Most groups sit down to roleplay with an unspoken agreement: we’re all on the same side. The adventurers form a party, the party forms a plan, and the plan - more or less - gets executed. It’s cooperative by default. That’s fine. But it’s also limiting.
Because secrets can change everything.
I owe thanks to S. John Ross—his mentoring sharpened my understanding of a truth I’d been circling for years: the difference between high trust and low trust games, and how that difference shapes not just design, but table culture. I'm sure he'd disagree with me on my own conclusions, but I consider him the Godfather on this subject.