Player vs. Character Knowledge
It’s an endless debate: How much should players know about what’s going on in the metaplot, as opposed to what the characters themselves know.
Now, I myself like to keep my cards close to my chest, though I usually have a GM’s Leak to bounce ideas off of. I’ve heard the thought that
“just because you aren’t surprised doesn’t mean your character can’t be,” and to some extent, this is true. But in the same vein, you could say the same thing about movies: if you’re going to a movie you’ve been looking forward to, do you want to know the entire plot? Or do you avoid spoilers? “Just because you aren’t surprised, doesn’t mean the characters in the movie can’t be,” right?
Wrong.
This is exactly why I think it’s best for players to not know what’s going on. I want their surprise and revelation to be genuine, where they really didn’t see it coming. If you tell them, “you guys are going to face a white dragon tonight,” and show them your gargantuan white dragon statue, it’s not going to be as cool when their characters are walking through a cave and suddenly feel the air turn cold around them. As they turn a corner, you pull the dragon miniature from behind the screen and place it on the map. The gasps of horror are so much better that way.
Now, there are some situations in which I think it’s okay to let you players know what’s going on. If you’re in my situation, with a wife who plays in your group, it’ll be kind of hard to hide the construction of a giant purple worm from her. Bridget will still usually pretend to be surprised at the table. However, I’ve heard of some wives who will ply their husbands for information on what they’re going to face, then bring the information back to the group. Very sneaky.
What do you all think? How should this be handled, in your opinions?
I agree. I think it’s easier and better if players know as much as characters do. For example, if a system suggests that “Red monster” is immune to everything other than fire damage; I think it takes a great group of gamers to willingly allow their un-informed characters to try and fight it with their swords.
That’s just the combat example. It’s far more important in pretty much every other dramatic system. If the young heroes don’t know dwarves in fantasy setting X hate goblins then that could lead to some fantastic plot twists.
The area I do have my doubts is in the game mechanics. For example, back when I would GM, I ran an entire Rifts campaign when the players didn’t know how much MDC their armour had left (not unless it was a fancy suit with some sort of display). Sure they could tell if their armour was looking battered or not but they couldn’t precisely tell they’d survive 36 more points of damage but die if they took 37. Was that harsh of me?
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I also agree. When I’m giving info to the players, I make sure that it is only the bare essentials so they will still be surprised during play.
I also have a GM leak, but I’m lucky to have a leak who has a very crappy memory and almost never seems to remember the stuff I leak to her, which is basically me having my cake and eating it too.
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