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As fun as playingDungeons & Dragonsis, sometimes, in a game where imagination is the limit, people can get carried away. Whether it’s a remarkably brutal description or a romance scene going a bit too far, tools exist within the TTRPG sphere to address these concerns.
This isn’t a new concept, and for a lot of tables, it’s necessary. Many other games have built-in safety tools within their handbooks; concepts that have been tested to work well within their games. As Dungeons & Dragons doesn’t have these, it’s down to the community to create and spread their own. Here are some widely used safety tools to potentially add to your game.
Use Lines And Veils
Lines and Veils isone of the most popular safety tools in the TTRPG industry, and for good reason. It works like this:
A’line’won’t ever come up in the game.Examples of this might be real-world violencesuch as transphobia, homophobia, or child death. A’veil’is an event that will come up, but off-screen.Veilsusually enter the scene when brothels or romance enter the game, for example, though they may also surround topics like torture or killing.
The players and Dungeon Master willget togetherandprovideoragree upon lines and veils.These decisions can bealteredand worked with,but they serve as a groundwork.
Cons
The cons to Lines and Veils are few, but some players have complained itimplies a lack of trust between friends, which can disturb some people. It’s also a less specific version of The Consent Form.
Pros
Lines and Veils can be anything, really,as long as the entire group agrees on what they’re okay withandwhat they aren’t.This leaves it open, and they can be as vast or as small as the party wants them to be.
It’s frequently done at the start of the campaignand has even been popularized (without a title) by Wizards of the Coast in books like Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, which is as close to approval from the company as you can get.
Pause A Minute
Pause A Minuteis the process of saying, outright, “Pause A Minute!” toask for instructions or to express discomfort out of character.Some players find it hard to tell when they should be in character or not, so employing the use of Pause A Minute allows everyone to drop out of character to answer questions or take a brief break.
This conceptdoesn’t tackle a wide variety of issues.Most casual games don’t have rules around staying permanently in character, so the advice is only useful to parties who take acting in character extraordinarily seriously.
It also puts a lot of the onus on the personwho’s uncomfortable in the first place to speak up, which can lead to even more pressure at the table, especially when not with friends.
This stops the game immediatelyand lets the whole group have a breather. It also gives players who take the game quite seriously an opportunity to take a break and let the whole table ask questions and answer questions out of character, as well as create strategies.
While communication should always be first and foremost at a table, somenew playersstill need to come around to it. Pause A Minute is good for encouraging them to be open.
Use X Cards
The X-Card is one of the mosthotly debated tools in the game.
X-Cards are designed to serve asa full stop, no questions asked.For instance, if you’re at a table and the DM (or a fellow player) starts to describe something making you considerably uncomfortable,you can touch the card or hold it up.Upon seeing it, your DM responds. They dropthe story, the description,orthe sectionand move along immediately.
The X-Card is popular, easy to understand, and simple to work with.
For some people, the simplicity of the X-Carddoesn’t allow a separate playerorthe DM to understand what the current concern with the situation is, potentially opening up the door for accidental re-offense.
After all, the very nature of the X-Card is to move on, so lingering can create more problems than help.The X-Card also doesn’t allow the user a lot of nuance.They may be okay with one or two things in the scene, but the X-Card gives them a ‘stop and go’ approach that may not allow for those social complexities.
There’s an alternate form of the X-Card calledStop, Pause, Play.The ‘stop’ card halts all proceedings. The ‘pause’ card puts everything on a temporary hold and lets you request a change about the situation. The ‘play’ card means the player is good to go.
If a character is arachnophobic, for instance, they may specifically have a fear of the spider’s eyes, but the DM may skip over the description of the spider entirely.
The X-Card is goodin conjunction with other safety tools as a ‘hard no.‘It’s thecleanestandclearestway to redirect, and itworks extraordinarily well at conventions.A lot of the complaints about X-Cards are very focused on the friend group dynamic, but in truth, many, many people play with a broader array of people, especially in more formal settings.
People don’t have the time or the emotional capacity to take every player’s triggers into account, especially strangers, so the X-Card is a great way to avoid situations that friendships may already know how to dodge.The X-Card also provides strict safety.
Once it’s touched, the scene is over.It can berelievingfor people to get thatcompassion rather than worry about fielding questionsabout their, say, arachnophobia.
Debrief
Debriefs aremoments away from the session, usually after the session has taken place.Players step back andcheck in on one another, playing games like Stars and Wishes or going over particular scenes as a group.
Dungeon Masters canuse this time to guide the conversationto topics that may have come up in-game,or can take a back seat and let the players take the reins.
One problem with Debrief may be thatsome players with rigid schedules may not be able to participate, thereby losing some of the use and catharsis that comes with looking back at the campaign. Another problem that may come up is thelack of direction, with people steering away from areas that need to be discussed due to the uncomfortable nature of the topic at hand.
For some campaigns, it’s cathartic to unpack everything that happened.Debrief allows the topics to be both light and heavy, which can ease players when discussing potentially upsetting topics.This safety tool also worksvery well in specifically combating the very real issue of character bleed, which can leave many players feeling discomfited.
The easygoing nature of Debrief is accessible and takes no prep, making it a good choice for Dungeon Masters to getfeedback.
Use Consent Forms
Consent Formsdetail various topics that are guaranteed to (or may) come upin a campaign.A Dungeon Master creates a formthat asks the players about their comfort levels regarding these topics and leaves a space for them to fill in questions, comments, concerns, or additions.
The Consent Form can also be moreopen-ended,with the Dungeon Master asking very broadly what themes the players don’t wish to engage with.
This method doesn’t account for decisions made during improv, so there’s no way to avoid certain situations until they happen.
Like most of these safety tools,it doesn’t account for human error well, and if a player forgets to put down a theme or doesn’t realize they forgot one,they lack any ability to end the sequence save for saying something, which can be daunting.
It also results in a ton of work for the Dungeon Master to create, as well as requires a lot of time for the player to fill out.
All of these toolspair best with open lines of communication, so keeping phones or note-passing at the table can be a good thing for some tables.
Consent forms, however, workreallywell for modules. In games where things are laid out pretty obviously or have a heavy modding community, the writers have done the work for the Dungeon Master in parsing out themes and plot points. This lets thembetter gauge appropriate content to include.
Consent forms also give the DMaccess to everything at all times throughout the session and before it, potentially acting as aresourcein aiding prep.They can be updated, like with lines and veils, and you canget as specific as you want.
Avoiding a traumatic eventfor your player isnot spoiling the story.If you know your player has issues with a theme that’s coming up in your game, let them know. You don’t have to say everything, but allowing them to decide whether to engage can make all the difference.
