Giving 'Episode Titles' in PbP games?

[Eternally Lost Zeppo]

Hi, I'm soon to be starting my first real attempt at running a PbP game with my Doctor Who campaign, The SOS Files.

I was just wondering, is it a good idea to give episode titles in-game, considering how a title might tend to give things away early on?

[Craig Oxbrow]

I gave away titles in advance of my tabletop game, but tended to keep them thematic rather than really give-away-ish. Apart from Shadow of The Daleks because I wanted the players thinking "Daleks!" in advance.

You could also cheat a bit and reveal the titles some way in, like at the end of a pre-credits sequence.

[eldath]

I actually give episode titles for my own use. Pretty much I often use random title generators for inspiration.

E

[Siskoid]

I gave my players a "show title" (we don't use the Doctor so it's not Doctor Who), but kept the episode titles to myself. At the end of the season, I revealed the titles (some of which I even changed to reflect their own actions).

I did however use the "next week" preview concept every session, which DID give away some aspects. I'm sure I could have given them the ep titles if I'd made sure they were spoiler free. With the previews (and I allowed them to read their own lines), I only put in what I didn't mind them knowing and left the rest vague. I found it was a good way to control where the TARDIS would land. The preview has, I dunno, a Chinese village, and the Time Lord's voice-over about the date. Next session, Time Lord sets controls for period China. (Definitely part of the covenant between GM and players.)

[Captain Rachel]

I've give my adventures titles... but I'm not sure if I'm going to use them yet. Right now they just exist because I've been using a random Doctor Who Title Generator for inspiration and to help me remember which one we're on. I'm planning on putting a recap of each adventure online so my players can reference it, so maybe I'll just use the titles on that.

For example, here are the episode titles I have so far: The Stole & The Stowaways, The Lost, The Mists Of Decay, The Unknown Artifact, Among Extraordinary Women, The 1,000 Year Fair, The Lost Colony and The Unearthly Child.