OOC - Cut & Brake

[Barnaby Cuthbert]

Hi folks, for those of you not present at game last week, Emerald City Chronicles Vampire has instituted two new key words for Out of Character safety purposes:

Cut & Brake

Cut and Brake are quite simply two additional resources for you to feel comfortable with your gaming experience here at ECC. Put simply, while we already have the Fade to Black clause here at EC (it's part of our All Games Charter) that states if you're in an uncomfortable scene for you, the player, you can ask to pause and have the scene moderated and narrated simply rather than continuing on. The conclusion of the scene is then discussed in a very general way.

First of all, before we discuss Cut and Brake, there is always an open door at EC. No one will ever force you to role-play a scene. You may, as a player, leave at any time. Vampire: The Masquerade is described as a storytelling game of personal horror. It’s an adult game with adult themes, there should be thrills and chills, it should feel gritty and dark with occasionally cruel and scary in-character consequences - but it’s not anyone’s intent to make a player feel trapped in a scene or to trigger actual psychological trauma or god-forbid, physical damage. Much like a movie that is too scary to watch alone, if you need to step aside for a moment and catch your breath, just ask. Here are some ways to ask.

Cut and Brake work like this:

Break: Brake is a way to continue a scene that is growing uncomfortable, but to indicate to dial down the intensity or 'apply the brakes'.

Example: Erik and Tai are playing characters that are trying to intimidate one another with the firmness of their handshake. As part of their role-play, they begin shaking hands and gradually increase the intensity and pressure of the handshake. Tai decides that role-play has gone far enough, and says “Brake” while looking at her hand. Erik and Tai continue the handshake, but both decrease the 'handshake pressure' element of the role-play.

If Tai needs the intensity of the handshake even less, she can keep saying Brake while the handshake continues, or…

Cut: Cut is a way to stop the scene entirely. A player may do this for any reason. All they need to do is say "Cut" authoritatively. Other players near them should then also say cut, so that the widening circle of players is aware the scene needs to stop. Say it just like in the movies, loud and with vigor.

Example: In a happy scene, laughter is getting louder and louder, until it becomes hysterically so. 5 players are involved in the scene, and eventually, as the scene continues and the volume goes up and up, someone’s voice becomes hoarse, and one of the players needs to stop. They say “Cut!” and the other players, hearing this, mirror the word. The scene stops and the hoarse player can catch their breath.

Combined with body language or perhaps the universal ‘timeout’ hand signal, that can help get the point across.

And that is Cut & Brake We hope these tools will help ensure you have a good time at game and can exert a fine level of control over just how world of darkness-y your world of darkness gets.

Have fun playing, and be safe!

- Your ECC Staff

[Barnaby Cuthbert]

Here is a smooth talkin' european dude with the same explanation in a much cooler accent than mine:

[Barnaby Cuthbert]

This is also up on the core site: Hand Signals