Society for Aesthetic Deletions

Sometimes the plot of a game requires a GM to keep secrets. Is it better for the GM and other players to keep most out-of-character knowledge secret, or to assume that players are capable of keeping in-character and out-of-character knowledge separate? Where and how do you draw the line as a GM and/or player between what secrets should be kept and which ones are OK to reveal?

But that's a perfect world, one in which most of us do not live.

I love to talk about the neat things in my games, all the secrets that are going on behind-the-scenes. I managed to share this with my co-GM in WEF once he became that, but still shared some stuff with Lou (my husband). There were times when he did not want to know, and some of those times I respected his wishes and kept him in the dark. It was very hard for me, as a GM, to do that. I love to talk about my game, about all the stuff that goes on, about what players did, what characters did, etc.

Now, I must admit, he is really, really good about not letting some information color his perceptions. Probably comes from him being such a good GM.

I try to draw the line at things that will make a character change their reaction if the player knows the truth. It's hard to tell where that line is, but I try as best I can.

For example, while some players and a few characters knew in WEF that Alex had basically become the avatar of the Pattern, not everyone knew. And when Kevin had Chyle teleport to the Pattern Room after killing Alex, and then was surprised when the Pattern took revenge and snuffed the life out of Chyle, Kevin was rather surprised. He did not know in or out of character that Alex had such a high position. If he had known out of character, it's quite likely he would have picked another place to teleport that would have kept him safe from the rampaging avatar of the Logrus that was attacking him, upset that the Pattern's Champion had been killed.

I don't know that Kevin would have changed his plans, but it's possible he would have, even if Chyle didn't know. Not that Kevin's not a good role-player, and able to separate the IC and OOC knowledge, but it would still be there. It could very easily have had a subconscious influence.

I also have a big secret floating around the NPC in my D&D game. Tallis looks and acts like he's lawful good, but if someone cast Detect Evil on him, he detects as evil. Only with careful study can one determine that he's not evil, but something *on our about his back* is the thing that's detecting as evil. None of the active players nor the characters know what is up with him, though they may find out soon. I have managed to keep this secret only by sharing it with others outside of the game - I have an Evil Planning Committee of three people not in the game whom I turn to for advice and ideas, and they know. The one inactive player knows because I had to share the gorgeous artwork I had commissioned for him - the artist is not done with the one I can show the players yet.

I really have no control over what my players share with each other. While I would like them to keep some things secret, I know they're going to talk. They're friends, they do that. I did have one player in my game to whom I specifically told to keep one thing about his character's background a secret, because it could have impact on the game. I found out later that he had told one other player, and while that player hasn't revealed the information (as far as I know) to the others, it still pisses me off. As long as it's character secrets, that's fine. But when I ask for a specific background detail to remain hidden from the players at large, and there is a reason for it, I get upset. Fortunately, that player is no longer in my game, for other reasons.

As for being on the other side of that fence, being a player with someone else as GM - I try to keep my mouth shut if asked. But like I said, I like to talk about my character to others. Lou does a decent job of sharing information with me if he needs help or advice, and I think I do a good job of not sharing it with others.

It gets hard when both of us have created our game world, and we both GM in it, albeit in wildly different time periods. We try to keep our sharing of information pertinent to getting details nailed down, and the occasional plot point that I often conveniently forget (like how our leader's new cohort was going to be a young silver dragon) until it happens. My mind can be like a sieve at times.

We also had one friend and fellow gamer (player and GM) once that loved revealing secrets. He'd love creating these tortured characters with lots of deep, dark secrets that could never see the light of day. And in the first few sessions, he'd reveal them. We coined a phrase for him - "Hey, I got a deep dark secret. Wanna hear it?"