How do you reveal information to your players?

[nopantsyet]

I was reading the thread about the role deception in the DM's toolkit, and it got me thinking about how important it is to reveal information to players in ways that help build suspense, but also are interesting in their own right.

In CRPG's, it's common to use a signpost motif, where the character must reach a certain point in order to learn the next paragraph in the story. But if you do that in a campaign, it feels very stale. It's not real interesting if every time you go asking about something, you find someone who knows the whole story. But at the same time, it gets tedious if you're always running around to get a dozen pieces so you can put them together.

I think that the delivery of information can really add to the intensity of a game. Think about LotR. Bilbo doesn't leave Frodo with the ring saying, "Well I'm off then. Here, take my cursed ring. It's an indulgent burden, and grave to bear, but it can be a zinger at parties and bar mitzvah's. So long, and take care. I'll probably never see you again. Oh, on second thought, probably better just destroy it in Mt. Doom. Goodbye."

Instead we get dark premonitions and dire warnings from a worried Gandalf. Then go to Rivendell, you're not safe here. And you're well into the book before the actual quest is even stated. But by then, you've already seen what forces are at work, and you've seen that all the races of Middle Earth are threatened.

So what do you do to use to present information to your PC's in ways that enrich and complicate the plot?

I've tried to come up with a couple:

The Front: The players are working to unravel a certain mystery, only to find out that it's a piece of a much larger mystery.

Oracles Gods, Angels, Priestesses, Hermits and Lunatics all work well in this role. Oracles should give clues that may be understood, but usually are not until they have come to pass.

Idiots and Crackpots are ike oracles, except they usually are not considered reliable, whereas the portents of an Oracle are of known significance. This allows you to slip things in that the players may take for truth, lie, or simply ignore.

The Fragment comes from an burnt letter, a moldy tome, ruined monument, or anything else that can be broken, torn, or otherwise partially destroyed. It can only contain a few words or images, but often can be presented in a dramatic fashion. I'm about to try grafitti as a fragment.

Any other ideas?

 

[Mark]

One of the problems with roleplaying games is that they are supposed to be taking place in an infinite universe (primarily) but they can only ever be historically finite in based on the limits of preparation. IMO, there needs to be a certain amount of...not deception, so much, but alternate, more obvious answers, to questions where the answer must be guarded for some time from the players to preserve the mystery.

Not unlike the Buffy plot of the key being a person, in actuality (but not revealed in the game as it is in the series), but sprinkling all sorts of more obvious keys in the path of the seekers so they are potentially sure they have solved things when they have not.

There needs to be plenty of seemingly correct answers available for the proper correct answer to be worth discovering.

As to the revealing, I prefer being reactive in a freeform way based on the actions of the players, with fewer, or no signposts if possible.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

I have quite a few NPC's who won't give information until asked. Sure, the sherriff does know about the cultists, but he's not going to tell the party unless he's pressured into it, or it's made worth his time.

Rumor is another good one. Drop random bits of information whenever they're in a bar.

And, after my last expierences, I thought up a new technique.
The magic map: This map will always have a magically glowing symbol on it, to show the holder where he's supposed to go next. The map will automatically update itself as more of the world is explored. However, the overall resoultion of the map is limitied, sometimes to a city block, sometimes to such a scale that cities appear simply as dots.

May or may not be useful based off of your game's tone.

 

[shilsen]

I like using dreams/visions/premonitions a lot. What I'll usually do if I have some time to prepare is write up the vision and either hand it to the relevant people during the game or mail it to them during the week between sessions. The advantage with the latter ties into my next point.

Something which I also like to avail of is the players/PCs themselves for transmitting information. If a player gets to read a page of information and than restates it for eveyone else's benefit, there is always going to be some degree of omission and misrepresentation. And it often leads to serious misinformation even if I've provided all the facts of the matter to the group as a whole. The same is true when different characters have little snippets of information. They're liable to put them together in ways which are far more complex and convoluted than I'd have thought of - and ties themselves in knots while doing so.

Other standbys are rumor, gossip, ancient tomes and documents, etc.

 

[Cerubus Dark]

And, after my last expierences, I thought up a new technique.
The magic map: This map will always have a magically glowing symbol on it, to show the holder where he's supposed to go next. The map will automatically update itself as more of the world is explored. However, the overall resoultion of the map is limitied, sometimes to a city block, sometimes to such a scale that cities appear simply as dots.

Have you been watching Xiaolin Showdown again?


Jack Spicer is hereto get your Sheng Gong Wu! hehe

 

[diaglo]

Instead we get dark premonitions and dire warnings from a worried Gandalf. Then go to Rivendell, you're not safe here. And you're well into the book before the actual quest is even stated. But by then, you've already seen what forces are at work, and you've seen that all the races of Middle Earth are threatened.

So what do you do to use to present information to your PC's in ways that enrich and complicate the plot?

Pssttt..don't forget Tom Bombadil.

you always have someone who knows more than he lets on. even when he could take the ring and hide it for you.

where is the adventure in that?

the whole time you are on your quest...or what you think is the grand quest...to get to Rivendell. you are harried by dark scary threatening figures. herding you....



don't take every story as that is a railroad and try and make it into a campaign. complete with deus ex machina guys. that is playing a crpg.

be more flexible. be more open. and have fun going off on tangents.

 

[Altalazar]

I like to use a variety of techniques, from whispered conversation in a tavern to old, moldy tomes and scroll fragemnts. The latter can make for actual props to hand to the players.

I also write up small narratives to give during or between sessions for specific scenes and information searches that would otherwise have taken up too much time to do fully in-game. Since I give the players extra exp to do write ups of their own each session, the additional narratives fit in rather smoothly.

Of course, there is plenty of misinformation as well - for something not well known or legendary, there can be quite a few conflicting and fantastic stories. Perhaps there is a grain of truth in some of them.

It is always more satisfying for players (and people in general) to figure things out for themselves, based on pieces and clues.