playing safer games #

When you play fantasypunk, or any other game, remember to be kind to yourself and to the other players. Use these tools or any others you like to ensure a safer game for everyone.

Provided below is a small guide of safety tools that you can use in your games.

It’s important that any gaming group discusses what safety tools everyone feels most comfortable with and how to apply them to the game.

You may find even more related to safety tools here.

before play #

CATS, by #

This is a tool to make sure everyone has a say in what kind of adventures they want to play and to determine whether this game or adventure really is for you or if you should play something else, or join a different group. It has four prompts:

concept #

At a high level, what’s this game about? Are there conditions for success? What kind of adventure can we have with it? Are the rules lighter or deeper?

aim #

Discuss what kind of stories you would like to tell. What would we like to accomplish? How much social interaction, exploration, drama, or action would we like to have?

tone #

Find consensus about what kind of game everyone wants to have: Is the atmosphere more light-hearted, humorous, dramatic, intense? A combination of those?

subject matter #

What ideas do we want to explore during gameplay? Do they make anyone uncomfortable? Discuss what boundaries need to be set if any, and how to handle triggers, uncomfortable subjects and safety at the game.

during play #

journeying tools from wanderhome, by jay dragon #

These are a few prompts and questions players can use during their adventure.

You will also find these tools as part of the core moves of the game.

“Let’s do this instead.” #

When the chosen course of action is making someone uncomfortable, choose a different one.

“Do we want to?” #

When you’re not sure everyone is on board with the chosen course of action you chose, this is a way to express that you’d like everyone to buy in.

“Where to next?” #

If you feel the adventure came to a standstill or that you are stuck, you can discuss what to do to move the adventure forward.

“What do you think?” #

Sometimes we need a bit of extra time to think, focus or express ourselves. If someone seems quieter or seems to be speaking less, you can ask them what they think and check how they are feeling.

“Hold on.” #

Sometimes we need a break for some water and self-care, or because something happened that is making us uncomfortable and we want to tackle it, or because we want to look back at something from earlier.

“No.” #

You shouldn’t do something you don’t want to. If you feel you need to change something to fit your needs or to have agency over your character or the world around you.

Step away #

The base assumption is that the game is being productive and that issues and problems can be navigated safely through conversation. If that’s not the case you can leave at any moment.

after play #

stars and wishes, from The Gauntlet #

At the conclusion of a game session everyone who played, including the facilitator, offers a Star to another player, to a moment in the game, or to an element of the overall experience (you can give out more stars if you have time). You can award a star for - amazing roleplay, great character moments, amazing descriptions by the GM, the feeling you had at a certain moment, another player’s generosity, a mechanic of the game system that really sang etc. A star is a thing you loved about the game - if the game you played was amazing it is often hard to choose!

After stars have been given, everyone makes a Wish. Each player tells the table something they would like to see happen in a future session. You can make a wish about: something you want to see happen with your own character, an interaction you’d love to see between two characters, a mechanic you would like to see come into play that you haven’t seen yet, places you hope the story might go, etc.

debrief #

EARS, from The Gauntlet #

This is a structured way for everyone to talk about the game you just played, and to learn about how everyone is feeling, as well as giving yourself the opportunity to relax and come out of character. It has four prompts.

explain #

Discuss what the debrief will cover. (I suggest including: talking about everything that happened, discussing any highlights, addressing any challenging issues that came up in play, talking about how it made us feel, talking about anything we learned.) It’s possible this is going to be mostly enthusiastic reminiscing, but it could be that someone has had a bad time and wants to talk about it. So, encourage everyone to be ready to listen supportively.

agenda #

Give everyone the opportunity to name one thing they’d like to talk about, and briefly say why (no big deal if it turns out to be two things, and no big deal if some people don’t have anything they want to talk about.)

reflect #

Let each person talk through their one thing in their own words, without interruption. What moment(s) from the game are they speaking to? Was there anything specific they wanted to address in the discussion? Why did they want to focus on this?

support #

Everyone else is free to respond but in a supportive way. If you don’t agree with what they said, that’s fine, but try not to make it personal, or make them feel like their opinion isn’t valid. Even if you don’t agree, make sure you listen and try to think about what you can learn from this. Ask clarifying questions and provide your own thoughts and reflections.

Conclusion #

You may find these and safety tools more in this List of Safety Tools. Feel free to adapt these to your group and your game needs.