Safety and Consent

Horror works when everyone at the table knows they can pause, redirect, or remove a subject without defending the request. Safety tools are part of play, not a break from it.

Before the first session

Agree on the group's Lines and Veils.

• Lines are subjects that do not appear in the game.
• Veils may exist, but the table fades away before depicting them directly.

Write these down privately or together. Check them again when a new player joins or the chronicle changes tone.

Discuss the Open Door: any player may step away without explanation. Establish a pause tool such as an X-Card, hand signal, or the words “pause” and “rewind.” A pause is not a debate. Stop the current description, check what the group needs, and continue only after the affected player is ready—or change the scene completely.

During play

Give content warnings before scenes involving likely triggers. Ask before escalating from implication to explicit description. If a player says a subject is not working for them, accept the information without asking them to justify it.

The player controls their character's boundaries, identity, relationships, and internal reactions. The Storyteller controls consequences and the world, but does not use loss of control, feeding, Dominate, sexual coercion, abuse, or Humanity pressure to override a player's real-world consent.

Horror with agency

Vampire stories include hunger, coercion, violence, and the Beast. They do not require surprise violations of player boundaries. Announce the mechanical and fictional stakes when practical:

• “This choice risks a Rouse check and a messy consequence.”
• “The scene is moving toward coercive feeding. Continue, veil, or redirect?”
• “A bestial failure may put a Touchstone in danger. Is that pressure welcome here?”

A character may lose control in the fiction while the player retains control over what is described, how far it goes, and what aftermath is explored.

After a difficult scene

Offer a brief check-in. Ask whether the player wants to continue, pause, revise the scene, or leave the subject behind. Record only what the group agrees should remain true. Safety takes priority over continuity.