Limits and X-Cards
I want the Reach to be an inclusive experience; Aria of Stars is about high adventure, challenge, danger, and so much more, but it should also consider the things that we decide, together, make the world fun. I have some things I don't enjoy playing or DMing, and don't have any interest in dealing with - and so do you. To that end, we're going to identify our limits and boundaries, and implement a system for players to move past things that, for whatever reason, are really not making them enjoy the night... and to do so without judgement. These are our safety tools, and have been adapted from other GMs and some work by John Stavropolos and, separately, the folks over at Xtreme Dungeonmastering.
General game rating and possible themes:
The Reach isn't a happy, sunny sort of place. Overall, the game will maintain a US PG-13 to light R rating - probably lots of violence when necessary, potential dark and mysterious suspense-movie themes (I'm fond of mysteries, ghosts, and things like Dracula and Stir of Echoes are always an inspiration). Think 'haunted ruins and definitely bad guys who do bad things'.
The Safety Survey:
All players will be expected to fill out the Campaign Safety and Consent Survey well in advance of your first game. This will allow me to adjust lines and veils and talk over any concerns with you before the game begins.
Lines and Veils
There are two kinds of hard limits we identify in the game:
Lines are topics and situations that are not to be crossed. These won't come up in game - these are places, topics, and considerations where the game will absolutely not go.
Veils are things that, when they occur, we 'fade to black' or 'pan away from'. They happen, they're part of the story, but don't get any screentime - the proverbial 'adult scene in a PG-13 movie'..
(DM's note: Mine were the first added here - and I will add others as they are expressed. We will discuss lines and veils per player and reaffirm them per-game, and we'll keep this list up to date as we go forward. Additionally, you may establish personal lines and veils - that is, things you wish for yourself, but you do not wish to enforce game-wide. These will be noted on your character sheet and considered when Missions are planned.)
Current Lines (stories will not approach or use as an element):
- Detailed eye trauma
- Abuse or assult to children
- Harm (torture) to animals. (animals may be harmed in the normal course of play through combat)
- Possession of extended loss of control
- Themes of homophobia, transphobia, or racism
- Any inclusion of a real-world religion
- Sexual assault to PCs or NPCs.
Current Veils:
- Torture (of PCs or NPCs)
- Excessive gore
- Sex scenes (let's keep it PG-13 here)
A note:
*Metaphysical corruption in the form of Rot is a core conceit of the LITD game universe. However, players may choose to opt out of any expression of Rot beyond the system dice and magic effects. Put another way: Rot Corruption is an effect some monsters have. If you are uncomfortable with roleplaying or managing corruption, then it can remain nothing more than an effect statline for you.
X-Card:
Available in each session will be an 'x-card' - at any point, any game participant may hit the stop sign at the top of the chat window, or pop into voice with "Pause for a second", and we'll stop and renegotiate/alter the scene.
This is a no-judgement event; you don't have to explain it, it doesn't matter why. We edit out any event that is being X-carded, and if there's ever an issue, we can take a break and talk about it privately. This goes for me, too, and I'm likely to be the primary user of the card at the table! This ensures we make the game fun for everyone.
This is so important to me, I'm going to make a point of calling out the X-card in the VTT here:
At the top of the chat window, you'll see these two icons:
The one on the left is to pop up a warning that the scene is going somewhere uncomfortable - reminding people of lines and veils in play.
The red stop hand? That one puts the following in the window ... and we'll pause, take stock, and adjust the scene. Note that this can be used to halt the action for any purpose - for example:
"Pause for a second - are we sure we know what we're doing here?"
"Pause for a second - can those spiders be something else?"
"Pause for a second - OOC, are you okay with destroying this item if the vote goes that way? I want to check in."
"Pause for a second - I'm not comfortable beating this goblin for information."
It immediately pulls the game out of play, allows for a moment of conversation, and lets us work the scene into a better form for everyone at the table.