Unless I can hack together a system for a super-hero game
Supers isn't really a genre I'm interested in, but I heard excellent things about Marvel Heroic, which just recently went defunct due to the end of a licensing agreement. If you can snap up a copy, that might work out. Or you can wait for them to come up with a generic system based on Cortex Plus. Maybe Fate Core, if you want to adapt a generic system?
Unless I can hack together a system for a super-hero game
Supers isn't really a genre I'm interested in, but I heard excellent things about Marvel Heroic, which just recently went defunct due to the end of a licensing agreement. If you can snap up a copy, that might work out. Or you can wait for them to come up with a generic system based on Cortex Plus. Maybe Fate Core, if you want to adapt a generic system?
I've heard some good things about Marvel Heroic too, but I'm not really in mood for buying yet another rpg. Also, new campaigns will start next week so no really time to wait for something new to come out.
I also have the general idea what I want form the system, I just need to figure out the details.
Unless I can hack together a system for a super-hero game
Supers isn't really a genre I'm interested in, but I heard excellent things about Marvel Heroic, which just recently went defunct due to the end of a licensing agreement. If you can snap up a copy, that might work out. Or you can wait for them to come up with a generic system based on Cortex Plus. Maybe Fate Core, if you want to adapt a generic system?
Damn, didn't know it went defunct. Good thing I grabbed my copy at PAXE!
I haven't played it yet, but the system seems damn nifty.
I'm having trouble finding/remembering the name of an RPG where you draw your own wasteland map and you attempt to survive till winter. That's a very vague description and I'm not remembering the name...
I'm having trouble finding/remembering the name of an RPG where you draw your own wasteland map and you attempt to survive till winter. That's a very vague description and I'm not remembering the name...
I get the intent. I just don't think it would work. X-card is the kind of thing that would only ever be effective in social circles where these issues are common...
If you're in a friend group where people are bringing up issues that truly make others uncomfortable, either the person bringing these up is in the wrong, or your gaming group needs to get split.
Perhaps there is room in certain campaigns for something like rape or violence against oppressed groups, but it should probably stay out unless everyone agrees ahead of time. If you casually bring these things up, I don't think your players need an X-Card to make you stop: You probably need to learn better how to interact with people.
Every Games on Demand GM I've had for the past two years (including Stavropoulos) has used the x-card. I haven't seen anyone use it but I appreciate having it in a game full of strangers who I do not know anything about.
John Stavraopolous (Jenskot) is an awesome dude of NerdNYC and such. I've played in at least one or two games with him, and he is great. He also posts a crapton of stuff to G+.
But he just happens to be in that culture of social consciousness. It's one of his geekeries. Many people share that geekery. It's probably a greater geekery for him even than gaming. The people he games with are also of that culture. They prioritize that sort of thing over gaming. And he plays a crapton of games with random strangers at conventions, where you don't know anything about the actual people you are playing with. So he came up with that X-Card and it's his thing.
It does work. I've seen it work. It allows you to get through a game with complete strangers. You would think the primary use would be to do things like shutting down "triggers," and it does do that. But it's pretty rare it has to be used for that. It's primary use is for other things.
For example, you sit down to play some RPG. There's some really nerdy socially awkward people playing. One guy is really into, I don't know... polearms. He starts driving the game in a direction where he's arguing about the differences between different polearms and how someone used one in a way that is not appropriate, and it's getting way too into the medieval weaponry dorkiness. You just x-card that shit, and get the game back to being about the goblins you are using the polearms on, and their treasure you are going to yoink.
That being said, I also agree with Rym in that if someone needs an X-Card to maintain social safety, that is a person I probably can't play games with for very long. It's not that I need to talk about some gory nasty shit when I role play. I pretty much never play RPGs that are like that. It's simply that if someone's emotions are that fragile, it's almost definitely not going to be a good gaming experience when we are playing together. It's no different than how non-competitive board gamers do not have a good gaming experience playing against competitive gamers. It's simply incompatibilities that will emerge and cause trouble over time.
