I want to have a talk about narrative and safety tools in ttrpgs, and how a "social rule" has led to harmful practices.

I'll try to keep it on the shorter side.

I am not in favor of the "players shouldn't know anything" idea that lives within ttrpg culture. There have been a significant number of designers who have worked their way away from this, but I feel like there are openings to take it a lot further, culturally.

People come to the table to explore characters and worlds and themselves. I think there is a lack of autonomy or consent if all three of those elements arent discussed and approved.

That means talking directly and specifically. There are safety tools that do or encourage this.

People have done a lot of heavy lifting but creating new safety tools, but they fall short imo because we wont pass a creative line overall.

A GM should know what kind of arc your character wants to have, and what lines and veils to apply surrounding that exploration.

We can be hyper specific with what we want to do in ttrpgs before reading a single page. People who practice healthy safety tools already do this to some degree, ime.

"Let's have our characters have a romance. I want them to end up together in the end, but have a rough journey."

What a "rough journey means comes down to the experiences of the whole table. Targeting things inside of romance and relationships that may be uncomfortable or triggering. Because you've gotten specific, it's easier to hone in on elements you dont want to see or experience.

And the thing is, it doesnt mean that you know everything that is going to happen. It means that there are way fewer chances of you having a bad time, because you know that you're getting what you want, and at least things you can think of wont be there. Everything else is free.

ttrpgs are cowritten. But the culture is steeped in a lack of autonomy, and an aggressive tug of war between players and GMs. Even when you build against that, you may not think about what features of ttrpgs stem from it.

There are probably a lot more. Maybe you know them.

But in this specific case, it's about coming to the table and getting what you want out of the experience.

We set up GMs like romantic partners. We expect them to figure out what we want, and dont have a good time when our expectations arent met, or if we're hurt.

And if you dont know what you want your arc to be, what idea you want to explore, what fasset of the game or act of playing vibe with you the most, that's okay. I think that it is something important to learn at whatever pace suits you. But building your experience is valuable.

and of course the giga disclaimer:

you can do whatever the fuck you want. you dont have to listen to me or share the same opinions. I am not claiming that.

bird app bastards