SAFETY TOOLS

Liminal Horror often deals with mature content. Common themes include death, body horror, dismemberment, stress, trauma, gore, corruption, and helplessness. We encourage requesting consent before engaging in content that may make members of your group uncomfortable. There are many safety tools that can aid in this process, but we recommend using Lines & Veils by Ron Edwards and the X-Card by John Stavropoulos as a starting point.

The Liminal Horror Character Keeper has a Safety Tools Prep Document as a key component.

COMMUNICATION

Communication and trust are the cornerstone of running a game that prioritizes the safety and wellbeing of its participants. Open and respectful communication between players is an important baseline. Listening, using safety tools, and respecting boundaries (this includes not prying if someone steps away or uses one of the tools) is key.

With mature themes, it is important to be regularly checking in with each other before, during, and after play.

OPEN DOOR

This culture of play enables participants to leave or take a break from the game without the need for an explanation.

LINES & VEILS

Lines & Veils establish a baseline, listing the types of content that players may not want included in their games. Lines are elements that will not be featured in play at all. Veils are elements that may be present, but are not acted out directly through play. These are actions that happen “off-screen” or during a “fade to black”. They can be mentioned, but should not be dwelled upon.

Lines & Veils should be established by the group before diving into formal play, generally included within a Session 0 or during character creation. All players should keep these in mind during the game, but it’s important to remember that these lists are living and should be amended as needed.

THE X-CARD

The X-Card is your last line of defense. It can be a literal card at the table, or a signal provided by the players (making an X with their arms, typing “X” into a text chat, verbally saying “X-Card”, etc.). If a topic is introduced at any point during play that makes a player uncomfortable in an un-fun way, they can deploy the X-Card to veto that content.

Once an X-Card is deployed, that player should indicate which topic made them uncomfortable, but they should never be expected to explain explicitly why it makes them uncomfortable. From there, the group should discuss the best way to move forward (fade to black, rewind the scene, etc.), and the Facilitator should make an effort to ensure that content does not appear during future play.