Crowned Murder runs campaigns that can be dark, emotionally complex, and morally ambiguous. That means the people at the table come first.
This document exists to make the table a place where everyone can do their best work. It is not a limitation on the story. It is what makes ambitious storytelling possible.
Lines and Veils are a standard safety tool in collaborative storytelling. Read this before your first session. If anything here raises questions, bring them to the DM before play begins.
Lines are hard stops. Content that will never appear in a Crowned Murder campaign, not as narrative, not as implication, not as backstory. The story does not go there. Full stop.
Veils are soft limits. Content that may exist in the fiction but will always happen off-screen. Think of it as a cut to black. The event can be part of the world or a character's history, but it is never dramatized at the table.
These lists represent the table-wide defaults for all Crowned Murder campaigns. Individual campaigns may add to either list during Session Zero. Nothing is ever removed from Lines.
The following content does not appear in any Crowned Murder campaign under any circumstances. These are not negotiable and are not subject to player consent or campaign theme.
If something at the table crosses a Line, whether it appears on this list or not, any player may say "Line" and play stops immediately, no explanation required. The DM will redirect without question.
The following content may exist in the story, as character history, world context, or narrative consequence, but will always happen off-screen. The DM will narrate outcomes, not events.
Veils are defaults, not absolutes. If a player wants to explore something on this list as part of their character's story, that conversation happens one-on-one with the DM before play, not at the table.
Beyond Lines and Veils, these are the operating principles of every Crowned Murder table.
An X-Card is available at every session. Tap it or say "X" at any time to skip or edit content, no explanation needed, no questions asked.
Any player may leave any session at any time for any reason. Leaving is never held against anyone. The story waits.
What happens to a character is fiction. What happens to a player is real. These are kept separate. Always.
The DM may check in with players during emotionally heavy scenes. "Are we good?" is always a sincere question, not a formality.
After heavy sessions, we debrief briefly out of character. This is not optional; it is part of the session.
What happens at the table stays at the table unless all players agree otherwise. Character backstories shared in trust are not social content.
Our campaigns are not light. Players should expect to encounter some or all of the following. These are not warnings to avoid the table. They are an honest description of what we make.
Mortality and grief. Characters die. People loved by characters die. We do not soften this.
Moral ambiguity. There are rarely clean heroes and clean villains at this table. Characters will be asked to make choices without good options.
Power and its costs. What it takes to gain power, what it does to you, and what you owe afterward. These are recurring concerns across our worlds.
Trauma and recovery. Backstories are treated seriously. Wounds matter. Healing is neither instant nor guaranteed.
Violence with consequence. Combat and violence have weight. They leave marks. We do not treat them as neutral mechanics.
This document covers table-wide defaults. Every campaign adds its own specific Lines and Veils at Session Zero based on the particular story being told and the specific players at the table.
If you have a concern, a limit, or a question that is not addressed here: bring it to the DM before your first session. Not during character creation. Not in session. Before. That conversation is part of the onboarding, not an interruption of it.
There is no wrong thing to raise. There is only the version of the story where someone was uncomfortable and did not say so.
Return to CampaignsThe ambition of what we make here depends entirely on the safety of the people making it. These are not rules that limit the story. They are the conditions that make it possible.