RPG Social Contract Example (4D)

[@Trout_Nemesis]

The contract is clear and straight forward. I like it! Thanks for sharing.

[@Tablerunner]

Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!

[@SHONNER]

I keep trying to scroll down during this video to see the rest of the social contract.

[@Tablerunner]

Hahahaha! 2X speed all the way.

[@eloyc4245]

Thanks for the video! I think it's a solid base for delineating the desired play experience. Of course, as you point out, it should remain flexible and tailored to the specific system and desired experience for each different game you play, and should also be revisited and adjusted as needed when problems or conflicts are identified. Your session 0 for the WWN Rising Sands game was excellent and, couple with this document, serves as a very nice model for getting a new game off the ground. A solid situation was outlined, and provided a solid foundation upon which to ground character motivations and character relationships. Great job!

[@Tablerunner]

Thanks for asking me about the contract. I'm frankly surprised that others have responded to it as much as they have so far. I look forward to our future conversations sir!

[@flamezombie1]

The idea of a social contract was new to me a few months ago. The sort of stuff you'd cover in a session 0, but obviously important. I had a player with me for YEARS who realized recently they were just there to hang out with friends and weren't getting the same thing out of it as we were. Social contracts help avoid that. Keep spreading the good word, Crispy!

[@Tablerunner]

I suppose some sort of formal agreement isn't strictly necessary for just "hanging out" with buddies. My experience has been that introducing formal game conventions helps elevate play quality by aligning intentions for the game.

[@Ritten_Lies]

Short, sweet, and to the point. The contract and the video.

[@Tablerunner]

Thanks! I appreciated your review video of our recent game session.

[@bergetmountain]

Love it. I wish I could participate in a setting like this.

[@Tablerunner]

Feel free to steal anything you see me do and make it your own!

[@bergetmountain]

I am just returning to the role-playing world from a decade long hiatus. As soon as I get my game mechanics down I plan to run something similar. Most GM's I know are too lazy to implement a game with such precision.

[@Zonalar]

A sensible contract. To play an rpg we already decided to meet up for several hours to play a game together. And everyone agrees you esnt to use that time as best you can. A social contract helps minimizing missunderstandings what the game is about and getting everybody on board to oush in the same direction. Some people might find these things weird, or hate the notions of having to subject themselves to "even more rules", especially for something like a game. But it is very important to understand, these are not rules for rules sake. They have a purpose. And if you wish to implement a socisl contract, you should back up every rule with a sound reasoning to your player.

[@Tablerunner]

I agree Z. Especially with the last part. Every element should have a sound reason for being included. Otherwise it could become the capricious whims of a controlling GM.

[@stochasticagency]

Well done, this is a great example of the thought and reasoning that goes into a social contract. While the group understands the shortened explanations and reasons behind many of the entries if one of these is presented in the future I'd recommend taking your time. Sure, your' group understands this, but providing comparative reasons, alternate POVs for why a group might make different choices could increase the value provided in a video like this. A longer video is OK, those of us that want to watch it will. BTW, keep pushing your understanding and exploration into RPGs.

[@Tablerunner]

Thank you for your comment. I agree that more details and especially examples would have made for a clearer message. This was more of a video response to a commenter. Appreciate your words of encouragement!

[@stochasticagency]

@@Tablerunner Totally understandable. I advocate a lot for people investigating why they are playing these games, or a particular RPG, and how they derive enjoyment from them. This concept of social contacts fits into the larger one that also includes things like the Magic Circle. Again, thanks for responding to Eloy and putting this up.

[@Tablerunner]

My pleasure!

[@stochasticagency]

The point about interruptions by players is a valuable one to discuss, especially in an online game. Not just because talking over is inconsiderate, but also because of how audio works, often times the LOUDEST voice gets focused on by the system, drowning out someone else.

[@Tablerunner]

I'm the worst offender (for interrupting others) as a player. It's become a meme in my circle of friends on KZbin. But I'm trying hard to improve. It is especially hard to remember not to interrupt when it's my turn to GM. That element of the contract is really directed at myself! Hahaha!

[@stochasticagency]

@@Tablerunner The challenge of not creating that awkward silence when you can't tell if someone is done Or the stutter step of "Go ahead/No you go ahead." because of the medium (webcam/video) being used.

