Roleplay safety tools

PLEASE NOTE: The roleplay safety tools addressed here are for use in any roleplay area on Atlas, including a DM's quest and any in character channel. They are not to be used in an out of character situation.

### Enforcement of Safety Tools on the Atlas

If a safety tool is played and is given no heed, please reach out to admins so that they can help to ensure that these tools are used. In an ideal world, this would not be necessary, but it may become so. Our admin staff is here to ensure that you are comfortable with playing here Atlas. If at any time you are uncomfortable, then please reach out to @Admins on Discord. If none of us are online then reach out to helpers or other staff.

### The X-Card

The X-card is a simple tool. At any point, any person involved in the quest (meaning GM, player or staff members keeping an eye on things) can message or say “X” or in any way communicate “X” to the DM. The DM is then responsible for stopping the scene at that moment. A break is taken and the item being X-carded is either skipped over or edited out. No explanation need be given, but if the person playing the card wishes to share, they may. At times, it may be difficult to understand what was X-carded. If this occurs, it is up to the person that played the card if they want to share, otherwise the DM will ret-con or edit parts or the entirety of a scene.

### The Streetlight System

The streetlight system uses three colours. Anyone can put one of the card emoji’s up to indicate their comfort level. A common way to do this is to add a reaction to the post in question.

Green: I am okay with the current scene and would be okay with pushing this scene farther. This does not mean a scene has to be pushed further, only that the person is okay with it and would like it to happen if everyone else at the table is comfortable with it..

Yellow: I am okay with the current scene, but do not desire it to be pushed beyond where it is now.

Red: The current scene is making me uncomfortable. Please pull it back a bit or skip it.

GMs should be using this at their table to ensure the comfort levels of their players, especially when topics come up that are dark or gritty in nature. A DM, Player, or Admin can play a Consent card at any time by messaging the person they wish to address or adding a reaction to the post in question. Any person that receives one of these cards is expected to immediately follow the level of consent indicated.

Lines, Background Only and Veils

Another new tool we are bringing online is Lines, Background and Veils. Atlas is a bit limited since we do not have the traditional session zero where the tone of a setting is pre-negotiated. We modify the existing line and veil system and add Background Only.

Line - A line is something that we do not wish to explore at all in our setting. For example, when we set trafficking of minors as a line, that is something that we don’t explore here and it doesn’t exist on Atlas.

Veil - A veil is a "pan away" or "fade to black" moment. When we veil something, we're making it a part of the story, but keeping it out of the spotlight. Think of it as a way to still deal with certain themes while avoiding having to describe them in graphic detail. For example, we can veil torture scenes and just say the event happened and have our characters react to it but we don’t need to cover the details of the torture.

Background Only - Background Only content is allowed to be in character backstories and in the setup to a quest, but the players should not be actively engaged with the content. For example, trafficking of adults is allowed in the context of a rescue run or a character background. However, it would indicate a wish not to directly be involved in the activity. For example, the rounding up of goblins on mars or the protecting of a truck moving enslaved Tieflings would not be allowed.

### Global Lines, Background Only and Veils

#### Veils:

ERP, nudity, recreational drug use, self-harm, excessive violence

#### Background only:

Topics such as torture, slavery, domestic violence, mass murder, homophobia, or transphobia can be present in characters backstories. Though the character approval team reserves the right to reject backstories they believe to make inappropriate us of such topics.

### DM use:

DMs should ensure players are aware of these tools at the start of every quest and stick to them absolutely. We take these seriously as ensuring we have a healthy and enjoyable play environment is key to atlas’ long term health and the comfort of our player base.