Preferences (Art by Niels Vergouwen)

Ten bucks says the first group hasn't had a single character die in the whole campaign, and the second group is all on their second characters due to the Sybian Incident

That's because the first group does their mimic checks
- the first group is actively avoiding death, because it's realistic to not want to die
  the second group has characters jump into sarlacc pits because hoo hoo hee hee funny

Safety tools shouldn't be lumped under style of play, IMO.

Yeah, if anything, they're MORE important in a gritty game with death and racism. The further a campaign is likely to go, the more you need to know what's "too far".
100% agree
Why not?
- Because they're valuable whether you're doing sexy romance or gritty realism or something else entirely. They don't factor in with the "various styles of play are all equally valid" conversation.

"And your character?"

"Three kobolds named Jeff."

Jeff, Geoff, and Jeffrey

D&D? No thanks

buys yet another no-violence rules-light queer indie rpg book

Love me some Thirsty Sword Lesbians.
There's "everything goes exactly as planned until one player derails the whole session unhindered by rolls or turns" rules-light and "let things flow more naturally and allow things outside the rules if everyone thinks they add to the story" rules-light though...
Personally I much prefer the presence of rules which can be followed if convenient or desired, or ignored if you'd rather, but it is also equally valid to want to do collaborative storytelling/investigation without being derailed by bad rolls, I just know that dealing with setbacks and things not going to plan (which is different to things not succeeding in a pre-planned manner, but again equally valid, along with everything going well if you'd rather) is probably my favourite part
- my take is that the rules are there to facilitate stories and gameplay, because most people are absolutely horrible at making it fun on their own.
  it's just like playing minecraft, most people want survival mode so there's some mechanical impetus to do things, you don't generally end up with memorable moments on a creative server (you do end up with lots of neat art, however).
That sounds fun actually.

I want the first one but with high magic. Do you know how compelling the story can be when you're fighting racist oppressors who have access to 'Wish'?

sir, a second wish has hit the hightower
"I wish for all wishes made after this one to fail spectacularly"
- 👀
Yes, the term "in-game racism" is pretty broad. Does it mean anything that's not a human, elf, dwarf or halfling has a KILL ME sign on it? Or when elves and dwarves don't get along? Or that character races are called "races" instead of "species"? Is it racism when character race influences stats?
- What if someone things humans are fine, but is against variant humans?
  I knew it's just optional rules, but I think it's funnier to think of it as an in-universe race of humans.
I'm the opposite, I want romance, character death, low magic, a later era (1700s theming more than 800s), safety tools out the wazoo and in-game bigotry that my party can rebel against.

Wouldn’t it be intragroup if your party are all banging?

Which rulebook is that?
- FATAL, now roll an anal circumference saving throw.

What are safety tools?

OSHA 1910.132(d)(1)(ii) mandates that safety tools needs to be clearly communicated to each affected employee.
basically a safe word system for TTRPGs, LARPs, etc.
in my experience they're useful for large and/or public groups but if you have to use them with small groups of familiar people you're probably just not a good match for each other TTRPG wise
- I honestly thought it was about PPE.
- I've used lines and veils before but that was because it was my first time running for those players and wasn't very familiar with what is or is not ok for them
Methods like the X card or „lines and veiles“, that you can use to define with what you are comfortable or not and to stop in-game if needed.
It's way to avoid a lot of rpg horro stories the classical one include
Clear description of the game (which is done in this comic) properly managing expectations is already great
Line and veil, in the sense writing done theme that you don't want at the table, and themes which can be present but not in plain sight for example most people do close the door when having sex, so let's do the same in tabletop no need to go further than the bard joined the elf in their room, and what happened behind closed door stay behind closed door
X card, which is a kind of last ressort measure and allows anyone to stop a scene going to far
Then, some people push further and added way to modulate the intensity of a scene, like asking for more or less depending on how you feel. Being at the verge of tears after a consented intense scene can be one of your best RPG memory ever but being at the verge of tear after feeling like another player assaulted you, can be a horror story, and the difference is just about Accepting it

I run gritty low magic games with death and safety tools. Which group do I join!?

Well if you're the DM, you don't join, the group joins you

Memes are good at presenting false dichotomies for people to nod knowingly and say yeah, that about sums it up.

genuinely, how are these not mutually exclusive, then?
- These examples seem mutually exclusive, but I'm not sure why you're asking that. I'm saying the RPG landscape is much more varied than two opposing edge cases - which is how memes tend to misrepresent the world.

I don't want "lots of the safety tools". I want something useful and effective, not just heaping a whole bunch on and assuming more is better.

Honestly, you only need three at most: a way to set limits beforehand, a way to calibrate during and a safe word for when it goes wrong. Thats not "lots"

From my limited understanding of the English language, the comma before the and makes it so that the "lots" refers to the intergroup romance, not the safety tools. I think.
- In formal English, the comma is just wrong. Informally, I agree it does a very effective job of making the message get across that way.

Gritty, low magic, character death, in game racism… are you sure they first game isn’t the old war hammer pen and paper tabletop?

safety tools: oh-oh the dragon slipped and impaled itself on your spear which you did not know was actually +10 and guaranteed critical against dragons

Dragon OSHA is on their way, now.

Btw, OP, it's Niels Vergouwen.

Thank you.

Both of what are valid?

Most the time when people say 'no in game racism' they mean 'these races are bad and these races are good!'