The World of Darkness and Mind’s Eye Theatre games frequently address dark themes, such as violence, sexual intimacy, physical abuse, psychological torment, and emotional manipulation. Exploring these themes can bring out problematic behavior in players who get too into the game, using the same tools their characters would employ against other characters and wielding them against players. These disruptive players may even think their edgy behavior is cool, and that they are brave to tell things like they are.
In fact, their attitudes can be downright harmful to other players, and may even drive participants away from a game, as these disruptive players harass others on an out-of-character level and outside the game space. Preventing harassment and bullying is not only the responsibility of game organizers such as Storytellers, volunteers who handle out-of-character concerns, or other facilitators, but also the entire player base of the game. By promoting an environment that encourages mutual respect for participants and safety, even players coming together to meet and play together for the first time can feel relaxed and comfortable playing their characters and creating fun experiences for one another.
Fostering a positive culture can also discourage problematic player behavior, so that when it does occur, organizers can take firm action. Basic Etiquette: How Everyone Can Help No matter what role you take, everyone participating in the game deserves respect. All players and game organizers are human beings with full lives and feelings, both in and out of the game space. Do your best to treat them the way you would want to be treated, if not better. You are Responsible for Your Own Actions If you are an adult, you are legally responsible for your own actions.
Be as mindful as you can of circumstances that may affect your out-of-character behavior. For example, if you know your behavior changes significantly for the worse when you’re under the influence of various substances, don’t use those substances prior to game, even if you think these substances help you get into your character’s mindset. If a Player Tells You that You are Harassing Them, Believe Them When emotions run high, especially in an immersive environment, your behavior may change, and those changes might make other players uncomfortable.
You might not even realize that your actions may be perceived as harassment. Trust your fellow players to know their limits and communicate to you when your own behavior becomes problematic. If you receive a complaint, apologize and back off. If Your Game Employs Safety Mechanics, Use Them Different games may have procedures or policies allowing players to check the emotional well-being of other participants before continuing a scene, to slow down the pace of a scene, or to end a scene entirely due to out-ofcharacter discomfort.
These techniques are intended to keep the game fun for all involved, and using these safety procedures should never be considered an evasion. These techniques frequently have built-in caveats that prevent players from using them to avoid consequences for incharacter actions. When Possible, Prepare for Tense In-Character Situations Ahead of Time If you know in advance that your character will be in a tense situation and which players will be involved, talk to them beforehand and ask if any particular behaviors will cause problems for the participants.
If your Anarch character calls out the local Camarilla Prince for bad behavior, or your Shadow Lord initiates a Staredown with the Silver Fang Sept Leader, it can make a great story. However, if the player your character is targeting has been abused in real life, getting verbally aggressive could make the game feel unsafe for the player. You can also use a prescene discussion to communicate any behaviors that cause you discomfort. This dialogue will help create a better experience for all parties involved, and can even provide an opportunity to collaborate on a better story.
Combating Harassment Proactively in LARP If you are aware that certain sensations, such as sudden loud noises or being backed into a corner, will cause you discomfort, communicate those needs early and often. While organizers and players may not be able to completely eliminate these experiences from a game, they can be aware of them and allow you time to either extricate yourself from a scene or give you fair warning before the problematic event occurs. If a player knows your needs and explicitly disregards them anyway when interacting with you, that is definitely problematic behavior.
Look Out for Your Fellow Players If you see a situation in which a player appears to be uncomfortable in an interaction with another player and it is safe for you to do so, step in and say something to the discomfited player. Focus on their well-being—check in with the player by asking out-of-character if he or she is okay. Use any safety techniques your game employs. Although you may be witnessing excellent roleplaying as opposed to real distress, ensuring player safety is always more important than maintaining in-character immersion.
If it is not safe for you to check in with the distressed player, find someone to come with you, such as another player or a Storyteller. Do not let harassment continue unchecked. Tell Someone Who Can Help! If you are harassed at a game, tell the organizers as soon as you can. The sooner the Storytellers know, the better they can address an uncomfortable situation, escalating their responses when necessary. If Storytellers aren’t aware of a problem, they can’t help correct it, especially if a situation might result in sanctions against the offending player or expulsion from the game.
Asking a friend to assist you by providing moral support for this conversation can help soothe unsteady nerves caused by a recently jarring incident. If the offender is one of the organizers, tell the other Storytellers anyway. In many cases, the other organizers are unaware an incident occurred. Provide Details Storytellers may ask you for more details about happened problematic incident, in an effort to figure out how best to address it, especially if the organizers were not present to witness it.
This request is not intended to undermine the credibility of your complaint; it allows Storytellers to better understand what happened. Your Safety Comes First If you feel unsafe or bullied out-of-character, you should stop the interaction, even if it occurs during an incharacter scene. You have the right to speak up. You can absolutely break immersion if you as a player and a person do not feel safe when interacting with another participant or Storyteller. If the offending player does not respect clear boundaries you’ve set, you are by no means obligated to accept their actions without complaint.
