Hi nice people of The Gauntlet!

Hi nice people of The Gauntlet!

Hi nice people of The Gauntlet!

I have a couple of questions about the X-Card, and since this is the community that introduced me to it and also the one that’s most active in trying to keep a safe environment of all the communities I know, I thought I should ask here.

What would be the best way to implement the X-Card in an audio-only virtual tabletop game?

I’ll be running my first online game next week, which will also be the first time I run Torchbearer and the first time that group plays together.

I’ve been trying to implement the X-Card in all my games, but nobody ever uses it and in the only instance in which I should have used it (when I was the GM and the acts of some players deeply bothered me), I forgot about it completely. Usually people I play with have never even heard of the X-Card and though nobody has ever been against it so far, it seems to me that the concept is rather alien to them and they don’t understand exactly how to use it. They seem to understand that this helps create a safe environment, but I don’t think I’m doing a good job of making them understand exactly when to use it. I think I lead people to think of it as a last resort for extreme and rare cases, when I actually wanted them to see it as something a lot more normal and frequent, I guess. It’s actually hard to put it to good use when I have never seen it used myself.

I remember in one episode of the podcast, someone said that they always use the X-Card at the beginning of every session, for something almost at random I guess, just to show their players how it’s used and that it’s ok to use it. How can I do that? What should I say and do to make my players more safe and secure in my games?

I think the people that I’ll be gaming with are nice people and that everything is going to be ok, but I want to ensure everyone feels safe and comfortable.

Thanks a lot!

PS: This is the first time I post here (I think), so please tell me if I’m breaking some social convention here or doing something wrong or whatever. =]

42 thoughts on “Hi nice people of The Gauntlet!”

  5. I think I remember the One Shot or some other podcast having someone saying, “can we X that?”

    Recently I’ve been loving using Script Change as things like “Pause” can be used for a refreshment break, a need to make a phone call or anything. It normalises the imaginary remote in case anyone needs to “Rewind” or “Fast-Forward”.

  6. I think I remember the One Shot or some other podcast having someone saying, “can we X that?”

    Recently I’ve been loving using Script Change as things like “Pause” can be used for a refreshment break, a need to make a phone call or anything. It normalises the imaginary remote in case anyone needs to “Rewind” or “Fast-Forward”.

  9. Other online implementations I’ve seen also include making an X with your arms or putting your hand in front of the camera.

    As the link that Shervyn von Hoerl shared will go into in more detail, the most important part of the X card is really the X card talk at the start of the game. I don’t think you need to follow John’s script verbatim, but it’s very important to talk about why the X card (or other safety/calibration tool) exists and how to use it.

  10. Other online implementations I’ve seen also include making an X with your arms or putting your hand in front of the camera.

    As the link that Shervyn von Hoerl shared will go into in more detail, the most important part of the X card is really the X card talk at the start of the game. I don’t think you need to follow John’s script verbatim, but it’s very important to talk about why the X card (or other safety/calibration tool) exists and how to use it.

  15. Shervyn von Hoerl thanks!

    Charlie Etheridge-Nunn I hadn’t heard of Script Change, will read about it. Thank you!

    Michael G. Barford I had read that last year for the Gauntlet Con but forgot about it, thanks for the link!

    Sean Nittner yeah, I’ll have to translate that text (I live in Brazil and we’ll be speaking Portuguese during the game), so it won’t be verbatim anyway, though I’ll try not to stray too far from what he wrote. BTW, I’ll probably run Skogenby and stumbled on an actual play report by yourself while googling for tips. Thanks a lot for taking the tima to write that, those things usually help a lot!

    Lowell Francis I was thinking if I could get some sort of button that people could click which would make a sound or something. But it’s probably easier to just have people say something or type “X” in the chatbox, since we can use text without having to do anything extra. Thanks!

  16. Shervyn von Hoerl thanks!

    Charlie Etheridge-Nunn I hadn’t heard of Script Change, will read about it. Thank you!

