We left a note written by one of the characters on the table in the RPG Room at The Dice Cup today. It was a deliberate act – partly in the hope that someone will read it and be mystified but also out of curiosity to see if it’ll still be there, untouched, in a fortnight. It was a cool note, one of those “message in a bottle” moments.

A big theme of today’s Fellmyr session – and a growing trend since I got back to face-to-face gaming – has been the passing of notes between players and me as the GM. I love this aspect of RPG play: I get to pass exclusive info to the player whose character finds something out or knows stuff the others don’t, and then watch them share (or not) that information.

It’s also cool when a player passes one of those, “Can I do X?” or, “I do X” notes privately. The one-to-one communication of intention and action where the other PCs might not notice is a lot of fun to adjudicate. It’s gives an otherwise passive player an opportunity to ask questions or take actions when it’s not necessarily their moment. It’s also wonderful when this stuff causes more trouble because it somehow fails or complicates.

Passing notes is possible in an online game – in Zoom, I often send a direct message via chat to a player – but you don’t get the same visual cue that reaching behind another player to give the target person a note provides. There is a palpable tension created when you pass a note. A curious moment in the minds of the attentive other players. The sense of sharing something special with one of them.

The notes have created a fair few interesting and unexpected moments in this Fellmyr campaign. It’s also very neat to give information to a player who (for example) is on watch and let them decide how (or even if) to share that knowledge with the group. Today, one of the players saw something key and there was a lovely acted-out moment of them saying, “Pssst! Guys!” to get everyone’s attention.

The only thing I have to remember is to put some post-it notes or 6″x4″ cards in my gaming bag so I don’t have to tear up sheets of paper to pass a message. Other than that, I’m loving the vibe and impact of a timely note at the table.

Game on!