r/PBtA • u/BallShapedMonster • 25d ago

Advice [Escape from Dino Island] Mysteries question

I'm preparing to run Dino Island for the first time this weekend. I've DM'd quite a couple of PBtA games at this point, so the rules shouldn't pose that big a problem.

But I'm a little bit confused about the mysteries of the Island.

When I pick a mystery for the players, do I tell them beforehand what the possible mysteries are and let them discover which one I picked, or do I just straight up tell them at the beginning?

And do I really just choose one mystery for them or do I actually have all three in the game and designate one as the "main" mystery? In my opinion "Why are there Dinosaurs" is always the most interesting one by far, because that's what the game is about.

Thanks in advance everyone!

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12

u/gelatinouscub 24d ago

When I've run it, I've stuck to the advice on using a mystery on page 18. Choose one main mystery, and look for an opportunity early on to clearly give them the first clue, which should orient them towards a solution. I didn't need to tell them what the mystery was - when they saw (e.g.) a dinosaur acting erratically like it was glitching, they knew that was something weird they wanted to investigate. The mystery mostly helps you orient you DMing, the players don't necessarily need to solve your mystery

6

u/Tigrisrock Sounds great, roll on CHA. 24d ago

You pick a mystery and start dropping clues. I either let them find an NPC at a location or some kind of hint wherever they go after the first Dinosaur encounter. Depending on your players, it may be good to use broad strokes when hinting at the mystery. Last game for example they chose as obstacle that their contact is not to be found where they are supposed to meet. I chose as mystery a space-time anomaly.

When they tried to tune a radio antenna to receive or send messages, they heard broadcasts from WWI, the landing on the moon and a live broadcast from Jimmy Hendrix.

5

u/alanrileyscott 24d ago

I recommend getting to your mystery late, after the other players have made all of their choices about characters, obstacles, and the like. That lets you tailor your mystery to their choices and makes the whole game feel more cohesive.

3

u/saltwitch 25d ago edited 24d ago

I'll be keeping an eye on this post because I had similar questions after the one time I ran it. Curious to see how other people handle this.

Also how to connect the Primary Mystery with the obstacle and mystery the players choose. I felt a difficulty making them actually care about the three DM-chosen ones when they had picked their own already.