    Michael G. Barford I had read that last year for the Gauntlet Con but forgot about it, thanks for the link!

    Sean Nittner yeah, I’ll have to translate that text (I live in Brazil and we’ll be speaking Portuguese during the game), so it won’t be verbatim anyway, though I’ll try not to stray too far from what he wrote. BTW, I’ll probably run Skogenby and stumbled on an actual play report by yourself while googling for tips. Thanks a lot for taking the tima to write that, those things usually help a lot!

    Lowell Francis I was thinking if I could get some sort of button that people could click which would make a sound or something. But it’s probably easier to just have people say something or type “X” in the chatbox, since we can use text without having to do anything extra. Thanks!

  21. I wouldn’t take the fact that the X-Card isn’t being used as a sign of you not presenting it correctly. I’ve played in lots of games using it, and other than John Stavropoulus’ joking use to try and break the X-Card ice (as mentioned in his write up of the X-Card) I’ve only seen it used once at the table.

  22. I wouldn’t take the fact that the X-Card isn’t being used as a sign of you not presenting it correctly. I’ve played in lots of games using it, and other than John Stavropoulus’ joking use to try and break the X-Card ice (as mentioned in his write up of the X-Card) I’ve only seen it used once at the table.

  23. I’ve seen it used a few times. For me the most common use I see is on names. “Can we X Emma as a name”. Sometimes with explanation sometimes without. But it’s a pretty common idea that folks will have names that they’d rather not see in a game.

  24. I’ve seen it used a few times. For me the most common use I see is on names. “Can we X Emma as a name”. Sometimes with explanation sometimes without. But it’s a pretty common idea that folks will have names that they’d rather not see in a game.

  25. Chris Shorb thanks for the link, that page is awesome!

    John Alexander you might be right. Perhaps I’m not doing anything wrong after all. Thank you!

    Yoshi Creelman Oh yeah, I have a couple of those as well! I also dislike if people want to name their characters in ways that don’t fit the overall tone of the game, which happened to me many times. I’ll never forget the time I was almost forced to accept a Son Jnow in my dark fantasy game.

  26. Chris Shorb thanks for the link, that page is awesome!

    John Alexander you might be right. Perhaps I’m not doing anything wrong after all. Thank you!

    Yoshi Creelman Oh yeah, I have a couple of those as well! I also dislike if people want to name their characters in ways that don’t fit the overall tone of the game, which happened to me many times. I’ll never forget the time I was almost forced to accept a Son Jnow in my dark fantasy game.

  27. In the audio-only format, do you have a direct message feature in the software? You could let people message you anonymously and then just tell the group “we need to X this bit, moving on”.

    You could even use that same idea if you need to X something, just saying you received a message (from yourself) to X it. I mean certainly there’s value in encouraging conversation about using the X card, but I have personally not used it when I should have, entirely because I didn’t want to be seen reaching for it in that moment.

    Just my two cents! 😊

  28. In the audio-only format, do you have a direct message feature in the software? You could let people message you anonymously and then just tell the group “we need to X this bit, moving on”.

    You could even use that same idea if you need to X something, just saying you received a message (from yourself) to X it. I mean certainly there’s value in encouraging conversation about using the X card, but I have personally not used it when I should have, entirely because I didn’t want to be seen reaching for it in that moment.

    Just my two cents! 😊

  35. Oh, wow. There’s something I hadn’t thought about — names. Now that I’ve read this, OF COURSE nobody wants an NPC who’s likely to be murdered to have the same name as a loved one. Something to think about when I’m GMing. I’ll probably be using fewer real-world names.

  36. Oh, wow. There’s something I hadn’t thought about — names. Now that I’ve read this, OF COURSE nobody wants an NPC who’s likely to be murdered to have the same name as a loved one. Something to think about when I’m GMing. I’ll probably be using fewer real-world names.

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