Discussing Player Secrets. Links for 2/26/2013

Cool Links Discussion Player Players Secret

The Conversation by Arnold Lakhovsky via Wikipedia

In what seems to be a perennial topic among gamers, several blogs this week have discussed the question of whether players should keep secrets from each other. Writing in Hot Button: Secrets, Walt Ciechanowski points out that secrets can be toxic to team cohesion, and can bog a game down in sidebars and paranoia.

Over at The Alexandrian, Justin Alexander responds that this is dependent on the system and players. In Thought of the Day: Secrets and Stuff, he points out that some players are unable to “firewall metagame information”, and that some games can survive (or perhaps even thrive) on the paranoia.

As a player, I tend to use the “open secrets” method. My characters often have secrets, but the players usually know what they are. Sometimes, I’ll keep a little twist between the GM and I, but that’s rare. As John Wick pointed out in the Houses of the Blooded GM advice section, the game is more fun when everybody knows the cool stories, even when their characters don’t.  Several of us have given our opinions on this subject before, which you can find in the “Related Posts” below.