4. Message
Taking the prompt, "Message" literally, I consider it good or bad depending on the context. In the context of a thing in the game world that can be sent or received by characters, it is good. It gets brownie points if it takes the form of a handout for the players. It gets extra credit if it is exceptionally well crafted. Messages at the character level provide an additional form of communication that enrich the role-playing experience.
In the context of GM-to-player, player-to-GM, or player-to-player table activity (that is, participants passing notes to each other in order to maintain secrecy at the game table), it is, in my experience, bad. It creates mistrust and it excludes some players from doing the thing they are there for: playing the game. Regardless of the intentions of the note-passers, it's quite frankly rude.
To clarify, I am not saying all note-passing at the GM/player level is bad. If the GM hands out a different note to each player describing the dream the character had that night, that's acceptable. No one is left out and valuable time isn't wasted. If the player characters are gathering information in different ways, there is nothing wrong with passing them notes so they can share the information in their own words (a trick that I think would work well in games where the characters are part of the crew of a starship).
The kind of GM/player message exchange to which I object is the kind that involves duplicity—player characters stealing from their own party, making secret alliances, or sneaking off on private side quests. It's all well and good if you're playing a game like Paranoia, which is overtly (and satirically) player versus player, but if you're not, it's a problem. It's bad for the characters in the adventure and the players at the table. Most role-playing games are cooperative games. They are better when participants cooperate. (And isn't that the real message after all?)
[I just noticed "Message" was a topic used in #RPGaDay2020 Day 12. This was my answer: "Player handouts, used sparingly, can be beneficial to immersion in RPGs. Messages written from an NPC's point of view work better when they can be read and narrated by the players rather than the GM."]
[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]
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