Another game play thought: I was playing with the personal stories feature with some friends (I won't say which character I was, so as not to spoil it for those who haven't encountered this). Basically what happened was I completed my personal story, which ended up winning the game. I only read the first half though, letting them all celebrate. Then, when they asked if there was anything else, I let them know that I was devoured. The emotional impact was far more than I expected. They were incredulous, mostly because they assumed that since I succeeded, I would survive.

That, plus the thread about traitorous investigators, made me think of this idea:

Investigator Secrets

Much like story cards, these cards would have more information about an investigator. They could be specific to each one, or generic for all investigators. There could be a trigger mechanism - get 5 clues, go to a certain location, etc. just like stories. However, they should be easier than stories, and the difference would be that once triggered, the investigator reads the other side and must keep the result secret from the other players.

Then, revealing the secret to the other players would depend on actions outside of that investigator's control - if the other players have x number of monster trophies, gate trophies, if the doom track reaches a certain level or is reduced, that sort of thing. Then there would be a result, sometimes good, sometimes bad (mostly bad). For example, if 5 gates are sealed, the investigator is devoured. That would create subtle strategies - you might close gates but not seal them, and the other players would wonder why. Or you could be heroic and seal the 5th gate, but know that you were going to be devoured.

In addition, there would be the possibility of certain actions that you have to take before the reveal, for example: while your secret is still kept, you must use all your clues on any skill check until you succeeed; or avoid gates at all costs; if another investigator is within your speed range, you must go to their location and give them one of your items. That sort of thing.

This would create a far deeper dynamic in game play, and even breach a little into the lives of the players - since you can't reveal your secret (if you do before the reveal state, let's say you get devoured or something appropriately horrible for the level of the secret), your fellow players will inevitably attribute your actions to you, rather than the investigator. This creates a real emotional reaction, especially when the secret is revealed.

To kept the mystery, there could (I realize this makes things more complex) be two sets of cards: Investigator Secrets cards, and Trigger cards. At the beginning of the game, each player first draws a Trigger card, then draws a Secrets card. Place the Secret under the Trigger and don't look. This would prevent Triggers from giving Secrets away if they are generic (which I think would lead to better replay value, and more efficient Secrets writing). Although I do think there would be a benefit to having a set of Secrets designed for each individual character. Truthfully, I would like to have both, using the specific ones first, then later using more generic ones once the specific Secrets had been used up.

Thoughts?

I think the secrets should be generic while the triggers should be specific to each character, tailored either to their story or to their abilities. However one important thing is to keep it seperate from their personal story, you don't want Darrell having to collect 5 clue tokens for his trigger then fail his personal story. Also would all the secrets be bad?

Whoops also forgot to say that the secret should be taken after the trigger is finished to prevent "accidental" peeking.

Yes, I see your point about the secrets being drawn after the trigger is set. My only issue with the triggers being tied to the investigators is that it reduces replay value. You may not know what the secret is, but you always know *when* it's pulled.

I suspect that secrets would be used *instead* of personal stories; however, I don't see any reason why sometimes the trigger or secret would intertwine with the pass or fail of the personal story. In fact, that would lead to better storytelling, in that very often it is the attempt to achieve a goal (or the success or failure to do same) that reveals a character's secret, either to others or to themselves.

I think I mentioned in my pitch that secrets could be good or bad, but most often bad. It might also be good for some secrets to be a bit ambiguous, so long as they mechanically changed the way you play the character.

i think it's now time to actually try writing some to see what happens.

simpleknight said:

I agree. I don't think I'd want either trigger or secret to be tied to a specific investigator (in fact, if someone wants to build personal stories that can be drawn at random, those might be cool too). If they're untied and anyone could get any secret/story, it increases replay value.

I like this idea, and would love to see what you come up with.

So far, I haven't had the time. But I still like this idea, so when I do have time, I'm going to explore it.