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. =]