The Intersection of Secrets

I attended a playtest session of “D&D Next” this week. About that game, I’ve nothing to add that hasn’t already glutted the maw of the blogosphere. I did, however, make a statement worth passing on.

During an evening of analysis, meta-gaming, data-analysis, evaluations, over-analysis, accusations, and what I thought at one point was a tear, someone got all philosophical after only a single sip of beer and trumped everyone else’s critical aesthetic with the pointed question: “But, what really happens at the table when people are gaming? I mean…really?”

The first response offered was “Hey, that was my beer, motherf*cker!”

The second response was “Duh – you roll dice. Stop thinking so hard.”

Finally, I gave a slightly more constructive answer. “It’s the intersection of secrets,” I said, and then I explained:

The most dynamic gaming moments – whether during group or solo play – are the ones that happen when secrets converge and force revelation, when strategies and counter-strategies crash into final conflict, and when the Known turns out to be a complete and utter lie.

(It probably didn't come out all that pithy and in bold when I stated it that night, but it was close.)

Solo gamers must prize every secret and continually find ways to give imaginary opposing forces as many as possible, regardless of the type of game being played. So many of us are conscious of this and do our best to preserve the practice, but some soloists may not realize how critical the Unknown is to sustaining satisfying solo play. Consider this post a reminder of that maxim.

And, yeah, you roll dice, too.