Lines and Veils
One of the groups I play with has two members that each have a phobia. The first has arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, and the second has ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes. Suffice to say, if I ran a game with spiders and snakes, and proceeded to describe scenes or events involving them with these two that would make me a real piece of work, and set me back two friends.
Knowing that information ahead of time can allow whoever is running the game to prepare an adventure better, or know what subjects players want to keep to the wayside. It can also act as a guide to know what subjects or things players are interested in, as it can be a lovely segue to talk about what people want to see after going through the possibly unpleasant, but necessary step of what should be avoided.
Every now and then it can be useful to update what Lines and Veils a group has by checking in with your players. This could occur between campaigns or could be prompted if there is something that arises that was not considered the first time around, and needs to be added in retroactively.
Clarification
I've had my fair share of one-shots or mini-campaigns that started with a single concept, and by the time everyone was sitting down at the table, it was a challenge to incorporate everything together. Heck, I once had a campaign end prematurely after a successful first session when a subsequent session involved the sudden stabbing of a Team Rocket style villain. A campaign that was conceptually a light-hearted romp where enemies could be recruited, and a TPK would mean awaking with missing loot and items rather than a swift death.
Both these issues were caused because I as the GM had neglected to clarify and properly make sure the players were 1. Onboard with the idea of the campaign, and 2. Were all on the same page with what that meant. While there are many things that a GM wants to make sure the players are aware of and understand, here are just some of the things I've found myself needing to clarify (which usually means I need to start getting them written ahead of time in a Campaign Bio).
Tone: What is the intended vibe the table is aiming for? This is extremely helpful for players to know what types of characters they should be considering.
Setup: What locals/genre is the game themed around? Also extremely helpful, as most characters need a world to inhabit and things to do, and a majority of the time this covers both those things in a general sense.
System: If you like to use different systems it's better to explicitly remind players which one will be used in an upcoming campaign. Take care that if it's a system players are unfamiliar with you may have to help walk them through character creation or how checks are resolved.
Mechanics/Exceptions: Free feat at level 1? Do we roll starting attributes? What level do we start at? etc. and all the other sorts of rules some might have if the system you play has many variants for setup.
Conflict Resolution
Sometimes, for one reason or another, there are circumstances that prompt an out-of-character discussion about some sort of disagreement that has started. There could be some dynamic at the table that is not working for those involved, or a player has acted out in a way that the others don't appreciate. While this is the kind of communication that most GMs do not want to deal with, there are times when not addressing an issue can further escalate or worsen the situation. I have thankfully not had to deal with this often, but there have been times when it has come up. Every time I have to be the one to lead a conflict resolution these are the two things I keep in mind.
- Do No Harm
- But Take No Bull
Most of the time the first step should just be talking to a player if an issue arises. People can't read minds after all, and part of doing no harm is to figure out if there is a valid issue in the first place, and if there is, bring it up to see if the player was aware. When doing this you want to be lazy. Not in the sense that you fail to address it, but in that, you want to make only the actions necessary to resolve the issue. No one likes to be called out (that's how you get people to double down), so instantly getting on the offensive and over-escalating doesn't help anyone. This has the benefit of, sometimes, resolving the issue itself if the player was unaware of their behavior and wants to correct it.
There's one GM that I have played with that, despite being a great storyteller and having a fondness for tabletop games, sometimes struggles to resolve minor conflicts. I've seen him run games before were part way through, another player will be dropped over something rather small or inconsequential. This is an example of someone not taking the right amount of action. Like using amputation to fix a scrapped knee, and cutting off an otherwise healthy part of the body. In this case, the body being a tabletop adventuring party, and the blood clotting around the wound the campaign's momentum. The majority of the issues that arise should try to be resolved by talking to the player in question and attempting to find a compromise.
The take no bull side of things comes in when you've ensured you've done no harm to the problem player and you've talked to them and attempted compromise, and they still act out, or have behavior that does not mesh well with the group as a whole. Everyone has their own level at which something enters this zone, but I like to at least talk to the problem player, and lay out what the issue is once or twice before escalating to this stage.
Anything on the tail end of this stage and beyond I consider to be in the infamous Tabletop Horror Story category of things. While I only have one real experience relating to this, the fabled Literal Murder Hobo of Halloween One-shot Manor (*lightning crash sound effect*) will have to be saved for another time I suppose. Suffice to say, if anything of that magnitude happens it might fast-track the usual methods.
These are just some of the ways I have found communication to be a vital part of tabletop games outside of playing the actual game itself in the moment. I hope this posts helped you think about how you use communication in or out of your tabletop games.
Feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments, or let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see from me.
