What's wrong?" "I don't like the way that NPC keeps putting his hands on my shoulders." "What's so bad about that? He's just trying to be friendly." "I don't want to talk about it."

Option 2 makes more sense. Option 1 is fucking moronic and defeats the whole point of using the card in the first place. Interpreting it that way is just deliberately obtuse because you want it to be a stupid thing from stupid swine who do stupidly swinish things. In order for the X-card to make any sense, you have to explain what makes you uncomfortable, but you don't have to explain why it makes you uncomfortable.

I agree that it is unclear. From the document, the assumption seems to be that when the X-card is touched, the group will generally understand what the problem is just from the player's reaction and the timing of the touch, without needing a verbal explanation. Needing an explanation about what the problem is a special case considered separate, with its own answer. From the X-card Google document,

QuoteWhat's most important about the X-Card?

The X-Card talk is more important than the X-Card itself.
Some play RPGs because, "RPGs are like video games except you can do anything limited by your imagination."
 But that's not true, RPGs are a group activity, not a solo one. If the group isn't into randomly killing everything and anything, including murdering prostitutes, ala a more open version of Grand Theft Auto... it is going to be a socially dysfunctional experience.
My friend Martha, who is a psychiatrist, said, "RPGs are limited by the tolerance of the people you play with."
The X-Card talk is a good way to communicate... this is not a solo activity. The people here matter more than the game we are playing. Help us make this fun for everyone.

What's second most important about the X-Card?
When you X-Card something, no explanation is needed.

QuoteWhat if you don't know what was X-Carded?
Call for a break and have the person running the game or a close friend speak privately with the person who used the X-Card. In general, we tell people that no explanations are needed, but if they want to share, they are welcome to. It's their choice.

Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SB0jsx34bWHZWbnNIVVuMjhDkrdFGo1_hSC2BWPlI3A/mobilebasic

The times when I've played with an X-card, it's never been touched - so I don't have experience in any of these. But I've had cases where a player was upset over something in the game, and it generally hasn't been some bizarre association that no one can understand or predict, and that they refused to talk about.

Well, it depends on whether it is being played as an Interrupt with old school rules, such as during the time of Mana Burn, or whether using new school timing mechanics where everything goes on The Stack for resolution... :eek: Ohhh! You guys are not talking about Magic the Gathering.

Have Motorskills and jhkim considered that maybe the X-card has never been used when they have seen it present in actual play is because the gamers at that table each decided that it was a flawed tool and just talked to the people sitting at the table with them?

Quote from: jeff37923;1061391Have Motorskills and jhkim considered that maybe the X-card has never been used when they have seen it present in actual play is because the gamers at that table each decided that it was a flawed tool and just talked to the people sitting at the table with them?

Or that the fact that it's never used indicates that there isn't really any problem to be solved with it, and that its sole purpose is actually nothing more than virtual signaling?

Quote from: Zalman;1061394Or that the fact that it's never used indicates that there isn't really any problem to be solved with it, and that its sole purpose is actually nothing more than virtual signaling?

Pretty sure these days that Robin D Laws doesn't need to include anything in his books other than his name on the cover to be successful, so that's a rather weak counter, though granted I have not yet read Yellow King, so I can't comment on his individual take on it.

As for the "virtue signalling", well we discussed my sig earlier, maybe you missed it.

Quote from: Zalman;1061394Or that the fact that it's never used indicates that there isn't really any problem to be solved with it, and that its sole purpose is actually nothing more than virtual signaling?

I've never crashed my car, so what's the point of having seat belts? They're a marketing gimmick installed by car manufacturers who want to get virtue signaling points for talking about how they care about their customers' safety.

Quote from: jeff37923;1061391Have Motorskills and jhkim considered that maybe the X-card has never been used when they have seen it present in actual play is because the gamers at that table each decided that it was a flawed tool and just talked to the people sitting at the table with them?

I've played tons of game back before the X-card was a thing, and my experience was that most people aren't being made uncomfortable by game content. For the most part, they have been fine with all the in-game material that is happening. It does happen that there are uncomfortable material, but it's rare enough that even in convention games it would be easy to go a dozen games without anyone feeling the urge to edit material out.

As far as I can tell, that is still true in the X-card games. If someone signs up for a Call of Cthulhu game, they're comfortable with most Cthulhu-esque horror stuff and usually aren't feeling any need to X-card anything out.

I'm not saying there can't be problems with particular groups and players - I'm just saying I don't think it's a train wreck that is a sure sign for a game full of problems.