The X-Card simply exists to get you through that one session at a convention, and at that it succeeds.
I recall a person who would attend parties I also attended many years ago. This person would get EXTREMELY uncomfortable (to the point of running away and/or crying) if her very conservative and religious beliefs were challenged or debated in any fashion (regardless of if she were actually involved in the conversation). There were basic topics that couldn't be discussed in her presence.
I could never be friends with a person like that.
It's a selfish desire, but over time I've come to avoid playing deeply interactive games with strangers. I tire of having to re-explore every boundary with every game, teach every rule anew, tread on eggshells as I figure out what can and can not be broached.
In true stranger-driven games, I assume that the expectations are whatever was written in the description of the event. If a game is rated "mature" or whatever equivalent, I assume mostly no-holds-barred within some reasonable general confines. Otherwise, I assume a PG-13 idea.
But, I never self-censor beyond that. I say "fuck" fairly often, fairly casually, and am largely uninterested in the company of anyone who could or would be offended.
I'll happily avoid the sort of "obvious" trigger issues like rape, real disease, or extreme violence, as a natural matter of course. But, and I admit this is selfish, if something more esoteric or mundane is problematic for someone (e.g., references to food or air travel), they're probably too fragile of a person to play a meaningfully interactive role playing game with me.
The X-card can have utility, I think. One of my social circles in Albany has a "conversational safe word" (it's "grapefruit," FYI) that anyone can use when a topic of conversation is making them really uncomfortable in a way they don't want to explain.
It typically sees use for triggery issues like sexual assault and other such unsavory things.
While I think it's important for people to develop the confidence to vocalize and defend their opinions and discomforts, I think it's also important to realize that not everyone will be there at the same time. A lot of people need to work at it, and something like the X-card can be a tool that some people may use to help them improve their ability to vocalize.
By putting it in a slightly different context - rather than vocalize your opinion, you use a commonly-accepted trope - you may encourage people to begin speaking out.
However, it shouldn't become a replacement for that sort of thing. At some point, I could see it becoming a tool of avoidance rather than management.
Imagine a house. In the house every floor is covered with caltrops. All the people who live in the house have stone feet, and don't care. In fact, some like the caltrops because it feels good on their tough stony feet. Most people who visit them also have stony feet and caltrop floors in their own homes. Even the local coffee shop where they play games has a caltrop floor.
One day someone sees the ad for the gaming meetup, and wants to come play games. This person shows up, but they have balloon feet. If they go where the caltrop floor exists, it will really hurt them quite badly. Should all the stone feet people have to suffer without their beloved caltrop floor because of this rare balloon footed person? Should the balloon person be forced to wear special protective shoes that are quite uncomfortable? Should they be excluded from gaming because of their foot-related differences?
This is the fundamental question at the core of the social justice/consciousness discussions that have dominated many communities on the Internet. Many people who are in that culture always stand on the side of the balloon footed person. Remove all caltrops from everywhere. Anything that can hurt anyone should be removed to make a safe environment for everyone. Other people always blame the victim. You're the one with balloon feet. It's your responsibility to do something about it.
And this argument is one that can not possibly end ever. Why? Because the real answer is that both groups are right. Depending on the situation a complex evaluation is required to determine which is right, and to what extend they are right. It is largely impossible to come to any sort of group consensus even in just one very specific circumstance. That even assumes all the facts surrounding the circumstance are known and agreed upon.
People who are more fragile will always end up being hurt at some point. Why? Because the world has such things in it. There is no way to avoid them no matter what. Thus, there will always be outrage from them, and those sympathetic to their suffering demanding that the world be made safer.
Likewise even if everyone was nice, there will always be people who by using their right to free expression will cause such harms. Empathetic or apologetic to the harmed party they may be, some will rightfully feel they have done nothing wrong. They will fight against that makes them a villain when they are simply being themselves. Mr. Peanut will be quite upset if you make him out to be a villain simply because there is at least one person who exists who has a Peanut allergy. He's just selling delicious peanuts. Why should we Harrison Bergeron the whole world and make all people tread so lightly because some are so fragile?
