D&D 5E Content Warning Labels? Yeah or Nay?

[Azzy]

Personally, I think you should go with a content warning at the begining (and something on the cover). I like the exclamation point next to the creature's name. Though I'd bot and asterisk next to it with a footnote that tells what kind of triggering content is in the creature's description.

 

[Charlaquin]

I think that every work in any form of fiction should communicate by its choice of title and presentation what kind of work it is. Whether it's something for kids, or something that is feel-good, or something gory, or something scary, you should be able to know it at first glance. It's nice to not have any ugly surprises, but that's really not that difficult for any creators of fiction.

That’s absurd. The title The Lord of the Rings tells me nothing about the target age range, feel-goodness, level of gore, or how frightening the work in question might be. Nor is it the title’s job to communicate those things. You can’t honestly think the work would be improved by having a title like “The dark but ultimately family friendly adventure story concerning a magic ring against a backdrop of war in a fantasy world not unlike medieval Europe.”

If authors feel they need to put warning labels on their products, I am getting the impression that they have no confidence in their work, regarding what it actually is supposed to be.

I get the impression that they are being courteous to potential audience members who may be sensitive to the work’s subject matter.

If you make something that is gross or horrific, have the confidence to make something that is gross and horrific, and don't be afraid to present your work as such.

“Presenting the work as such” is literally the entire function of content warnings.

If you don't think what you've created is okay, then I don't actually want to take it out for a spin either.

Okay is relative. A content warning lets people make an informed decision about what is okay for them.

 

[J-H]

I'm generally not a fan of content/trigger warnings, for reasons others have already adequately covered. A simple disclaimer to the effect that "folk tales and mythology often describe disturbing components and behaviors designed to elicit fear, discomfort, or horror in the audience, and this book recreates many elements from those tales," should be sufficient.

 

[MGibster]

So my question to the community is, is something like that worth it? Is it off-putting? Not needed? Do you appreciate it, or would it turn you away?

I don't have a problem with a content warning. However, I think it's a bit of an overkill to put a content warning on each individual creature entry you think it might belong. Put one content warning at the beginning of the book and be done with it.

 

[MGibster]

It's debatable whether or not content warnings do any good, some people feel that they may do more harm than good.. Just google "do content warnings work" sometime.

For me, content warnings aren't really about mitigating harm it's about avoiding things I just don't think it'll be fun to play out. When I ask my players in horror games what they don't want to see in the campaign, I'm not really worried anything I introduce will harm them. I'm not going to be harmed if one of the players decides their character is going to harm a child, but that's not the type of game I want to play so I don't allow that kind of thing.

 

[S'mon]

So I tried to break it down into categories:

C	Consent
A	Abduction
V	Violence towards women/children
S	Sexual Assault
M	Misogyny

Just to note this doesn't include a big trigger of mine - drowning. Not saying you should include it, just that I think your list can't possibly include everything relevant.

 

[Zardnaar]

With how dark the old fairy tales are relative to current viewpoints, you may as well just title the book "Content Warning: Folklore."

Content warning:history as well.

Can you stick R18 or 16 labels on a book?

 

[DEFCON 1]

So something more like this? I think I like this better than the "CONTENT WARNING" text. (Also, the icon would appear in the Author's Note paragraph, so it would be defined there. Also ignore the CR4 and CR2 disparity; this was a quick mock-up)

View attachment 146812

Here's a query I have regarding this particular creature... is there a page previous to this one that you didn't post that had the details of the myths and lore that this creature comes from? Because the one thing I liked about your original posting regarding the Myling was that your lore section talked about why the creature existed in myth and what caused the creature to become what it was-- the parent killing the child for X or Y reason and now the spirit of the child is looking for a proper burial. Now I know that lore section you included was because it was meant to be part of the 'Content Warning'... but honestly I think even if you didn't specifically call out the Warning part of it... the lore and the explanations of the myth itself I think are a hugely important part of the Myling's write-up. Without it... if it's lore is merely like one sentence of "little children killed by parents and not given a proper burial"... it makes me wonder why it's even in the book in the first place when we already have so many other Ghosts and spirit stat blocks? That Content Warning description of the myth gave me more story-wise why using this particular creature (and its statblock) was useful rather than just your generic "ghost". And I think that's a great thing.

And that's why I wondered if the Glashtyn write-up here was missing the page of myth and lore. Because for this creature it's entire story is two sentences underneath the statblock that describe what it looks like and what it does, and two small bits of "lore & rumors" that are behaviors. But this page has nothing about where this creature came from mythologically-speaking, what it's purpose was in the stories and myths from whence it came, how it came to exist as a creature within the myths, what are the story reasons why its a sea-horse / man hybrid, and why it wants / needs to go after young women? Those are all incredibly important story notes to have in my opinion because it gives us a reason to use this specific creature in our games in the specific instance that it is useful. Because if you don't include that stuff... it otherwise becomes merely just another humanoid shapechanger that wants to kill people. It's a Doppleganger with a horse head instead of a blank face, and-- at least to me-- pretty much an unnecessary addition to the game. So I hope you kept and included all the stories and myths and wrote them all up because that stuff gives us the flavor for why this creature should be used instead of just dropping in a doppleganger. And that's the kind of stuff that I think is great!

 

[HammerMan]

So I tried to break it down into categories:

C	Consent
A	Abduction
V	Violence towards women/children
S	Sexual Assault
M	Misogyny

I like it.... I am a MUCH bigger fan of rattings on TV shows then Movies (I live in the US) where blood and gore can be PG, or R based on amount of realism, and even swearing runs the PG13-R gambit...but any nudity makes for R.

 

[Vince_Snetterton]

You know what. WOTC should put content warnings on any product that has the potential to trigger. Many people have a phobia about spiders. Better put a trigger warning on that. Many hate closed spaces. Better put a trigger warning on any cave or dungeon situation. Same for snakes, dogs, large predators, all reptiles, any situation that gets into slavery, sacrifice, any potential harm to children.

In fact, many people find violence offensive. Watch any TV show and see the warnings about that. And we can't forget all the people triggered by any form of mind control, so warnings on all charm based spells. So pretty much all of D&D should come with warnings.