Secret Notes

[RPGPundit]

Passing notes to the GM: do you do it in Amber? Often? Do you do it usually in other RPGs?

For me, the answers are yes, yes and no.

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[TonyLB]

I do secrets, but I find notes far too limiting.  Most times I've played Amber it has been played in a place where people spread and wander to different rooms ... so you've got whole private conversations going on, sometimes between a player and the GM, sometimes between multiple players scheming, that sort of thing.

I do the same thing in some other games, but not most.  It depends on the game and the group.

[Nihilistic Mind]

I too find notes limiting. My players use them from time to time, but mostly they wait for a one on one moment... They have to watch out leaving notes behind, because I promote PC versus PC behavior.
It is assumed that out of character information about the game can be used while in character as well. It really helps create the state of suspicion and being careful about formulating plans and schemes that goes on between the elder amberites. It forces the players to be careful...
Notes are dangerous if not disposed of.

[Otha]

I definitely go the private convo route.

In some games, I have sat down with the group, given each player some "face time" in the group, then gone to another room and given each one "secret time" then circle back.

[finarvyn]

We pass notes in PARANOIA and have discussed doing it in Amber becasue secrets are so important, but find note-passing really slows down the game.

Part of what we like about Amber is that it's all action and we hate to disrupt that feel.

[RPGPundit]

I did tons of private convo sessions, but for my players its never enough. Even if I let them have private conversations, each one of them, with me at the start and end of every game, plus in the middle for any major event; I was still using up nearly an entire notebook worth of notes in every 8-hour session.

Now that's good Amber!  When your players are so paranoid and competitive with each other that they don't want the other guy knowing when they're so much as brushing their teeth. :keke:

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[JohnB]

I've occasionally used notes as a player, and the games I've run were pretty heavy in the notes department. On occasion I would also use private conversations, but they tended to drag things down a lot as well.

Besides Amber, the only other game I've seen heavy note use in is Paranoia as finarvyn mentioned. Notes really only come into play in games where the players are potentially pitted against one another. In cooperative games, no one cares enough to keep secrets from other players.

[SunBoy]

First of all, hello again, people. Sorry, I get corny sometimes.
Now, yes, yes and no here. Pretty much self explanatory.
I've seen some heavy scrap traffic in other game styles, and it gets REALLY boring. Like WOULD YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE BLOODY TABLE kind of boring.

[Lawbag]

secret notes and communication are a constant feature of our game so much so they serve multiple purposes in our gaming group.

[Syzygy]

Heh, heh....

I see no one here has yet taken advantage of the strategy of handing blank or nonsensical notes to the GM, for the sole purpose of increasing the anxiety level among the other players....

I'm not going to say too much about this other than to recommend that you try repeatedly handing blank notes to your GM (who will be in on the scam) and see what happens....

[jrients]

Heh, heh....

I see no one here has yet taken advantage of the strategy of handing blank or nonsensical notes to the GM, for the sole purpose of increasing the anxiety level among the other players....

I'm not going to say too much about this other than to recommend that you try repeatedly handing blank notes to your GM (who will be in on the scam) and see what happens....

"Dear GM:  Please read this note, cackle maniacally like it contains some evil plot, then dispose of it.  Thanks, Jeff."

I've passed this note on occassions when I want players to think I'm in cahoots with an NPC, when in reality I already have something worked out with another player.

(Not that I play Amber, mind you.  But I lurk in this subforum sometimes anyway.)

[Otha]

Doesn't that get a little meta?

I mean, the other players around the table aren't supposed to use the knowledge that you just passed a note to the GM to influence their character's actions.

[RPGPundit]

Doesn't that get a little meta?

I mean, the other players around the table aren't supposed to use the knowledge that you just passed a note to the GM to influence their character's actions.

Apparently you're unfamiliar with Amber in actual play?

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[Otha]

Two games.  One ran for a year weekly, the other ran for three years biweekly.  So a total of, hm, a hundred and twenty five sessions?  about five hundred, perhaps seven hundred hours of play.

No one ever passed me a note like that.

No one ever called me into a private conference for no reason.

Edit: In my email games, no one ever faked in the public channels that there was something going on in the private channels that wasn't.

[RPGPundit]

Two games.  One ran for a year weekly, the other ran for three years biweekly.  So a total of, hm, a hundred and twenty five sessions?  about five hundred, perhaps seven hundred hours of play.

No one ever passed me a note like that.

No one ever called me into a private conference for no reason.

Edit: In my email games, no one ever faked in the public channels that there was something going on in the private channels that wasn't.

Then you had some pretty unimaginative players.

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