Safety Tools

Dark Vigil is, by its very nature, a game that invites players to dance along the edge of horror and acceptability. For each of us, that boundary is in a slightly different place, and sometimes, someone might cross that line without realizing it. To make sure that everyone is having fun and that your table remains a safe place for everyone, we suggest you consider using one or more of the following safety tools:

Lines & Veils

Lines & Veils were initially developed by Ron Edwards, as a way of determining what any particular group of players is comfortable with. Lines are hard-nos, things that will never come up as part of a game. Veils are, as the name implies, veiled references, where it’s okay to allude to them or mention them in passing but not to be focused on.

At the beginning of play or in a Session 0, sit down as a group and decide where your lines and veils are. It isn’t a negotiation, so if one person says that spiders are a line, then spiders are off the metaphorical (and physical) table regardless of however many other players like spiders. This keeps everyone safe.

Lines and Veils are not static either. Sometimes topics come up at the table that only then does a player realise they aren’t comfortable with, or perhaps events in other parts of your life means that you’re not comfortable with a particular topic for this particular session. That’s fine. The list of Lines and Veils can grow or shrink at any time, depending on the needs of the group.

X-Card

The X-Card is a concept created by John Stavropoulos, where a card marked with an X is placed on the table. If a player feels uncomfortable at any time, they can touch the X-Card and the game immediately stops. The players then address the problem, most likely addressing a physical need or by changing, rewinding or skipping whatever they need to, to make everyone comfortable again. Once everyone’s mental and physical well-being is balanced again, play resumes.