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Jun. 6th, 2019 11:53 pmI got linked to the rules for a tabletop RPG called DIE. It's a recursive game where you play as roleplayers who get transported to a fantasy world. It's dark as fuck (workable), obfuscates a lot of information so the players can't predict where the darkness will come from (not so great), and heavily leans on intra-party conflict (ugh.)
There's all kinds of stuff in the GM rules about how to avoid letting the game get too dark for your players, like "have a card with an X on it, and if anyone touches the card, it means drop the subject you're talking about," or "never, ever give mind-control powers to a player who won't take them seriously." But I'm trying to imagine how this game would actually go for me if I played it blind, and I think this is a plausible path of events:
*I'm asked to create my "persona" (roleplayer, one level down into the fiction) and "character" (fantasy hero, two levels down into the fiction.) The GM is supposed to encourage players to give their personas emotional issues that are potential breaking points, and I wind up giving my persona serious body image issues, mainly because I have serious body image issues.
*My persona is transported to the world of Die, where they must claim their magic die and transform into their character. The body issues thing comes up, and for whatever reason, my persona doesn't WANT to transform. Maybe they wound up creating a character who was contrary to their hidden desires. Maybe they desire it too much, and are afraid of accepting the fantasy of this place. Either way, they remain as an ordinary human with rock-bottom stats and no specials.
*Combat is super lethal for anyone with bottomed-out stats, so my persona gets killed and turned into a cybernetic zombie with even more horrifying body issues.
*I get up from the table and don't come back.
Seriously, if your game is intense enough that you think it will require "aftercare," consider whether INFORMED consent is the way to go.
There's all kinds of stuff in the GM rules about how to avoid letting the game get too dark for your players, like "have a card with an X on it, and if anyone touches the card, it means drop the subject you're talking about," or "never, ever give mind-control powers to a player who won't take them seriously." But I'm trying to imagine how this game would actually go for me if I played it blind, and I think this is a plausible path of events:
*I'm asked to create my "persona" (roleplayer, one level down into the fiction) and "character" (fantasy hero, two levels down into the fiction.) The GM is supposed to encourage players to give their personas emotional issues that are potential breaking points, and I wind up giving my persona serious body image issues, mainly because I have serious body image issues.
*My persona is transported to the world of Die, where they must claim their magic die and transform into their character. The body issues thing comes up, and for whatever reason, my persona doesn't WANT to transform. Maybe they wound up creating a character who was contrary to their hidden desires. Maybe they desire it too much, and are afraid of accepting the fantasy of this place. Either way, they remain as an ordinary human with rock-bottom stats and no specials.
*Combat is super lethal for anyone with bottomed-out stats, so my persona gets killed and turned into a cybernetic zombie with even more horrifying body issues.
*I get up from the table and don't come back.
Seriously, if your game is intense enough that you think it will require "aftercare," consider whether INFORMED consent is the way to go.
