Rules Index | GM Screen

Horror Rules / Horror Characters / Running Horror Adventures / Horror Games and Consent

For Players

Source Horror Adventures pg. 191
The Pathfinder RPG is a storytelling game, and as with stories in any medium, sometimes the tale ventures into dark places. If you are a participant in a game that makes you feel uncomfortable or threatened, you can stop playing at any time. You don’t have to endure a game that unsettles you in a way you don’t enjoy. If that occurs, it’s entirely acceptable to leave the game and remove yourself to a safe space.

If you want to tell the group that you need a break or have a private discussion with the GM, you may, but don’t feel obligated to. Sometimes GMs seek to include disturbing content in their games to be shocking, to be gritty, or to mimic content from television or film. Unfortunately, such elements often overlap with real-world truths and traumas that are anything but entertaining. Just as you might avoid that content in other media, you have every right to avoid it in gaming.

A good way to avoid a game that focuses on content that you’re not comfortable with is to talk with your GM before the game starts and find out what sort of adventure she intends to run. Ask whether the GM expects any extreme or R-rated content. As discussed above, it is part of every GM’s responsibility to assure that her players have a good time, but (unfortunately) you can’t trust every GM to act on this. If a GM proves reticent to reveal a game’s themes or implies that there will be disturbing or adult content without elaborating on what, strongly consider not attending that game.

Just as you would want the GM and other players to respect your boundaries, make sure to respect theirs. Unless the other players and the GM have already agreed to a truly dark game, don’t contribute to making a game uncomfortable by playing a depraved character or by going into explicit detail about your character’s horrid deeds. And if other players feel they need to leave the game, either help change the game to something everyone enjoys or support their decision to leave.

Everyone should be working together to create a game that’s fun for the entire group, so know that it’s literally in the Pathfinder game’s rules (on page 9 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook) that playing the Pathfinder RPG is supposed to be rewarding for everyone involved.

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen

For Players