There is no solution. The world will always be spiky. There will always be fragile people who can't deal with it. We must just individually navigate each circumstance as best we can and move on. The best strategy is to simply avoid such circumstances as much as possible by choosing who you interact with very wisely.
I would just amend one thing slightly: there is no one solution. Individual groups will "solve" this issue in their own way. Sometimes, a thing winds up being applicable to many different groups, and the idea spreads.
X-Cards are yet another way cis-sober people get away with their sober privilege at the game table. Those of us who are trans sober often have to deal with such inequities.
I pointed Adam at the X-Card doc, actually. He has probably the perfect use case for this sort of thing.
But, to extend Scott's metaphor. I will avoid throwing caltrops around as much as possible, especially outside of my rock home. I'm not the biggest caltrop fan, and I recognize that they hurt non-rockfeet. But I'll continue to eat peanuts. Anyone who can't step on peanut shells should avoid walking in my path.
Some people like really intense role-playing stuff. They'll get into some deep shit sometimes. Violence, sex, addiction, birth, death. Personally I embrace exploring these things at a table with some mechanics to move the story along. Serious stuff being taken seriously is okay by me. Taking serious stuff lightly is okay by me as well.
There are some veterans in one group I play with and there are moments where they get a little edgy when it comes to warfare type scenes. Maybe something like an X card would be right for that kind of situation.
And in passing, somebody might whisper like, "Hey dude, X's dad died of an overdose," and word gets around not to bring that stuff up at the table.
In Burning Wheel I made a scenario with 2LP characters (young, like between 12-18 years old) and I was worried that some folks might have a difficult time if the characters were physically harmed in the fiction.
We had a recent session where a friend of mine who is an actual EMT had to play a character that had to resuscitate someone. He sees some terrible stuff, and honestly I was worried that he might lose it. He did fine and played his scene out, but sometimes people just want to unwind and have a regular old game night and nobody at our table would have been upset if he was like, "Hey guys, I don't know if I can handle this. Just not right now."
On the other hand, I've had some analogs of personal stuff come up in role playing games and I have to admit I embrace those moments as times when I can explore those parts of myself and with other people and it gives me a new perspective every time. Sometimes I feel it gives me better perspective than if I were to, say, read a book or watch a movie with the same or similar themes.
Veterans, emergency responders, former addicts, etc... it's people with certain histories that I think the X card is truly meant to address. Even if you never use it, it at least gives them a way to tap out if things get crispy. It's better than them leaving the table or exploding.
Does anyone here have experience with Everyone Is John? We played it at my last RPG session, because it was the only silly game that the most seasoned GM knew, and it was a blast.
An interesting strategy, given what Wizards of the Coast is up against.
Basic D&D is a PDF that covers the core of the game. It’s the equivalent of the old D&D Rules Cyclopedia, though it doesn’t have quite the same scope (for example, it won’t go into detail on a setting). It runs from levels 1 to 20 and covers the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard, presenting what we view as the essential subclass for each. It also provides the dwarf, elf, halfling, and human as race options.
But the best part? Basic D&D is a free PDF. Anyone can download it from our website. We want to put D&D in as many hands as possible, and a free, digital file is the best way to do that.
My guess is that D&D4th was not all that profitable. This might be the last chance for it. Even though WotC wants to keep it alive, Hasbro will not give it too many more chances.
I actually have high hopes for the Basic D&D part. It has to cut out all the superfluous things and in discriminating whether something is essential or not they distill the game's overall concept.
Let's hope they can strike the balance between leaving the audience wanting more and leaving the audience wanting.
The people making the official D&D just need to stop pretending there is any sort of role playing going on. Just admit and embrace the fact that it's a game all about going into dungeons and fuckin' shit up. That's what most people actually want anyway.
