Agreed. The players are actors in your movie, but they are also the audience... Hiding relevant information from the audience kills any dramatic tension you could have built by allowing them in on the motivations of that character or the relevant details of that subplot. There are exceptions of course. You still want those epic plot twists, such as that treasured NPC that backstabs the heroes at the pivotal moment thus surprising both the characters and the players. But in general, between the players themselves, you enhance the narrative by allowing everyone in on the joke, subplot, etc.
Like everything in life its about striking a balance; don't reveal everything to the point that there's no intrigue, but also don't hold everything so close to your chest that the story is irrelevant and boring.
@DeathwishDice You put that extremely well and now I am kicking myself for not using the line "actors AND the audience"! Agree totally that its integra the GM needs to maintain and generate intrigue from the game world, it's why I made sure to make that the final statement of the vid rather than hide it in the general chat. All of this player transparency depends on the GM rewarding that trust. Thank you!
I can see both viewpoints for and against keeping secrets in RPGs but you made some great points!
Thank you!
Agreed. The players are actors in your movie, but they are also the audience... Hiding relevant information from the audience kills any dramatic tension you could have built by allowing them in on the motivations of that character or the relevant details of that subplot. There are exceptions of course. You still want those epic plot twists, such as that treasured NPC that backstabs the heroes at the pivotal moment thus surprising both the characters and the players. But in general, between the players themselves, you enhance the narrative by allowing everyone in on the joke, subplot, etc.
Like everything in life its about striking a balance; don't reveal everything to the point that there's no intrigue, but also don't hold everything so close to your chest that the story is irrelevant and boring.
@DeathwishDice You put that extremely well and now I am kicking myself for not using the line "actors AND the audience"!
Agree totally that its integra the GM needs to maintain and generate intrigue from the game world, it's why I made sure to make that the final statement of the vid rather than hide it in the general chat. All of this player transparency depends on the GM rewarding that trust. Thank you!
the player`s want to have agency in they story ask them what can jeopardize they secret and what they can do to protect it.