Safety Tools
Safety tools are crucial to a welcoming game. Add these to your game now.
I open every session with a brief reminder of safety tools. I use the X-Card and I have an Open Door Policy.
The X-Card.
The X-Card is a physical piece of paper at the table with an X drawn on it. It's a safety tool for changing the content of the game. If the story inadvertently hits topic that is sensitive for a player, they can touch the X-Card and the players and GM will change the story to avoid that topic.
Open Door Policy:
You can leave the game at any time for whatever need you have — biological, mental, life responsibilities— without need for explanation or justification. Just let us know if you will be leaving for the rest of the session. We’re grateful for the gift of your time with us, and it should never be viewed as an obligation.
These two simple tools don't even begin to capture the conversation around Roleplay Games and consent. Cooperative gaming is itself an act requiring enthusiastic consent, which never should be taken for granted.
Below are my expanded rules and further sources:
Content, Safety, Boundaries and Consent
When Roleplaying, content boundaries and consent are a group responsibility. We will be using the X-Card system, both to keep things within our PG-rating, and keep the game comfortable and fun for everyone.
In addition, if a planned storyline will brush against a sensitive topic, content warnings will be given before the session.
When playing, please adhere to these rules of consent and consensus:
Ask individual consent. If your planned action involves another player, drop the roleplay and get that consent before proceeding:“Hey Mike, your character can’t run fast right now and I’m strong. Can I pick you up and carry you?”
Gain player consensus.
If your planned action would remove agency from the rest of the party, get the table to agree to it first:“My character, Bravardo, is impatient with all this hiding from the goblins. He stands up and shouts ‘here we are, come get us!’ ... Sorry, I mean, if we all agree, he can.”
“A Table for All”
My games are a place where all races, ethnicities, genders, faiths, sexualities, and identities are welcome and celebrated. I want you to feel comfortable, safe and appreciated at our table.
I work to cultivate an above-the-table conversation about comfort, limit-setting and respect, making sure the fiction is what we opt-in for, not what just happens to us.
