Overview

Story Games LA is a Los Angeles, California based meetup that was created for running independent and small-press role-playing and story games, and has been running since October 2016. We try to provide an inclusive space, and do not tolerate harassment or prejudice of any kind, including that based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, or disabilities. (Note: In March 2024 the meetup name changed from Story Games Glendale to Story Games LA.)

This document outlines our community standard and code of conduct guidelines, where to get assistance if you run into any issues, and how such issues will be adjudicated. It is also found, and can be shared, using a shortened URL: https://bit.ly/StoryGamesLA-CommunityStandards.

Tables of Contents

Meetup spaces

Story Games LA was initially a meet-in-person meetup, with regularly scheduled gaming. Since early 2020 we have also taken to creating an online space for game discussion and organization, and have dedicated spaces on Discord.

This Community Standards document applies to any events sponsored by Story Games LA, whether in real or virtual spaces.

Playing Games

Story Games LA was created with a primary mission of giving a space to run, play and discuss small-press and independent role-playing and story games (though we work off of pitches and signups, so any RPG you find players for is acceptable). Our mission is to enjoy the playing and sharing of these experiences with those who are both new to the hobby, and those who are deep in its embrace.

We play with an “open table”, meaning that public games posted on the meetup are public in nature: anyone can sign up to play who is a meetup member. This is especially true of our Indie RPG Nights, where we run multiple games simultaneously, and members can get into any game of interest, as long as there is space availability.

In general, the games we play require no player preparation or prior knowledge. You can show up to the table, and the facilitator will provide whatever materials are required. All we ask of you is to show up with an open mind and collaborative spirit.

Some games are organized to be multiple sessions over the course of a few weeks. In these cases there may be a preference for a consistent set of players attending. If this is the case, it will be noted in the event description.

Running Games

Indie RPG Nights

Our regular Indie RPG Night events - both in person and online - allow anyone to play games. If you are new to our group and wish to run games, we ask that you play the first few times to get a feel for the games we play, and for the environment and our community.

If you have played with us and now wish to run a game at our meetup, please review this document’s sections on Safety Tools and Community Standards, and then get in touch with the meetup organizers either at the event or in our Discord, preferably ahead of time.

Organizing additional events

To organize one or more specific game sessions for the Story Games LA Meetup separate from our Indie RPG Nights, you must first be given the rights to do so.

On the Story Games LA meetup page, you must be assigned Event organizer privileges by one of the meetup organizers (currently: Tomer Gurantz or Chris Register). To check your current privileges, go to Meetup’s member page, and search for your name. By default you are a member. If you have further privileges, it will say Event organizer beneath your name.

To become an event organizer, you must demonstrate that you understand and follow our community standards, as outlined in this document, and speak with our Meetup organizers.

Detailed information on how to schedule meetup events is currently TBD (to be done). In the meantime, simply look at prior meetup events, and copy the format and intent.

Safety Tools

Because of the nature of role-playing games, exploring emotions and volatile storylines may come up. To ensure the comfort and safety of our members, we have taken a strong stance on playing with role-playing game safety tools (such as the X-card, Open Door Policy, Lines and Veils, Script Change Tool, larp safewords such as Cut and Brake, and others).

Although we cover a subset of these prior to running our meetup, it is the responsibility of the game facilitator and players at the table to discuss and use whichever tools make sense for the game and table. At a minimum, we recommend everyone play with the Open Door Policy, and leave a situation if they are not enjoying themselves or the game, at any time. (Communicate if you do not intend on returning to a game, so we know how to proceed without you.)

Here are a number of fantastic resources about safety tools:

Community Standards

Events are often held in private, rented venues (such as game cafes), and community members are expected to follow the rules and safety protocols of that venue.

We hope that everyone is coming from a place of tolerance and sharing. Although we love to assume that people speak and act with good intentions, to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all our participants (visitors, regulars, and organizers), we enforce no tolerance for harassment, as written in our Code of Conduct.

In addition to the more strict rules around harassment, we also have some social rules to foster a friendly and encouraging gaming and social environment.

Social Rules

Unlike the Code of Conduct which enforces that all members abide by rules to ensure a safe space for all, the social rules are more lightweight, and are expected to be broken. Breaking a social rule doesn’t imply you are a bad person, and is not there for punishing people. It is there to help make our meetup a pleasant environment where you are free to be yourself, experiment with things outside your comfort zone, and focus on gaming and fun.

These rules are borrowed from the excellent work done by the Recurse Center and documented for their group at https://www.recurse.com/social-rules. We have rewritten them here in a manner that is specific to our meetup.

The social rules name subtle behaviors that put other people down or show how much we know instead of supporting each other’s learning. They are:

No well-actually’s

A well-actually is when you correct someone about something that’s not relevant to the conversation or tangential to what they’re trying to say. They’re bad because they aren’t helpful, break the flow of conversation, and focus attention on the person making the “well actually”.

This rule can be a bit tricky because there isn’t a clear line between relevant to the conversation and not. Sometimes your correction might actually be necessary, and it could still come off as annoying when you make it. The best rule of thumb is, if you’re not sure whether something needs to be said right now, hold off and see what happens. You can always say it later if it turns out there’s no way for the conversation to move forward without your correction.

