My Table Rules

I am extremely consent focused both as a game master and a player. I put both the safety and fun of players above any other game rules or consequences of any die roll. To help enable this I set up several safety tools at the table.

Disclaimer: I didn’t invent any of this, I only have my own take on each thing. I stand on the shoulders of giants. For more information on safety tools check out the free TTRPG Safety Toolkit Resource Site.

The X-Card

The X-Card is a callout that allows any player to remove any content from the game on the fly without having to explain or justify themselves. If they want something removed, they tap the card or signal for an X-Card and we move on.

Script Change

For details check out the official resource. But as a summary it has a series of “cards” that anybody can call out to change what is happening? This is similar to the X-Card but makes it clear that everybody at the table is helping write the story and they can change the narrative by pausing for a break, skipping things, slowing it down to savor a really great moment, or take a do-over.

The cards are as follows

  • Pause
  • Fast-Forward
  • Rewind
  • Instant Replay
  • Frame-By-Frame
  • Slow Motion

Script change also brings in the concept of the “Rating System” based on the MPA film rating as a guideline.

My upper limit for most games is Hard R. If the second Matrix movie can have a sex scene, so can we, but let’s cut to the rave during it.

Lines and Veils

Lines and Veils are a safety tool I use in all games that I participate in.

  • A line is something that doesn’t exist in the game world at all. Nobody every thought of it, it never came up, it isn’t even a concept.
  • A veil is something that can still exist in the world, but not in the campaign that we are playing in. It is something that can happen, behind the veil or in the past, but not actively.
  • We usually add the Excited For at the end of this to highlight what people are at the table for, not just what they are not for.

Below are my personal lines and veils, these are the baseline for any game I am in. When I GM I send out an anonymous google form for people to fill out in advance when applicable.

My Lines

  • Child & Animal Abuse
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Suicide/Intrusive Thoughts

My Veils

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Ableism
  • Explicit Sex
  • Plague & Disease
  • Drug Abuse/Control with Addictive Substances

I maintain hard out-of-game limits for any player-versus-player conflict; No character can adversely affect another character without their player’s consent.

This includes but is not limited to;

  • You cannot charm or dominate your fellow companion if their character doesn’t agree.
  • You cannot roll persuasion or deception checks against another character expecting the character to behave a certain way when it fails unless the other player is good with it.
  • You cannot fireball your fighter friend no matter how many cultists of Talos they’re surrounded by unless they say “do it”.
  • You cannot steal another character’s stuff unless that character’s player is good with it.
  • You cannot attack another character unless both players are into it.

No Lines, Veils, or Excited For supersedes this rule.