Comments
I also have the general idea what I want form the system, I just need to figure out the details.
I haven't played it yet, but the system seems damn nifty.
It feels pretty damn close to AD&D/2nd Ed D&D. It plays so much quicker and smoother than 4th, and lacks a lot of the jank-assery of 3/3.5.
Perhaps there is room in certain campaigns for something like rape or violence against oppressed groups, but it should probably stay out unless everyone agrees ahead of time. If you casually bring these things up, I don't think your players need an X-Card to make you stop: You probably need to learn better how to interact with people.
But he just happens to be in that culture of social consciousness. It's one of his geekeries. Many people share that geekery. It's probably a greater geekery for him even than gaming. The people he games with are also of that culture. They prioritize that sort of thing over gaming. And he plays a crapton of games with random strangers at conventions, where you don't know anything about the actual people you are playing with. So he came up with that X-Card and it's his thing.
It does work. I've seen it work. It allows you to get through a game with complete strangers. You would think the primary use would be to do things like shutting down "triggers," and it does do that. But it's pretty rare it has to be used for that. It's primary use is for other things.
For example, you sit down to play some RPG. There's some really nerdy socially awkward people playing. One guy is really into, I don't know... polearms. He starts driving the game in a direction where he's arguing about the differences between different polearms and how someone used one in a way that is not appropriate, and it's getting way too into the medieval weaponry dorkiness. You just x-card that shit, and get the game back to being about the goblins you are using the polearms on, and their treasure you are going to yoink.
That being said, I also agree with Rym in that if someone needs an X-Card to maintain social safety, that is a person I probably can't play games with for very long. It's not that I need to talk about some gory nasty shit when I role play. I pretty much never play RPGs that are like that. It's simply that if someone's emotions are that fragile, it's almost definitely not going to be a good gaming experience when we are playing together. It's no different than how non-competitive board gamers do not have a good gaming experience playing against competitive gamers. It's simply incompatibilities that will emerge and cause trouble over time.
The X-Card simply exists to get you through that one session at a convention, and at that it succeeds.
I could never be friends with a person like that.
It's a selfish desire, but over time I've come to avoid playing deeply interactive games with strangers. I tire of having to re-explore every boundary with every game, teach every rule anew, tread on eggshells as I figure out what can and can not be broached.
In true stranger-driven games, I assume that the expectations are whatever was written in the description of the event. If a game is rated "mature" or whatever equivalent, I assume mostly no-holds-barred within some reasonable general confines. Otherwise, I assume a PG-13 idea.
But, I never self-censor beyond that. I say "fuck" fairly often, fairly casually, and am largely uninterested in the company of anyone who could or would be offended.
I'll happily avoid the sort of "obvious" trigger issues like rape, real disease, or extreme violence, as a natural matter of course. But, and I admit this is selfish, if something more esoteric or mundane is problematic for someone (e.g., references to food or air travel), they're probably too fragile of a person to play a meaningfully interactive role playing game with me.
Not openly, mind you. That's too obvious. But how about subtly. Once or twice, X something entirely mundane and vague. Throw everyone for a loop.
"OK. You find the puppies. They're safe in a carry crate and have food in a-"
X card
"OK... The puppies-"
X-card
"The kittens..."
...
"... are safe in a-"
X-card
It typically sees use for triggery issues like sexual assault and other such unsavory things.
While I think it's important for people to develop the confidence to vocalize and defend their opinions and discomforts, I think it's also important to realize that not everyone will be there at the same time. A lot of people need to work at it, and something like the X-card can be a tool that some people may use to help them improve their ability to vocalize.
By putting it in a slightly different context - rather than vocalize your opinion, you use a commonly-accepted trope - you may encourage people to begin speaking out.
However, it shouldn't become a replacement for that sort of thing. At some point, I could see it becoming a tool of avoidance rather than management.
Like any tool, it's a matter of how it's used.
