We Scare Because We Care: Why Consent in Horror RPGs is so Important
A week from today Open Heart Games will be dipping our toes into our first non-D&D RPG on Roll20.net. (As of the writing of this article, there are still slots left for those who are interested!)
We will be running the legendary Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition module: Edge of Darkness. For many, Call of Cthulhu has obtained near mythic status amongst roleplaying fans as THE Horror RPG. In our first GM 1-on-1, Tyler Hudak and I tackled the topic of how to run better Horror RPGs and we discussed how to avoid making players uncomfortable while still scaring your players when running horror RPGs such as Call of Cthulhu and others.One of the topics I have wanted to tackle for a long time is that of the importance of player consent and player agency when running any RPG but it feels especially relevant when running horror RPGs as the genre has more chances of running into content that makes players uncomfortable.
I have GM-ed for a lot of folks from all walks of life and some of those players have experienced real trauma. As such, these topics [even if kept in the background] are potentially upsetting to these players and they do not want anything to do with those topics. I personally have a few topics that I am very sensitive about including torture, harm to animals, and harm to innocents such as children. I try to avoid them in my game whenever I can or brush over them quickly if they are a necessary element to the campaign I am running.
I think that it is very important to not only set up these boundaries ahead of time, but also to have safety tools in place if and when something comes up unexpectedly.
But what can we as Game Masters do to ensure that our players feel safe when we run our games? I think there are several ways to accomplish this and it all comes down to trust. You and your players must communicate together to make sure that everyone knows where the boundaries are and if one is crossed, apologies are made and the game moves on. I think that it is very important to not only set up these boundaries ahead of time, but also to have safety tools in place if and when something comes up unexpectedly.
First up, I recommend that you always try to cover these in session zero (without spoiling the story of course). Try to give your players an idea of what they are getting themselves into. Will there be violence? Gore? Insanity? Or other types of content that may make players uncomfortable? Session zero is also a great opportunity to let your players know what topics are off limits. I tell my Call of Cthulhu players that I run my Call of Cthulhu Games in the year Nineteen-Twenty-FUN. This is to say that I want a 1920s feel without the homophobia, sexism, or rampant racism. I am not interested in exploring these themes, hard stop. I want my characters to be able to be movie gangsters, hard-boiled detectives, Charleston-dancing flappers and to be able to buy dynamite at the general store. The only controversy I want to explore at the time is that booze is illegal. Is this historically accurate? No. Does it make the 1920s more friendly and fun? You bet.
It is entirely possible that a player may not even know that they find certain content uncomfortable until after they are in it.
I also recommend reviewing your options for safety tools. Mike from Sly Flourish has a great amalgamation of resources you can find here. After letting the players know what your game is about and the themes contained therein, I recommend meeting with each player individually so that you can discuss any content that may make them uncomfortable. A really good free resource from Monte Cook Games can be found here. This form goes over the importance of consent in gaming and also includes a checklist you can have your players fill out and return. Of all of the forms of this nature, I feel that it is the most concise and exhaustive; inn fact, many of the players I have had fill out this checklist have told me that there were topics on the form that they had not considered until they filled it out. It is a great resource and a great way to ensure that you are taking your players’ wants into consideration before running your game.
The previous methods are a great way to prepare for 90% of content that may make our players uncomfortable, but how do you deal with the other 10%? How do you handle the unknown? It is entirely possible that a player may not even know that they find certain content uncomfortable until after they are in it. I myself did not know I had such an issue with torture until one instance where mid-session I stood up and announced that I was no longer comfortable torturing the villain we had taken prisoner for information. How do you deal with issues like this and how do you give your players a way to communicate to you and the rest of the table that they find this content upsetting? I recommend using something like the X-Card. The X-Card is a card placed in the middle of the table that a player can tap to indicate, non-verbally, that they are no longer comfortable with where the story is going and they want to move on. Roll20.net even has an X-Card Safety Tool available for players to use during online games. I recommend setting this up during session zero as an additional safety tool for you and your players to use to feel safe during sessions. The thing about safety tools is that you may never need them, but having them in place is invaluable because when you do need them, you often really need them and you won't know until that moment is upon you.
To conclude, talk honestly with your players to establish boundaries. All good relationships are based on mutual trust including Players & Game Masters. Talk to your players about what safety tools you want to put in place, why you want to use them, and how they players can make use of them. Most of all, keep running great games and being awesome! And remember, when it comes to horror RPGs, we scare because we care!
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
