Is current strength public knowlege?

[jaycrockett]

I ask because I my first game of wizard I cast an illusion of a creature, and it seems like not paying ST upkeep for it the next round is a dead giveaway.

[hcobb]

Secret Protection is at page 13 of the Wizard's rulebook, but isn't listed in the TOC.

It says...

A player is permitted to use the “secret protection” method to mislead
his opponent. He may say “secret protection” and either (a) roll the dice
but cast no spell at all, conserving his strength, or (b) do another spell that
produces no visible result, such as a Creation spell to produce something
inside a shadow hex where the enemy can’t see it.
It is a good idea to keep a turn-by-turn record of what spells are cast,
especially if the players are using a lot of secret spells.

So obviously you don't have to tell the enemy what your current ST is.

Q2: Can a figure who's layering Stone Flesh with enchanted armor choose to fall down and play dead when it takes zero damage from a hit?

[JimmyPlenty]

I could see this being a rule in general, depending on the game and style.

In Melee, this could be used or not. I'd say not just to move the game along and not have to describe how hurt a figure is. It would change tactics however sometimes if it was used. Would the payoff really be worth it? Feh? It would be best to do an encounter with it, but not a general rule.

In Wizard, yeah, being a competitive game, is a must. Probably fair to say it is used for all figures. Perhaps you also cannot tell if someone has a dagger either or other weapons either.

For In the Labyrinth, you are going up against the GM, so yeah you could as it says in the rules it allows you to trick him. However, I find this weird as the figures the GM plays may be smarter and more observant than others. Also, DM's may learn other players style after a while, leading to "tells" of when they are spoofing the magic. For this, I think I would roll it off IQ to see if a figure notices (4/IQ because they are kind of busy in combat!)

Even then, the only time it would matter if you think you could off the wizard with a single blow due to their ST weakness. With wizards, however, this is most of the time anyway.

[Skarg]

I much prefer, in all modes of play, to have players only know the stats of their own figures, as much as possible/practical. I think it's more immersive, interesting, less gamey and predictable, and enables interesting tactics and deceptions.