[@Tablerunner]

@stochasticagency Exactly. Plus, I get excited about the game and start filling every pause with more actions. This issue is improving as I become more familiar with the others in the game. I can "read" my friends in the online game better. Still much easier to do in-person of course.

[@stochasticagency]

@@Tablerunner Make every game practice for the next one as what you may want to improve upon can be found in the last game you played.

[@Tablerunner]

That's the plan!

[@EteraRPG]

That's a quite buffed out contract, Mine looks like a panflet so far. I'll take some notes from yours

[@Tablerunner]

I'm glad to hear that you find it useful!

[@MisterWebb]

A social contract is one that nobody actually consents to

[@flamezombie1]

It is an odd name in that sense. It's a literal contract.

[@Tablerunner]

I agree that "social contract" doesn't really fit as a label. I prefer "table (or game) conventions" but that term risks confusing the "shared set of parameters of play" with actual gatherings of fragrant gamers in a convention centre. Ha!

[@ginacirelli1581]

@@Tablerunner Yeah, after playing with the same group for five years, one of the players stepped up to DM an interim campaign, which is fine. What shocked me is that he immediately said that everyone must sign his social contract. I mean, dude, you can't see how we play after playing with us for five years? I may need to bow out of this interim campaign if this contract is not as straightforward as yours.

[@Tablerunner]

Thanks for the comment Gina (your first on my channel perhaps?). I think that a table convention document should be a conversation rather than an imposition. I hope that it goes well for you!

[@MisterWebb]

Player Agreement

[@Primaeval]

This is exactly what groups with members who are new to each other should be doing to precisely get on the same page. I've thought about the "describing in 2nd person" thing for a couple of months, & I see it as misguided & counter-productive. What led you this move? Maybe I need someone explain it to me yet again... "As you would a Golden Retriever". Anyway, good work here.

[@Tablerunner]

Thanks for the comment Daniel. The second person thing comes from my obsessive effort to leave room for players to decide how their character "feels" and acts in the world. While saying, "you see," "you hear," "you smell," "you taste" are normal and justifiable statements by the GM, I don't want such language to translate into "you look over here," "you listen for the footfalls behind the door," "you breathe deeply," "you test the powder with your tongue." In other words, I am concerned (because I'm weird that way), that overuse of second person narration will let me slide into narrating character actions. I will describe character senses, but I try to leave out the "you" as a reminder to myself that the player describes their actions. I suppose you could say that the "you" is implied, and that's fair. It is a reminder for me to not move player characters around more than anything.

[@Primaeval]

​ @Tablerunner - Yes, I'm neurotic too, haha.

[@ivanmike1968]

Hey man, thanks for putting this up. I was really interested to see the social contract you had for this game. Let me know if you’d be willing to email it to me. Not for nefarious purposes I just think it’s interesting. I’d also be interested to see a written list of the definitions for no out of character Talk that you would give to new players that you did not include this one.

[@Tablerunner]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching. I emailed Eloy a copy. I'll ask him to forward it to you. My first draft included examples of our of character vs in-character talk. I think that would make for interesting content. I'll make a video and tag you in it when it goes public. Appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment Ivan. I'm still catching up on the adventures of Sweeney!

[@ivanmike1968]

@@Tablerunner no problem. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. I’d be curious to hear your reaction to the video I made about 4D role-play as described by the creators. All of the descriptions I quoted in that video are from actual written documents, videos, and even from the book. I would recommend watching the entire video before commenting. 😉

[@ivanmike1968]

@@Tablerunner I’d also be interested in chatting.

[@Tablerunner]

@@ivanmike1968 sure thing Ivan. Perhaps I should respond to your video first? I'm not sure when I will have time to give it proper attention. Hopefully soon.

[@ivanmike1968]

@@Tablerunner no rush. Life is busy

[@drivers99]

You mentioned your players already know what you mean by "no out of character talking" but I'm curious how that works. What if you need to say something out of character?

[@Tablerunner]

Thank you for your question. We imagine circumstances where out of character speaking may normally occur (skill checks, saves, combat mechanics, magic systems), then discuss how we could handle such situations while staying in-character for the entire game once the session starts. Then we practice to see if our ideas worked for us or not.