Okay Check-In

Originally created by Maury Brown, Sarah Bowman and Harrison Greene in 2016 for New World Magiscola.

A check-in is a type of safety mechanic used by participants during a larp to assess or gauge another player's state. It can be used at any time if one is concerned about another, but it is typically used to determine if another player is OK and wants to continue playing. Most commonly, check-ins are employed in situations where you are unsure if the other person wants to continue a difficult or intense scene but, for whatever reason, may be unable to convey their wishes or feelings directly.

You may provide an OK check-in hand signal at any time to let the other players in the scene know your comfort level.

There are different ways of feeling “not good” at a LARP. You might be feeling really tired, really hungry, really wet/cold/hot or even emotionally feeling bad. It might not even be related to things going on at the LARP.

Your character might be in a situation that you, the player doesn’t normally engage in, and it might be because the situation developed before you stopped to consider if you were comfortable with the role-play going that direction or because you are trying to be polite and leave another character/player hanging.

It doesn’t really matter what part of a scene bothers you, if the subject matter, intensity or emotions involved leave you feeling like you don’t want to be there, we want you to have a way to opt-out of the scene.

So we’re providing some tools to help you opt-into/opt-out of situations that you like/dislike.

The OK Check-In System can be initiated either as a question or as a response. Below we’ll walk you through an example of one Player checking in on another Player via text and photos, but you can also check out the video for a full tutorial.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT AT ANY TIME YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO PROVIDE A RESPONSE WITHOUT BEING PROMPTED/ASKED A QUESTION. THIS LETS OTHER PLAYERS IN THE SCENE KNOW YOUR COMFORT LEVEL AND THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE ON AT THE SAME OR HIGHER LEVELS.

What to do

When you notice that the other person in a scene doesn’t look comfortable and you’re not sure if that is their Character or the Player.

The Question

Make the OK Symbol against your chest. This does not mean that a scene should pause and this can be held up until the other person notices and responds while the scene continues.

The Answers

There are four potential responses, although two should receive a similar response.

• Thumbs Up - The player is letting you know that the character is not okay, but the player is totally down for the yelling match.
• Two thumbs up - Not only is the player totally down for the yelling match, but welcomes additional intensity if you want to bring it.
• A Level Hand - Ehhh, the player isn’t sure how they feel about the scene.
• Thumbs Down - Not okay. The player is uncomfortable.

Your Response

If a player responds with a level hand or a thumbs down, the best thing you can do is end the scene and ask them to step away from in-character spaces to let them decompress, either with you or with a friend of theirs. Not everyone knows why they didn’t like a scene, or if they do - it’s not something they’re comfortable discussing with everyone. We all want to help our friends, but it’s also important to respect their boundaries and give them the choice of discussing things with you or not.

If you feel like a situation was not resolved please speak with Staff and they’ll help you navigate the remaining pieces.

PLEASE NOTE

We don’t think it will ever come up, but just so that it’s in writing somewhere…

This system should never be used to advance a character, escape In-Character consequences or to negatively affect another character/player. A player found abusing this system for their benefit, or for the detriment of another player, will be subject to out of character disciplinary actions.