Thread by @Off_theTable, Hey everyone. We at Off the Table hope you are taking care [...]

Hey everyone.

We at Off the Table hope you are taking care of yourself during these unsure times - that includes your mental health.

1/22

The thread to follow covers sensitive topics revolving around consent in TTRPGs - given the recent discourse around Adam Koebel and a sexual assault that happened in game.

That said - Content Warning for everything that follows (regarding consent / assault specifically.) 2/22

If you've seen the clip - and we don't recommend watching if you have assault trauma - then you'll know that there was an incredible breach of player consent, creating the main point of tension and the eventual cancellation of the show. 3/22

We at Off the Table thrive on hard topics, grim situations, loss and other such dark stories. We've been experiencing them from the first episode of our first long term campaign, Tales from Thersha. 4/22

But the reason we are able to exist in those dark spaces is purely thanks to the availability of Safety Tools.

5/22

From the moment we've discovered them, they've been implemented in every game. Period. The X, N, O cards along with Lines & Veils have been the foundation from which we can build stories that experience just as much darkness as they do light. 6/22

There are two main issues we take with the clip in question.

1. There was no consent on the part of the players (in or out of game / character)
2. The sexual assault was described in toxic, horrifyingly real language with a laugh.

7/22

The first issue is with consent - and this is the main point we'd like to cover.

While the language used and the situational joking nature of the GM contributed to the overall problem, the main issue at hand is consent. There was none.

8/22

In a previous game on OtT we played Bluebeard's Bride where Sexual Assault was a veil, rather than a line. We, as players, felt comfortable enough with each other and our safety tools, that we were interested in exploring that particular dark nature of the game. 9/22

We pushed, we checked in, we had horrifying moments, we loved it.

We all CONSENTED to the darkness of the game. 10/22

Constantly we were using our "O" check in to reaffirm consent - and on breaks we discussed what was happening / where things were going. At no point did we feel in true emotional danger.

This is the main problem with Adam Koebel's approach. 11/22

Regardless of the situation (it was SA, but it could just as well have been a PC suffering an appearance altering spell or some other life changing event) there were no tools in place to give the player the ability to say "I'm not ok with this." Until the show was over. 12/22

Not only was this horrible situation sprung on the characters, but it was also sprung on the audience. There was no content warning in the moments before the scene - no opportunity given to unsuspecting viewers to opt out. It's negligent and incredibly triggering. 13/22

The second issue was the way in which the scene was described. This is what brought light to this issue. He laughed as he described what was happening. He laughed when the scene was over. 14/22

He said "robots need love too" after describing a horrific assault on a character (and player) who had no idea what was coming. 15/22

It was stomach churning - and with the most concrete language we can muster, we condemn this kind of light treatment of something so serious by Koebel. 16/22

A life changing event was inflicted on a character, and though fictional, would have altered them forever in heartbreaking ways. It was painful to witness. 17/22

On Off the Table, we will continue to explore dark content. But we will NEVER do so without the explicit consent of every single person at the table - or without thinking of our viewers. We hope you can trust us in that. 18/22

If you need resources to make your table a safer place - @kiennas & @jl_nicegirl have created the Safety Tool-Kit.

http://bit.ly/ttrpgsafetytoolkit

19/22

It's a great place to learn more about safety tools as well as find ones that you and your players can implement to make sure consent is top priority every step of the way.

20/22

We hope to see a real apology from Koebel in the near future - apologizing for not using resources is one thing. But we hope to see him take full responsibility for the trauma he dumped on his players and viewers without warning.

21/22

Thank you all for your support - we understand many of you are probably fans of his and are suffering a lot of conflicting emotions, much as we are. Take care of yourselves.

All our love.

(End)

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