Passing notes at the table

[Mallus]

It never slowed down play when it was players passing notes to each other.

Aha, I was only considering player/DM note passing. I've really never seen players passing notes amongst themselves.

But sometimes I think there are somethings you don't want everyone else to know or you play with some players whom have trouble getting player knowledge out of the game.

For me it's a simpler proposition. There are some people I want to play D&D with and some I don't. People I have to go to lengths to conceal things from because I don't trust their ability to separate player and character knowledge fall squarely into the latter category.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I would rather see players pass notes than natter on about something and distract the others. See, sometimes the players pass notes to generate thoughts on something while I am dealing with some other players. I would also rather see note passing than constant dragging each other into the next room.

That being said, I do not see lots of note passing among players. Occassionally, I send some notes and they send me some notes but even that has begun to be somewhat rare.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I only pass, and request, notes when it increases the fun at the table, rather than decreases it. In general, this means that I don't use notes for every situation in which the PCs have different levels of knowledge, but rather only when players will enjoy certain types of surprises, even when those surprises are, from the PC's perspective, nasty.

So, for instance, if the party is split, I won't routinely use notes, but I might begin using notes if one group or the other encounters a doppleganger who may infiltrate.

 

[Glyfair]

I only pass, and request, notes when it increases the fun at the table, rather than decreases it. In general, this means that I don't use notes for every situation in which the PCs have different levels of knowledge, but rather only when players will enjoy certain types of surprises, even when those surprises are, from the PC's perspective, nasty.

So, for instance, if the party is split, I won't routinely use notes, but I might begin using notes if one group or the other encounters a doppleganger who may infiltrate.

I agree with the first comment. It goes well with a theory propagated on the Runequest/Glorantha forums called "the Theory of Maximum Game Fun" or MGF.

However, the big picture needs to be looked at. If you only pass notes when there are things like dopplegangers about then you tip off the players, that might hurt the MGF. Of course, this depends on the group as doing this with the Knights of the Dinner Table would be a bad thing, but with more narrative oriented groups might enhance it (in fact the second group might not even need it).

 

[the Jester]

Allow? Yes.

Encourage? Generally no. There are exceptions, depending on the style of the game.

 

[buzz]

I was the guy arguing against note-passing in the other thread, so obviously I voted "no."

Basically:

a) I trust that the players in my group are mature people who can separate IC and OOC knowledge when appropriate. The guy playing the paladin should be able to hear the guy playing the rogue talk about doing something rogue-y and then not use that info to act like a dickweed. If they can't do this, I don't want to play with them.

2) Passing notes (or, similarly, private sidebars with the DM) is, for the most part, concealing your play from the other people at the table. By concealing your play, you're preventing them from being entertained by your play. Given players in an RPG are as much audience as they are participants, keeping them in the dark is, IMO, really un-fun. It's like seeing only half a movie.

Not to mention, you're also eliminating lots of possibilities for cool roleplaying moments, e.g., the paladin's player making grand speeches about his good friend the Honest Rogue, when everyone at the table knows the paladin, IC, is totally oblivious to the rogue being a total scoundrel. These moments cannot happen if everyone is restricted to "only what their character knows."

FWIW, I'm not arguing against any secrecy whatsoever at the table. Obviously, discovery and exploration is a big part of D&D, so you can't have everything be transparent. Nonetheless, IME, play is a lot more fun when players "share the awesome" instead of hoarding it for themselves. I.e., really cool moments that only the DM and one other person can appreciate are, in fact, not really cool at all. They are grade-A lame in my book.

 

[Bad Paper]

of course

If I can't get a player to get up and follow me out of the room to tell him/her something, then I have to resort to note-passing. I've given up on that, though, since (s)he will always read my note aloud. :\

 

[Raven Crowking]

I am the biggest believer in the DM having the absolute right to say "No" to the players that you are ever likely to run into. That said, I believe that all rights come with the inherent responsibility to use those rights as responsibly as you can. So, I do believe that I can say to my players, "No, you can't do that" at the table, but I also believe that I have to have a compelling reason to do so.

One person consistently damaging the game for the rest of the players would be a strong enough reason.

Players don't generally use notes at my table, but it has happened. I have used notes for major exposition. When the fighter (whose background was that he was an amnesiac) recovered his memory, I had a sheet prepared for him. Then I let the player deal with how he wanted to handle the information. It was fun for everyone, and resulted in a flurry of more carefully devised backgrounds.

I had one game back in 2e where one player was a rogue who pretended to be a ranger. It wasn't to go against the party; it was simply the character concept. And it was fun. He didn't rely on note-passing though. He simply said what he wanted to do.

Player 1: "I try to climb the wall."

Player 2: "But you're a ranger! Rangers can't climb walls!"

DM: "There's some effort involved, but you manage to scramble up."​

or

Player 1: "Do I notice any tracks?"

DM: "No"​

The strange thing was that, no matter how often the "ranger" disabled a trap or climbed a wall, and no matter how bad he was at tracking, the other players didn't catch on until the rogue's alignment changed (due to a Helm of Opposite Alignment) and he felt compelled to tell them the truth.

Waaayyyy back in 1e, I once participated in a game where there was a lot of note-passing in the first session. The players didn't know what sort of characters each had made, and they met in the Standard Adventurer's Inn. Of course, they players were only allowed to communicate with the DM via notes, while the DM described what happened, and who said what. The upshot was that the party that resulted included some NPCs....simply because it wasn't always possible to tell who was a PC and who was not. After the party was formed, the game became a "normal" game -- the players simply announced their actions. But it was a heck of a lot of fun, and resulted in PCs fighting PCs in the brawl before everything was sorted.

So, notes can be fun if used sparingly, or for a specific effect. And, again, I hesitate to tell my players that they cannot do something unless I have a very good reason.

YMMV. YDMB.

 

[Elf Witch]

Aha, I was only considering player/DM note passing. I've really never seen players passing notes amongst themselves.


For me it's a simpler proposition. There are some people I want to play D&D with and some I don't. People I have to go to lengths to conceal things from because I don't trust their ability to separate player and character knowledge fall squarely into the latter category.

I have played with a guy for years he is a good friend and I enjoy playing with him. On most things he is a good player his onw flaw is that if he knows a secret as a player not the character he has a hard time not using that knowledge whwn he makes his role playing decisions.

So the solution is for him not to know about it so we write notes. It is no biggie and certainly not enough to make us not to want to game with him.

I have never yet met a perfect player.

 

[buzz]

I have never yet met a perfect player.

I dunno if the yes/no notes decision is about seeking perfection. For me, it's just about seeking a basic level of maturity.