I just changed a subplot card for a character whose loyalty changed. Luckily, this change isn't announced to the other players... so they'll be in for quite a surprise when this card is invoked!

It might be cool to hide this from other players, though I'm not fully convinced. Having the ability to swap cards as narrator/host (and being able to do so silently) sounds like a good alternative. (See https://storium.uservoice.com/forums/211322-general/suggestions/5634457-allow-for-player-card-inventory-editing)

It would make the game a lot more fun to be able to have secret motives or secret powers for characters that they could just spring to their unsuspected teammates. It always works well on RPGs to have a character with a secret that the others are always guessing at!

At least make this an option for narrators. I would also like to have the option of providing private channels of storyline to characters. For example, I am currently running a game in which the characters my friends wanted to play really dictated that parts of their backgrounds NOT be known to the other players, or be made public knowledge. I had no choice but to hash out 'intros' for them via email. Furthermore, I have a character who is budding powers which should CERTAINLY be kept secret from the other players. There is an argument that 'skilled' roleplayers would be able to discern what their characters should know and what they shouldn't, and act accordingly regardless. While I agree, I also know for a fact that many people allow these bits of knowledge to affect their actions. I would like to have the ability to NOT allow for that possibility if I don't want to - it also makes the secret bits of the story way more fun for the players who are a part of them. I would also argue that those bits which DO get revealed later on have the potential to act as an enjoyment multiplier as secret plots are revealed at critical junctures etc.

I strongly agree! I think the subplot should be secret - something which would be revealed only in game play. I know there is some imaginary partition between what players (writers) know and what their in-game characters know, but for those among us who are not pro writers, having some real mystery about the mysteries would be good.

In live acting and movies, sometimes the director will purposefully withhold information from one or more of the players so that their reaction to some unexpected event on-stage will be genuine.

Storium is a strange blend between collaborative story-writing and game-playing. I think subplots should lean toward game-play. I'd rather that *all* cards held by (and given to) players should be secret, frankly. Let it all unfold in the story as it gets written. Why should writer X know that writer Y's character has a magic ruby which player X's character never knew about? What good comes of this? I suppose writer X could encourage writer Y to play a particular card at a particular time... now leaning toward collaborative writing than game play. I guess I just prefer the game play model with writing into the story as the mechanism of making moves :)

This in intrigues me, and I would love to see this developed.

That's an excellent idea! I would love that facility.

I totally agree- in fact, I'd go further and have subplots be hidden by default until there's a plot-relevant reason to show them. I feel that having the cards visible at the start constitutes metaknowledge which can possibly affect other players' behavior in-game.