No feigning surprise

Feigned surprise is when you act surprised when someone doesn’t know something. Responding with surprise in this situation makes people feel bad for not knowing things and less likely to ask questions in the future, which makes it harder for them to learn.

Note that when someone acts surprised when you don’t know something, it doesn’t matter whether they’re pretending to be surprised or actually surprised. The effect is the same: the next time you have a question, you’re more likely to keep your mouth shut.

No backseat driving

Backseat driving is when you give advice from across the room (or online chat) without really joining or engaging in a conversation. Because you haven’t been participating in the conversation, it’s easy to miss something important and give advice that’s not actually helpful. Even if your advice is correct, it’s rude to insert yourself into a conversation without asking. If you overhear a conversation where you could be helpful, the best thing to do is to ask to join.

No subtle -isms

Subtle -isms are subtle expressions of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia and other kinds of bias and prejudice. They are small things that make others feel unwelcome, things that we all sometimes do by mistake. Subtle -isms make people feel like they don’t belong. We want to create an environment where everyone can focus all their energy on gaming and collaborating, which is hard to do if you’re being made to wonder whether you belong.

Subtle -isms can also be things that you do instead of say. This includes things like excluding the only woman in a discussion or assuming someone isn’t a gamer because of their race or gender. For example, “...even my mom can play it” tacitly bakes in assumptions about the capability of women or older people and their ability to handle these games, even when the person saying this may not strictly subscribe to such beliefs.

This rule is more complicated than the others. Not everyone agrees on what constitutes a subtle -ism. Subtle -isms are baked into society in ways that can make them hard to recognize. And not everyone experiences subtle -isms in the same way.

There’s another part of no subtle -isms: If you see racism, sexism, etc. outside of our meetup, please consider how you engage with it in our meetup. Everyone who comes to our meetup should have the same opportunity to focus on gaming, and people from oppressed groups often find discussions of racism, sexism, and so on particularly hard to tune out. Please don’t start a discussion about the latest offensive comment from Random Game Designer without considering how this may affect (or checking in with) those around you.

Code of Conduct

Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature, and is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral reasonableness. These are generally behaviors that appear to be disturbing, upsetting or threatening.

This includes, but is not limited to:



In relation to, but not limited to:



Our policy applies to any meetup sponsored events and spaces, including live events scheduled by Story Games LA’s event organizers, as well as virtual spaces such as the Story Games LA Discord and online games created therein. The policy applies to all people involved in the meetup including, but not limited to: attendees, visitors, guests, volunteers, event organizers, and the meetup owners.

If you are asked to stop harassing behavior you must do so immediately. “No” means no, and “go away” means go away. If you violate our Code of Conduct anti-harassment policy we may at our discretion issue a warning, or ban you from the community (Meetup, Discord, and so on). If you ignore warnings, you will be banned.

Reporting Harassment

If you are in immediate physical danger, prioritize yourself by getting to safety and contacting any local security or law enforcement, as necessary. Get in touch with us when it is safe and appropriate for you to do so.

Although everyone should feel comfortable pointing to our social rules to any other member, there is never any shame in needing assistance! Anyone can report an incident. If someone’s behavior has made you feel uncomfortable, or you witness another person in an uncomfortable situation, please let us know. Harassment and inappropriate behavior will be considered not only in connection with this community and its events, but incidents that may have occurred outside our community space may also be considered.

To report an incident of harassment, please contact any one or more of the individuals in the Story Games LA Safety Team. When reporting harassment, please include as much detail as you feel comfortable disclosing so we can address the situation immediately and thoroughly.

Handling of Harassment Complaints

Where a complaint of harassment or inappropriate behavior is made, the Story Games LA Safety Team will attempt to follow the procedure below:

  1. Request that the complainant make the complaint in writing, and any relevant evidence is provided. The complainant may request that this complaint be kept private and it need not be acted upon if the complainant feels like the report can be tracked back to them.
  2. Any persons involved will be informed of the allegations against them, and provided with an opportunity to respond.
  3. The Story Games LA Safety Team will consider all available evidence and come to a determination about the action to be taken.
  4. The complainant and persons complained against will be informed about the outcome.

This process will remain confidential, and all of those involved are expected to preserve confidentiality as much as possible.

Story Games LA Safety Team

The Safety Team is there to help, and can be reached using any of the following:

If you feel more comfortable reaching out to any team members directly, please do so.

The safety team consists of the following individuals:

Name (pronouns) Email Mobile Discord handle
Anne Ratchat (ze/zir) [email protected] +1 (213) 434-1850 .mngwa
Artem Yatsunov (he/they) [email protected] +1 (862) 202-5655 slothsarecoming
Chris Register (he/him) [email protected] caregister
Greg Hellings (he/him) [email protected] +1 (909) 996-2432 greg1618
Kes Rose (he/they/she) [email protected] +1 (657) 256-9987 akestrelrose
Moe Poplar (he/him) [email protected] moe_p
Nicole Hellings (she/her) [email protected] +1 (909) 262-8759 nicole_hellings
Tomer Gurantz (he/him) [email protected] +1 (323) 600-5548 tomesoftomes
Vixie Belle (she/her) [email protected] vixiebelle

Resources