Setting the Tone: How Storytellers Can Help Game organizers have additional tools and capabilities at their disposal, as their initial creative spark sets the tone for the game on both an inand out-of-character level. By setting expectations clearly, early, and often, everyone is aware of how they should behave with each other. Storytellers should also be prepared for times when those expectations fail. Communicate Explicit Policies Encouraging Mutual Player Respect In an ideal situation, players will respect each other, play a game, and have fun.
Establish a positive game culture early and firmly, reinforcing the behavior you want to see occur. Figure out ahead of time how you intend to handle problematic behavior, such as establishing a tiered system for offenses or a simple “three strikes and you’re out” rule. Such policies may not immediately require a strict, formal structure, as smaller troupes have different needs and considerations from larger games and networked chronicles. At the very least, communicate to all players what level of attention they should expect if they come to you with a problem.
Encourage Players to Come Forward if They Have a Problem This practice not only applies to problems that occur with fellow players, but also fellow Storytellers. No one can be fully aware of all things going on during a single game, let alone a persistent, long-term chronicle. Larger games make it more difficult for organizers to be everywhere at once and be aware of all issues that may arise. Communicate a clear method for contacting the game’s staff, such as a dedicated email address or online forum.
Consider Using a Safety Technique to Help Players Communicate This process could be as simple as encouraging players to pause scenes and ask each other how they’re doing, or as complex as using hand signals, such as the OK CheckIn, or specific safewords to signify a need for a pause. While methods may vary from game to game, ensure your players can recognize these safety techniques and easily communicate to each other. Follow the Policies You Set for Your Players If you provide your participants with a set of expectations for good behavior, you will also need to meet them.
Make sure you are comfortable acting on the policies you establish, before you communicate them to the player base. Exercise your procedures with as little bias as possible. A a popular player contributing a great deal to the game who commits an offense that would lead to automatic ejection should receive their punishment as promptly as a player who has caused problems in the past or committed the same offense. A player’s popularity should never be an aggravating or mitigating factor when determining sanctions for misconduct.
If a Player Tells You They have been Harassed, Believe Them Whenever possible, tell the concerned players that you believe them immediately after they tell you they have been harassed. If you need more details about an incident, reassure the concerned players that you believe them, as the information they provide will help you determine how best to handle a particular situation. Keep Track of Behavior Trends Problematic behavior can consist of a single egregious incident or several less-severe incidents.
A problem player could easily cause issues by not explicitly breaking the rules at all, but instead by acting in a manner that just skirts the line of clearly defined bad behavior. Tools to track trends can be as simple as creating a spreadsheet to log incidents or, if using an email address for player contact, setting up a label or folder for each player. When a complaint comes in from that channel, respond to the incident, then file the communication accordingly. Mind-Altering Substances are not a Mitigating Factor for Bad Behavior.
Some games allow drinking during the course of events; do not let drunkenness be an excuse for poor player behavior. At Mind’s Eye Theatre games, the vast majority of players are legal adults, and thus responsible for their own actions. Depending on the attitudes of your particular group of players, consider establishing rules preventing players from participating in a game session if they arrive at or become visibly intoxicated during the course of an event. Bad Player Behavior is not a Reflection on Your Ability to Run a Game A rare handful of participants simply enjoy making other players uncomfortable or pushing people around out-ofcharacter to get their way.
Their bad behavior says nothing about the quality of your game; these players may very well act the same way in any game. Don’t be Afraid to Eject Disruptive Players from Your Game You are by no means obligated to allow problem players to keep playing in your games if they are causing the rest of the player base undue discomfort. An ejection could last for a single session due to an isolated incident or become long-term (or permanent) due to a trend of problematic behavior. Whatever the case, removing a disruptive player from your game is justified if it guarantees the safety and fun of the larger player base as a whole.
Do not Force a Player to Stay in Your Game if They Need to Leave If a player still feels uncomfortable in your game and they wish to leave, let them go and wish them well. Even after all feasible steps have been taken to prevent or address inappropriate situations, the events such players endured may have done irreparable harm to their enjoyment of the game. Never harbor ill will towards someone who needs to step away for their own well-being. Conclusion The best methods for preventing harassment in games come from creating an environment that encourages player respect and actively discourages disruptive behavior.
Depending on your group, other corrections may be required, such as adjustments to in-game content or encouraging the use of conduct guidelines outside the game space when players interact with each other. The players themselves are more important than the game any day, and while they are not obligated to be friends with one another, basic civility and respect is every player’s right. Biography Renee Ritchie is a writer, editor, and avid LARPer. Her work has been neatly strewn across the World of Darkness and Chronicles of Darkness game lines, specifically Vampire: The Masquerade Dark Ages, Vampire: The Requiem, Demon: The Descent, and Beast: The Primordial.
Writing is also part of her day job, where she creates and manages content for various high-tech companies. When not typing her fingers to the bone, she knits yarn and chainmail, belts out Queen at karaoke, and runs or contributes to various World of Darkness fan blogs such as Harpies Gonna Harp.
Originally published in Mind’s Eye Theatre: Immersion Secrets by By Night Studios. Presented here under Resources for chronicles and live play.