I heard you needed more Canadians, so I’m listening to all your podcasts in chronological order.
I heard you needed more Canadians, so I’m listening to all your podcasts in chronological order. I just listened to Episode 11 about Secrets, and it reminded me of a story I was told.
This story was told to me by the GM as an earnest, cherished example of how awesome secrets between players can be in campaigns.
In a high-level AD&D campaign, there was a hapless ranger who was constantly getting killed and being resurrected at great expense. Mostly to himself, I believe–he was deeply in debt to an order of clerics, at a time when the other PCs were building strongholds.
For some reason, this irritated another PC, an assassin. I’m not sure if it irritated the PC, or the player.
At any rate, the assassin player approached the GM and declared he wanted to assassinate the ranger.. secretly. The ranger had no more money available, so this would be his final death.
The GM and assassin player had an impromptu, one-on-one session where the assassin described his plans for finding the ranger in town once the next adventure was over, and how he would go about trying to kill him when his guard was down. The ranger was a creature of habit, so the assassin had several ideas for how to track him down.
The GM dug up the ranger’s stats, and the two characters duelled it out in a hypothetical street ambush – the assassin PC played by his player, and the GM played the ranger, with the GM throwing a few curveballs to try to understand the assassin’s backup plans. The mock fight ends with the ranger dead. Satisfied with his plan, the assassin ends his private session.
Time passes. During the group’s next session they return to town, at which time the ranger heads off to his usual haunts, exactly as the assassin predicted.
The GM suddenly declares to the ranger that he’s under attack by a masked assailant. Using the strategies the assassin described during the rehearsal fight, the GM plays the assassin as an NPC.
The ranger is dumbfounded – who is this guy? Why is he attacking me? His questions are never answered: the fight goes as expected, and the ranger is dead. As far as the player can tell, a high-powered NPC came out of nowhere and killed his veteran PC, for no reason. With no more cash to his name and too indebted to them already for the church to take pity, it’s his final death.
—
There’s lots here to react to, but I wanted to add something that I didn’t hear touched on in the episode. Just like PbtA games remind us that the game is a conversation, the sessions themselves take place in a network of relationships.
This strikes me as the hallmark of messed-up table secrets: neglecting the impact it has on the relationships.
I think some of it stems from a lack of empathy. I have a secret, it’s fucking delicious, and I’m not imagining what it’s like not to know it. I’m confusing the suspense and tension I’m feeling at the impending big reveal with the idea that the reveal will be delightful all on its own (it won’t be). I’m assuming that nobody else can sense something weird is up with the vibe (they can).
