And yes I’m still doing this hashtag.
So shut up, stop complaining and go and do something a lot more entertaining like watching grass grow.
Oh if that’s too much excitement for you here is today’s post.
I was looking at some of my newer RPG books such as the Alien RPG, Cyberpunk Red, Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 A.D. and they show that the older D&D DMG isn’t the only core rulebook that doesn’t include advice about running a session zero and in particular using safety tools (although the Alien core rulebook does give some questions to ask the players about their party and characters at a “session zero”). Which is kinda disappointing.
It wasn’t until Tasha’s came out that we got a couple of pages from WotC about running a session zero, social contracts and soft/hard limits. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft added to this with talking about content with the players. Which it should do as it is a book about running horror campaigns in D&D.
I really like how Alice is Missing handles providing information to players before and at the start of the session. An example is below.
“Just a heads up, this game inherently deals with a missing teenage girl in a small town, and all of the topics that can arise when that happens. Our characters will be the people closest to her attempting to unravel the mystery behind her disappearance. Because of this, themes like tense family dynamics, grief, death, violence, jealousy, and helplessness can and often do come up during the game.
If this sounds like something you might be sensitive to or triggered
by, please don’t hesitate to let me know—even if this is something you only realize during play —your safety and well-being are always more important than the game.” Alice is Missing manual
It doubles down on this warning and discusses the use of X cards as part of the games setup. Alice is Missing goes even further on all the above by telling players to have a debrief after finishing the adventure to ensure players are ok after dealing with such difficult subjects.
Personally I’d like publishers to follow the Alice is Missing example and have CONTENT & TRIGGER WARNINGS at the start of each published adventure for DM/GMs to reference. This I feel would be a great help in that session zero for DM/GMs to discuss with the players. But also in aiding the selection of which adventure to play.
Sly Flourish has a great two pages (“Session Zero Checklist” and “RPG Safety Tools”) in his Uncovered Secrets document on his Patreon, that are great references to use as a starting off point.
The safety tool that a group uses should be something that everyone agrees on during the session zero as part of the whole discussion about the content and triggers. Everyone should be comfortable with what’s being put in place, and know how to use it during a session.
I think it’s great that these safety tools are being discussed and used more. But no matter how good these tools are they don’t fully protect you from a DM/GM who is just a massive dick (as one or two high profile examples over recent years have shown). To stop that one you need experience to spot the warning signs (which hindsight is great at) and the confidence to walk away from the table (much harder to do) when they deliberately do things they know will trigger players.
However the majority of DM/GMs are not massive dicks and want everyone to feel welcome, included, and have fun. There will be odd occasions when they stumble onto something that causes a player to feel uncomfortable, but that’s not deliberate, and the reason the safety tools are there. They take that final bit of the Alice is Missing quote above “…even if this is something you only realize during play —your safety and well-being are always more important than the game.” very seriously.
Be safe and have fun.
