X-Card

X-Card: Safety Tools for Simulations and Role-Playing Games by John Stavropoulos

The X-Card is an auxiliary ruleset added to roleplaying or simulation games that allows all players, including the gamemaster, to remove content from the game if it has made a player uncomfortable. Players indicate that they want to edit out that content by tapping or holding up the X-Card.[1][2][3] TTRPG Safety Toolkit states "the group can change, rewind, or skip the content" after the X-Card is used.[4] Stavropoulos describes the physical X-Card as simply an X drawn on an index card by the player facilitating the introduction of this tool in a game.[1] Consent in Gaming comments that a player may or may not wish to elaborate on "problem content" so boundaries can be updated after a game session where the X-Card is used.[5] It is advised that the groups respect what the player is "willing to discuss and what they might simply want to leave in the past".[5]

Stavropoulos highlighted that the X-Card gives players an "exit strategy" during an uncomfortable moment of gameplay.[1]^: 7 On why to use this safety tool, he stated that:

The X-card creates a specific mood at the table. It says "We're here together. If you need to stop, we'll stop. The people playing are more important than the game we are playing." [...] Just having the X-Card present can increase the group's heightened awareness of everyone's risks and responsibilities. Even if the X-Card is never used, it still is a potent tool for getting everyone to think about each other first, and the game second.[1]^: 7

The X-Card was invented by John Stavropoulos in 2013 who originally developed it for games with strangers, such as convention-based play.[1][6] He released it under a Creative Commons Share Alike license[lower-alpha 1] which enables other games to include it in instructional materials.[7] The X-Card was one of several safety tools included in Consent in Gaming (2019) published by Monte Cook Games.[5] It was also included in the TTRPG Safety Toolkit which won the 2020 ENNIE Award for "Best Free Game / Product".[8][9] In 2021, Stavropoulos worked on the writing team for Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, the first official Dungeons & Dragons book to include the X-Card.[10] Also in 2021, Evil Hat Productions created a free RPG Safety Toolkit for Roll20 that includes the X-Card.[11][12] Soon after, Roll20 added X-Card functionality to its main user interface.[12] Evil Hat stated that "a content warning and the use of Safety Tools (like the X card, Script Change, or Lines & Veils) creates an atmosphere of trust and respect. You're setting the boundaries".[13]

The X-Card is known for its simplicity of use and for helping players explore dark themes with the security of an agreed-upon way to stop.[2][3] CBC Life called it "one of the most commonly-used tools".[14] Mollie Russell of Wargamer compared the X-Card to consent tools in the BDSM community.[15] The X-Card is also popular with LGBT players.[16]

Maddie Cullen of Dicebreaker suggested the X-Card as the safety tool for when "something unexpected might still come up" even after determining game boundaries.[17] Cullen stated that "this kind of thing takes minutes to discuss and makes sure everyone enjoys themselves".[17] Rory Bristol of GeekDad wrote, "the X-Card helps a DM consider the needs of their group with a concise and simple tool. [...] Do what's best for your table, and if the X-Card can help even a little, put it to use, and everyone wins".[18]

James D'Amato, in the book The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book (2020), commented that "if a player uses the X-Card, they are not being picky or difficult – they are playing by the rules. With this tool, there is an established protocol to be considerate of each other's comfort".[19] D'Amato stated the pros of this safety tool are that it "streamlines communication" and is "easy to learn". However, as cons, D'Amato viewed the X-Card as a "reactive, not preventive" tool and that it "still requires someone to communicate in a difficult moment".[19] Academics Matthew Guzdial et al also highlighted the limitations of safety tools such as the X-Card and others. They commented that the X-Card is "an example of changing the space of play during the game itself [...]. If players are uncomfortable or would like to shift the way that the story is going during play, they can tap or raise the X-Card and all players drop the current storytelling thread".[20]

William J. White, a professor at Penn State Altoona, in a historical retrospect examined the early online discourse in The Forge diaspora on the X-Card including a discussion prompted by game designer Vincent Baker in 2013.[6] White highlighted that Stavropoulos was an event organizer who developed the tool to help ensure a "positive experience in convention-based play" with strangers, however, many online commentators assumed "play takes place within stable, pre-existing groups" which is "an important distinction in understanding the issue".[6] Some felt the X-Card "more or less obviously implies curtailing the range of normal activity at the table" and the tool was subject to ridicule while others "pointed to a legitimate need for safety mechanisms, challenging the critics on the jurisdictional grounds that they are misinterpreting the intent of the X-Card".[6] In 2013, Baker felt that X-card was an "unnecessary or harmful" game hack counter to the intentions of the game designer as "competent game designers" would be deliberate about including or excluding "emotional safety mechanisms".[6] This position was challenged, including by Stavropoulos himself, and the ensuing online discussion outlined positive experiences using the X-Card. Baker has since "completely reversed" his position and stated "my take now is that stand-alone safety tools that players can bring with them from game to game are valuable and important".[6]

• Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
• For the Queen (Alex Roberts)
• Thirsty Sword Lesbians (April Kit Walsh)
• Visigoths vs. Mall Goths (Lucian Kahn)