GM Question: How Secret is Secret Identity

[schir1964]

Just another curious question for GM's out there.

How strict are you on enforcing the Secret Identity disadvantage.

Does the Character have to keep it secret from everyone?
Can the character have a single person who knows?
Can the character have a group of people who know his Secret Identity?

Should there be different levels to better simulate fiction?

- Christopher Mullins

[Blue]

It's up to the player at the start of the game as to how many people know. (My wife, but not my kid, because he'd tell everyone; The guy who built my supersuit; My manicurist, but not my hairdresser). But once gameplay starts I expect them to TRY and keep it secret from everyone. If they purposely or stuipidly blow this they get fewer experience pts in that scenario. And if it happens enough for the villains or media to pick up on it, then it becoms a public ID.

[Supreme Serpent]

I run it as general public doesn't know. Individuals may know - some family, some teammates, etc.

Take Iron Man as an example. I'm not reading his own title now, but from what I see flipping through other comics, he seems to have a Public ID now. He makes speeches at the UN in armor, with faceplate up. A newspaper article could easily refer to him as "Tony Stark, the armored Avenger Iron Man".

Previously, he had a secret ID. Rhodey knew, some, but not all, fellow Avengers knew. Heck, Nick Fury, head of SHIELD didn't know. Newspapers would refer to "Iron Man, Avenger and armored bodyguard of Tony Stark".

The "newspaper test" is my basic criteria. Individual people can know, but if someone can't just do minor research (read a paper, google search, etc) and find out a hero's real name, they probably still have a Secret ID. Of course, the more people you tell, the more likely it is that the secret will eventually be outed...

[Blue]

Yeh, I remember hearing that Iron Man purposely went public. Didn't read the issues myself.