As fun as playing 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons is, 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 existไ within the TTRPG sphere to address these concerns.

This isn't a new concept, and f💮or 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 is one 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 violence such as transphobia, homophobia, or child death. A 'veil' is an event that will come up, but off-screen. Veils usually enter the scene when brothels or romance enter the game, for example, though they may also surrꦯound topics like torture or killing.

The players and Dungeon Master will get together and provide or agree upon lines and veils. These decisions can be altered and worked with, but they serve as a groundwork.

Cons

The cons to Lines and Veils are few, but some players have complained it implies a lack of trust between friends, which can disturb some people. It's a✱lso 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 with and what they aren't. This leaves it open, and they c🔯an be as vast or as small as the party wants th🃏em to be.

It's frequently done at the start of the campaign and has even been popularized (without a title) by Wizards of the Coast in books like Vaℱn Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, which is a൲s close to approval from the company as you can get.

Pause A Minute

Pause A Minute is the process of saying, outright, "Pause A Minute!" to ask 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 emplo𒅌🌌ying the use of Pause A Minute allows everyone to drop out of character to answer questions or take a brief break.

Cons

This concept doesn't tackle a wide variety of issues. Most 💜casual games don't have rules around stayin𝔍g 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 person who's uncomfortable in the first place to speak up, which can lead to even more pressure at the table,💖 especially when not with friends.

Pros

This stops the game immediately and 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 c🌄reate strategies.

While communication should always be first and foremost at a table, some new players still need t🦄o come around to it. Pause A Minute is good for encouraging them to be opeཧn.

Use X Cards

The X-Card is one of the most hotly debated tools in the game.

X-Cards are designed to serve as a 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 drop the story, the description, or the section and move along immediately.

The X-Caꦛrd is popular, easy to𒁃 understand, and simple to work with.

Cons

For some people, the simplicity of the X-Card doesn't allow a separate player or the DM to understand what the current concern with the situation is,🙈 potentially opening up the door for accidental re-of🌳fense.

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 okayඣ with one or two things in the scene, but the X-Card gives them a 'stop and go' approach that may not aღllow for those social complexities.

There's an alternate form of the X-Card called Stop, 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 i🎃s arachnophobic, for instance, they may specifically have a fear of the spider's eyes, but the DM may skip over the descript💝ion of the spider entirely.

Pros

The X-Card is good in conjunction with other safety tools as a 'hard no.' It's the cleanest and clearest way to redirect, and it works extraordinarily well at conventions. A lot of the complaints about X-Cards are very focused on the friend group dynamic, but in truth, many, ma๊ny people play with a broader array of people, especially in more formal sett꧟ings.

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 be relieving for people to get that compassion rather than worry about fielding questions about their, say, arachnophobia.

Debrief

Debriefs are moments away from the session, usually after the session has taken place. Players step back and check in on one another, playing games like Stars and Wishes or going over particular scenes as a group.

Dungeon Masters can use this time to guide the conversation to topics that may have come up in-game, or can take a back seat and let the players take the reins.

Cons

One problem with Debrief may be that some 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 the lack of direction, with people steering away from areas that need ✱💧to be discussed due to the uncomfortable nature of the topic at hand.

Pros

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 works very well in specifically combating the very real issue of character bleed, which can l🌞eave many playerꦗs feeling discomfited.

The easygoing nature of Debrief is accessible and takes no prep, making it a good choice for Dungeon Masters to get 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:feedback.

Use Consent Forms

Consent Forms detail various topics that are guaranteed to (or may) come up in a campaign. A Dungeon Master creates a form that 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 more open-ended, with the Dungeon Master asking very broadly what them🌠es the players don't wish to enꦡgage with.

Cons

This method doesn't account for decisions made during improv, so there's no way to avoidꦿ 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 ౠtime for the player to fill out.

All of these tools pair best with open lines of communication, so keeping phones or note-pass🤪ing at the table can be a good thing for some tables.

Pros

Consent forms, however, work really well 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 them better gauge appropriate content to include.

Consent forms also give the DM access to everything at all times throughout the session and before it, potentially acting as a resource in aiding prep. They can be updated, like with lines and veils, and you can get as specific as you want.

Avoiding a traumatic event for your player is not spoiling the story. If you know your player has issues with a theme t꧋hat's coming up in your game, let them k꧂now. You don't have to say everything, but allowing them to decide whether to engage can make all the difference.