One day someone sees the ad for the gaming meetup, and wants to come play games. This person shows up, but they have balloon feet. If they go where the caltrop floor exists, it will really hurt them quite badly. Should all the stone feet people have to suffer without their beloved caltrop floor because of this rare balloon footed person? Should the balloon person be forced to wear special protective shoes that are quite uncomfortable? Should they be excluded from gaming because of their foot-related differences?
This is the fundamental question at the core of the social justice/consciousness discussions that have dominated many communities on the Internet. Many people who are in that culture always stand on the side of the balloon footed person. Remove all caltrops from everywhere. Anything that can hurt anyone should be removed to make a safe environment for everyone. Other people always blame the victim. You're the one with balloon feet. It's your responsibility to do something about it.
And this argument is one that can not possibly end ever. Why? Because the real answer is that both groups are right. Depending on the situation a complex evaluation is required to determine which is right, and to what extend they are right. It is largely impossible to come to any sort of group consensus even in just one very specific circumstance. That even assumes all the facts surrounding the circumstance are known and agreed upon.
People who are more fragile will always end up being hurt at some point. Why? Because the world has such things in it. There is no way to avoid them no matter what. Thus, there will always be outrage from them, and those sympathetic to their suffering demanding that the world be made safer.
Likewise even if everyone was nice, there will always be people who by using their right to free expression will cause such harms. Empathetic or apologetic to the harmed party they may be, some will rightfully feel they have done nothing wrong. They will fight against that makes them a villain when they are simply being themselves. Mr. Peanut will be quite upset if you make him out to be a villain simply because there is at least one person who exists who has a Peanut allergy. He's just selling delicious peanuts. Why should we Harrison Bergeron the whole world and make all people tread so lightly because some are so fragile?
There is no solution. The world will always be spiky. There will always be fragile people who can't deal with it. We must just individually navigate each circumstance as best we can and move on. The best strategy is to simply avoid such circumstances as much as possible by choosing who you interact with very wisely.
But, to extend Scott's metaphor. I will avoid throwing caltrops around as much as possible, especially outside of my rock home. I'm not the biggest caltrop fan, and I recognize that they hurt non-rockfeet. But I'll continue to eat peanuts. Anyone who can't step on peanut shells should avoid walking in my path.
Some people like really intense role-playing stuff. They'll get into some deep shit sometimes. Violence, sex, addiction, birth, death. Personally I embrace exploring these things at a table with some mechanics to move the story along. Serious stuff being taken seriously is okay by me. Taking serious stuff lightly is okay by me as well.
There are some veterans in one group I play with and there are moments where they get a little edgy when it comes to warfare type scenes. Maybe something like an X card would be right for that kind of situation.
And in passing, somebody might whisper like, "Hey dude, X's dad died of an overdose," and word gets around not to bring that stuff up at the table.
In Burning Wheel I made a scenario with 2LP characters (young, like between 12-18 years old) and I was worried that some folks might have a difficult time if the characters were physically harmed in the fiction.
We had a recent session where a friend of mine who is an actual EMT had to play a character that had to resuscitate someone. He sees some terrible stuff, and honestly I was worried that he might lose it. He did fine and played his scene out, but sometimes people just want to unwind and have a regular old game night and nobody at our table would have been upset if he was like, "Hey guys, I don't know if I can handle this. Just not right now."
On the other hand, I've had some analogs of personal stuff come up in role playing games and I have to admit I embrace those moments as times when I can explore those parts of myself and with other people and it gives me a new perspective every time. Sometimes I feel it gives me better perspective than if I were to, say, read a book or watch a movie with the same or similar themes.
Veterans, emergency responders, former addicts, etc... it's people with certain histories that I think the X card is truly meant to address. Even if you never use it, it at least gives them a way to tap out if things get crispy. It's better than them leaving the table or exploding.
I hope they get around to selling 5e pdfs. I don't really want the physical books.
Let's hope they can strike the balance between leaving the audience wanting more and leaving the audience wanting.