thread: 2009-06-22 : Secrets: the Smelly Chamberlain
On 2009-06-23, Simon Rogers wrote:
My point is, is it a secret from the GM that the Chamberlain smells bad? Is it true that the Chamberlain smells bad, but the GM doesn't know it?
Right. My problem with this is that it's against the rules of the sort of game I think you are talking about, where the GM gets to decide (by the rules) whether an NPC smells or not. It's a bit like everyone agreeing to steal money from the banker in monopoly.
So, I would say, not it is not true until the GM agrees it. The players have appropriated a piece of fiction which is not in their remit. The shared fiction has broken down altogether.
In every case I am talking about the shared fiction generated within the rules by the game system. The circle HAS to intersect the GM for it to be true, if that truth is in the GM's remit in the game system.
There is another problem with the idea of shared fiction, which is the shared fiction of moment-to-moment play, and the retrospective view of the fiction to date.
So Outcome 1. It's true in "real life" when the GM agrees with the players that it was true.
Outcome 2: It was never true.
Outcome 3: It was never true.
Outcome 4: True when the GM agrees it.
Outcome 5: The game breaks down before any meaningful truth can be established. There is no shared fiction, because the negotation breaks down.
Outcome 6: Never true. Just a rather peculiar practical joke.
As to when it's true in the fiction-to-date, that can change from moment to moment, based on the current shared fiction.
In games which don't privilege GM authority over an NPC's smelliness, I'd give a different answer.
