With the recent talk of racism & homophobia wrt the safety tools?... soooo
xmen is off the table?
For tables with people who don't want to deal with racism in their escapist hobby and communicate that to the group/dm, yes. Simple as that.
Being dominated isn’t supposed to be nice. It’s supposed to be horrific. That’s it’s thing. Similar to being murdered except you have to watch it being done.
And I wouldn't play in a game that is going to include helplessly being murdered, either. Losing a fight to the death is completely different from that, obviously.
Being mind-raped is also off the table. For some people, the visceral reaction to a thing only happens when it is directed at them. That isn't less valid than a universal reaction.
I love how compulsion in Wheel of Time is treated with the disgust and shock it deserves.
Me too! Doesn't mean I am okay with my PC being mind controlled. Getting to murder a mind-controlling evil slaving piece of garbage, on the other hand, I'm fine with.
My allies using abilities that are similar to mind control, but that explicitly don't take away their free will, like Charm Person which only changes your perception of someone and thus might as well be an illusion spell, I am judgmental about the use of, but they don't make me nearly as uncomfortable. At worst, they're a veil.
If a DM decided that they just aren't going to use or allow mind control in the game, to avoid the issue entirely, I'd be fine with that, but consider it a bit extreme and perhaps even a bit lazy of them, depending on the situation. Especially if they included things like Crown of Madness and Command. I've seen people include effects that stun, which is really extreme. I don't think
@overgeeked is going nearly that far, as they've said that fear is also kinda boring for them but not a big deal, for instance.
However players that are cool with it on other people but not on themselves are missing the point I think. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
No. NPCs aren't being embodied by the player who is uncomfortable with having their agency removed without their consent. If the DM has a thing with mind control, they are just as free as a player to ask the table not to use it on NPCs, or to only use it on nameless combat enemies, or whatever their actual line is.