Kit La Touche Yes! The unspoken subtext that exists in the minds of the participants is the thing.

And the funny thing is that in RPGs, you see this all the time in fights scenes where the players are familiar with the game. The thief sneaks up behind the monster. Everybody knows she’s going to get her massive pluses to hit and double damage or whatever. No one needs to say it, but the emotional excitement is all there. Everyone pays attention to “can she sneak up?” not because the sneaking itself is particularly exciting, but because of the consequences that everyone knows will follow in its wake.

How to do that in non-combat arenas is the tricky part.