The world of vampire is not a ”nice” place. Violence, abuse of power, extortion and feeding are just a few of the things you might encounter during play.
To make sure no-one gets caught in situation that are uncomfortable out of game we at vampire Utrecht use a few specific safety mechanics. It is important to know them, even if you don’t plan to use them yourself we expect you to be able to have the adequate reaction to someone elses use of the mechanics.
BE AWARE! the below mechanics are there to keep the game safe and fun for everyone. They aren’t supposed to be used to avoid consequences of in game actions. When a player knowingly uses these mechanics to (emotionally or physically) harm another player we as organisers have the right to remove them from the game immediately and deny them future access.
No play
No play can be used by anyone at the game, player, npc or organiser. No play immediately stops the scene for everyone. The participant using ”no play” can indicate what they need but does not need to.
If you are worried about a player who used a ”no play” sentence please let the organisers know and they will take action if needed.
Feeding
Vampires need to feed. Although most characters will have fed themselves before the game feeding can always become a thing during the game.
In Utrecht we have the following rules for feeding:
- When you know you want to play on feeding beforehand you talk to your co-player. You are then allowed to play on the feeding as previously agreed.
- If you have not talked about feeding before the game you can only use the following way: you grab your co-players wrist. To play out the feeding by placing you mouth on the back of your hand.
Escalation and de-escalation
During play it might be that you want to escalate or de-escalate a scene. It’s always a good idea to talk to your fellow players off game before jumping them with high intensity plot. But if you want to check if a player is up for an escalation during the game you can use the following signal:
With you hands in front of you make a beckoning movement with your hands like when you signal ”come at me.” The reciever can react in one of two ways.
- The reciever wants to escalate as well; they make the ”come at me” signal back at the sender. After that either person can initiate the escalation.
- The reciever does not want to escalate, you put both hands in front of you, handpalms outwards and make a repelling hand movement. In this case neither player should escalate the scene further.
Lookdown
Placing your hand in front of your eyes allows you to enter or exit a scene in a subtle non-disruptive way. It can be used to enter a space without having any consequences about you being late/interrupting. Leaving a space because you do not want to witness certain events or to move past/through a scene which you can otherwise not avoid (for example two people fighting in a door opening while you need to pass by without getting involved.)
If someone uses a lookdown other players will not reprimand this player or require explanation both in and off game.
