I love a good plot twist. I will always remember the moment in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic when I found out who my character really was, and always remember the moment in BioShock when I found out who the real baddie was. These things make a game, they sear it into our memories.
But once you know the secret what then? The game is done more or less. You might get a bit of mileage from playing again and spotting the clues, but there are no real surprises left to be had, not unless you’re Nier Automata but let’s not go there now. But what if a story could change? What if it was fundamentally different a second time around?
I got to thinking about this recently after talking to a man called Ray Winninger, the head of Dungeons & Dragons, tabletop side. He’s only recently been appointed that position after spending many years away from Wizards of the Coast, but he’s been involved with and playing D&D most of his life. He professionally wrote campaigns as a teenager and even played with the game’s creators, Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. Dungeons & Dragons is in his bones.
It was while talking to him about everything D&D (Chaotic Good is by far and away the most popular alignment by the way) he said something which made my ears prick up. He was telling me about how to be a great Dungeon Master, something he’s been for decades, and said the secret to it was, appropriately enough, having a Deck of Secrets. Every time you create something, come up with a secret about it, he explained. A new dungeon: give it a secret. A new character: give them a secret. Then note it down and add it to your deck.