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Kevin took my thunder! My only recourse is to restate more briefly and hope my succinctness makes me win the thread.

Open secrets are fun for an entire game. Secret secrets are maybe fun for a moment, and maybe not at all if they suck or are not revealed.

There's a lovely thing called dramatic irony that open secrets let you play with that's so much fucking better than the catharsis of the occasionally-successfully-revealed secret.

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Once in a very great while I enjoy a closed secret, but usually only if the period of its closedness lasts a few minutes.

For the Gift game, it was the Dwarven Prince's player who first asked for paper for passing notes. Amusingly, all his notes were actually fake -- he wanted to pretend he was up to something sneaky, and I would pretend to react, send fake replies, and ask for fake rolls.
Jenn's rumor mill really added an interesting element to the game, which is why it worked so well. The situation was already a tense one. Player intrigue was piqued from seeing all the note passing, which was reinforced as the PCs slowly picked up on the rumor spreading through the Hold.

Note passing has to add to the game without bogging down the GM. It's very specific to the game, system, and story. Regarding Kenmis's post, it's best if the secrets eventually come out, if not for the PCs than at least for the players.

The most extreme example I can think of is Paranoia, but Paranoia is about keeping secrets and backstabbing the other players.

With secrets, like most things in life, you can look to Fight Club for answers.



So, if the fun created by the big reveal will be less than the fun everyone could have been having all along if the secret was open to the players, then you don't keep it a secret.

ooooh well said! and a fight club quote to boot

you had me at fight club quote i heard nothing else

maybe i should watch fight club.... i liked that other brad pitt movie... damn it i forgot the name.... lock stock and barrel?? no...snatch! yippie for imdb... which happens to be right AFTER fight club... i should watch it. plus edward norton is in it. mmm hulk..

I agree with most of the replies to my big post (and succinctness get's you NOTHING on the Internet, Rob!).

Secrets are best for short-term stuff. That's why they work so well in con scenarios like The Gift. Many con scenarios rely on not knowing what the other players intend, that's how you get nasty surprises and whatnot.

What I was really railing against were the long term secrets. A secret kept for 6 months is a waste of potential drama!

Jenn, you're right about my example, the GM should have brought that to the table and put the scheming to an end. We chalk it up as a hard lesson earned. Also, go watch Fight Club. Now!

yup yup. long term secrets can be a huge waste. and its unsatisfying. (insert sex joke here george)

i can't wathc fight club tonight. it's battlecast 3

So let me get this straight... you've seen every fucking episode of the bachelorette season 400 and all 18 Cinderella stories, but you haven't managed to make time for a movie like fight club? I mean... I'm not entirely sure the movie lives up to ALL the hype but it's still a movie that everyone should watch at least once.

You're fired.

Better yet, skip the movie and read the book.

Only do that if you want to experience a version of the story that is, according to the author of the novel, inferior to the film.