"Adventure Secrets"

[heirodule]

I was flipping through the SW Saga book at a bookstore, and noticed their persuade skill. All lined out were what it could do: stop a combat, something else...and, get the creature to reveal a secret. That sounded rather formalized.

In Xendrik Expeditions, there is a mechanical idea called the Adventure Secret. Its been uses rarely, and Steven Radney McFarland is the one who put it into the campaign (before he transferred throwing RPGA into brief chaos at gencon 2006) without apparently giving many details on the mechanics of it.

In XE, you have cards to represent you action points available, which can also be used for other minor benefit effects. One of those effects is to learn the "next Adventure Secret"

Its been things like "the answer to the puzzle you need to solve to get through the door". I'm trying to recall another use of them in a scenario. (I actually found the use of this somewhat annoying in play. There was a puzzle I wanted to solve and someone flipped down their Secret card and said "we solve the puzzle". Fortunately the GM also let me work it out.)

I wonder if/how 4e will formalize the inclusion of "secrets" into a scenario. Roleplaying encounters are supposed to be more resolvable by die rolls.

I'd personally prefer to see formal secrets used, not for make-or-break encounters, but more like secret areas in video games. You find the obscure secret out, and it leads you to what amounts to a small side quest that isn't related to the main plot, but offers some kind of geegaw or interesting unique encounter

 

[Adso]

I was flipping through the SW Saga book at a bookstore, and noticed their persuade skill. All lined out were what it could do: stop a combat, something else...and, get the creature to reveal a secret. That sounded rather formalized.

In Xendrik Expeditions, there is a mechanical idea called the Adventure Secret. Its been uses rarely, and Steven Radney McFarland is the one who put it into the campaign (before he transferred throwing RPGA into brief chaos at gencon 2006) without apparently giving many details on the mechanics of it.

In XE, you have cards to represent you action points available, which can also be used for other minor benefit effects. One of those effects is to learn the "next Adventure Secret"

Its been things like "the answer to the puzzle you need to solve to get through the door". I'm trying to recall another use of them in a scenario. (I actually found the use of this somewhat annoying in play. There was a puzzle I wanted to solve and someone flipped down their Secret card and said "we solve the puzzle". Fortunately the GM also let me work it out.)

I wonder if/how 4e will formalize the inclusion of "secrets" into a scenario. Roleplaying encounters are supposed to be more resolvable by die rolls.

I'd personally prefer to see formal secrets used, not for make-or-break encounters, but more like secret areas in video games. You find the obscure secret out, and it leads you to what amounts to a small side quest that isn't related to the main plot, but offers some kind of geegaw or interesting unique encounter

First off, I think the RPGA did just fine when I left Wizards last year.

I didn't detail a whole lot of mechanics for it because I don't think they needed a whole lot of them. Or rather, I think that they should have just as many mechanics as the DM or adventure writer needs. In some ways I always envisioned them to be more adventure writers’ tools and a method to creating a gamist way to communicate the useful parts of those tools. They the promise of internal hooks; a convention.

Home DMs do this in a non-gamist way all the time—they make stuff up. RPGA adventures are a little more formal and rigid. There was a need there to both tell players that they could look for secrets, and give the DM a way to give them out without feeling that they were forced to make stuff up on the fly.

I never thought they were a way to actually bypass non-combat encounters, and I understand why you found that particular application annoying. Personally, I would have waited until you all gave up on the puzzle (if that occured) to have the card's ability come into play. They were never meant to kill anyone's fun...just the opposite, actually.

That's why the adventure secrets idea was started in XE, but while a gamist idea, I was hesitant to create too many rules for it. It works best as a tool (somewhat storytelling, somewhat organizational) rather than a straight jacket, and shines when used creatively...like a lot of things in D&D.

 

[smerwin29]

I've been trying to put at least one "adventure secret" into each adventure I write, since that card (as well as some other game elements involving adventure secrets) are established in the campaign.

As the Faction known to the tricks, traps, and puzzles, I thought that was a good way to provide a safety net to parties if someone goes wrong. In general, I try to make sure that there is a reward for doing things with the "adventure secret," and perhaps a slight penalty if the "adventure secret" is used to do something that the PCs should be able to do with it.

As Stephen says, another use of the adventure secret would be to provide background knowledge about something happening in the adventure that might not affect adventure play, but fills in some blanks instead, expanding the experience instead of limiting it.

Shawn
Crimson Codex Guy