SERIOUSLY? We Actually Need to Say This?

[satyrblade]

Dear fellow Game Masters, especially* those of the male persuasion:

RAPE IS NOT YOUR PLOT DEVICE.

No matter how edgy, cool or hardcore you may think you are, there are places in a game you really should not go - most especially without the prior consent of your players. Sexual assault is one of them.

While there may be exceptions made with the

Comments

[unkyrich]

I had an experience in college with a GM who seemed obsessed with having the characters of female players get raped. (This was . . . yikes, almost a quarter of a century ago.)

He seemed perfectly normal. After the third time it happened in his game, the entire player pool walked away. (We were young and tried to 'logic' this - the first time, we thought "Well, he didn't invent the act." The second time was "That's mighty peculiar, and [lone female player] seems devastated. The rest of us decided that it was wrong. Third time? Everyone quit, and I advised he get help because he was obviously disturbed.)

As a GM, I've never had a PC raped, though I have had it happen to NPCs - and it's traumatizing enough for the players. Mostly, it's one of the nails in the coffin (frequently literally) of the antagonist.

But as I've grown older and wiser, I've stopped doing this as well.

I can't imagine anyone would do this to seem "edgy."

Though obviously the fuel for this fire you posted came from somewhere.

[satyrblade]

>I can't imagine anyone would do this to seem "edgy."

Trust me, this was the subject of several heated arguments among the White Wolf staff Back In The Day.

Here via friends list hopping

[corbaewench]

Might I copy and print this for inclusion in my "Beginning ST/Don't be dumb" binder? It's not for distribution, just a collection of things I and other ST's have written regarding games and how players and ST's see things.

Re: Here via friends list hopping

[theweaselking]

If you're looking for that kind of thing, you could do FAR worse than Pete Woodworth's "You Are A Lamp" speech.

It's intended for NPCs in a LARP, but it applies perfectly well for NPCs in tabletop games, too.

[gfish]

And it's not even edgy as a plot point-- it's tiresomely predictable. You're not violating taboos, you're reinforcing ugly social norms. Blech.

[tzaddi_93]

THIS! Yes!

[satyrblade]

If I could hit "Like" on a Live Journal post, I would. :)

[angelmcc]

That's an incredibly irresponsible thing to do, especially without clear consent on the subject matter from all players involved.

I'd say it's someone who doesn't understand the trauma that lingers long after child abuse or rape. Or who just doesn't care.