Players keeping stats secret

[Joshua Randall]

I've been playing and DMing D&D for a long time, and I am about to start DMing for the first time under 3rd edition rules. This is with a new group. I've run into something that is, to me, exceedingly weird:

The players want to keep their stats secret from everyone else!

By this I mean that they don't want their fellow players to know anything about them except what's obvious from their decription. So that male dwarf you see could be any character class of any level with any ability scores, any skills or feats, and so forth.

I believe that such secrecy is unnecessary. I think it leads to paranoia and vitiaties group cohesion.

I also think it deters good tactical gaming. Because no one in the group is really sure of anyone else's abilities or skills, the group can't figure out who should try to talk the gate guard into letting them into the city (i.e., make a Bluff or Diplomacy check). Because no one really knows anyone's feats, the rogue with Mobility can't coordinate with the fighter with Power Attack.

To me, this is just nuts! I've always shared full information with my fellow players. We'd pass character sheets around, contemplate each other's spell lists, and make plans based on coordination of skills. So tell me - is this odd? Am I the only one who does this? Or is my group being wonky? And if so, what can I do about it?

 

[I'm A Banana]

It is a *bit* nuts. In a team-oriented game like D&D, it's pretty important that you have a good idea of what the other berks can do.

....but at the same time, I think it's kinda cool. It doesn't foster team playing, but you, as a DM, can use that to your plotting advantage...they don't trust each other...they don't know each other...

Introduce a little item-stealing/planting fae, and see what kind of havoc that spirte can wreak.

Also, it is slightly more realistic. No one goes around wearing the word 'rogue' painted on their forehead, but it should be evident after a few lockpicks that this guy is the sneakface for you!

 

[Drawmack]

I do not allow my players to know each other's information unless it comes out in game. For example when my 3 rogues wanted to know who had the best search the did a test where the dwarf hid something and they looked for it. Did this five times and now they know who has the best search without metagaming it. They will find out who the fastest talker is. I prefer if this is done in game rather then metagamed.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I've played & DM'd both ways, and frankly I prefer it when players don't share a lot of "stat" information. It cuts down on the metagaming, and encourages them to develop the relationships between characters through role play.

Heck, I play in a PBEM that's been going for over 18 months now, and there's still one character whose class I have yet to figure out. It's kind of neat -- I was convinced he was a rogue, but then he whipped out a cure light wounds spell, and my (IC and OOC) response was: "Cool! I didn't know you could do that!"

Just think: the characters don't know that much about each other, except what is explained or visibly obvious. Why shouldn't that be true of the players as well?

 

[G.A. Donis]

The group I play with usually will share stats fairly freely. I think we do a pretty good job of not meta-gaming who can do what, but I do like the idea of other characters not knowing everything about every character. It just seems more fun to me to find things out in game.

If they don't want to share character info, just use that as starting point for some good role-playing. Sounds like fun to me.

 

[Airwolf]

I agree with several other posters. I don't like my players to share much information abou their characters.
Generally our first session is lots of role playing where the characters will get to know each other. This give most of them a hint as to what class the other characters are.

For the most part I think the players enjoy this more. I know when I play I like the mystery of trying if figure out what every one is.

 

[kengar]

Chalk up one more vote for "the less shared info, the better" camp.

I have one player who is really bad about wanting to know EVERYONE'S scores, etc. He's not sneaky about it or anything. He asks right up front, "What's your INT? What feats did you take? What plus is that sword?" etc.

I feel it cuts down on the RP and increases the metagaming level overall when character sheets become open books to the whole table. YMMV, but that's been my experience.

 

[Ascending Crane]

It is in no way *nuts*.

I prefer stats, feats, weapon bonuses, etc - to be kept a secret. If something occasionally slips out, that's fine - no big deal. But someone taking another players' character sheet and inspecting it - now that's nuts.

 

[MerakSpielman]

If they looked at my character sheet, they might notice all the stuff I pickpocketed from them that they forgot they ever had...

Team? Group cohesion? What's that?

For the longest time we thought a rogue with weapon proficiency: greatsword was a fighter. He had us fooled for amost ten sessions. It was great.

 

[Oni]

I'm from the less you know the better camp, though the last couple of face to face groups I was with I knew several of the other players character sheets backwards and forwards because they were first time players and it made things go so much faster when it came to answering questions.