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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AnotherGuy" data-source="post: 9632659" data-attributes="member: 7029930">These are great focused uses of prep for games with specific styles of play. I definitely appreciate these unique approaches.Many posters in this thread may use prep to actually flesh out the mystery before play begins which is similar to picking up an AP/module.  The adventure/mystery exists whether we've run it or not.Now one of the definitions of the word objective which I found is(a) in a way that is based on facts and not influenced by personal beliefs or feelingsI'm personally NOT using it this way.Another is(b) in a way that is not dependent on the mind for existence; actuallyThis is the way I'm applying it.So going back to the top part of your post!The mystery of the missing Earl is indeed a mystery but the facts of why he is missing have not yet been formulated until such time that they do. So almost anything goes as to the reason until it becomes established, then I'd say it is objective.Whereas say a GM who has prepped that same adventure and has a definitive reason of why that Earl is missing, the mystery is not dependent on the mind (per the definition I'm using).Now interestingly sandwiched between your style and the fully prepped style you could throw in 5e's Murder in Baldur's Gate which the secondary bad guy can be 1 of 4 people.[SPOILER="Spoiler"] Bhaal, the BBEG, is selecting a host and the individual that is responsible for the most death (translated to murders, since he is the God of Murder), that is the person who's body gets taken over by Bhaal. 3 persons of interest provided for in the adventure itself and then the fourth being a PC. The PCs find themselves choosing which maddening events to stop in the city thus unknowingly directing which person gets the most kills. And the adventure provides the option for a PC being the most destructive. Really smart and fun adventure. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> [/SPOILER]All three ARE mysteries, all three NEED to be solved, but they BECOME (for me) objective mysteries (i.e. the truths/facts are settled) when they have a definitive answer in play or when they have been mapped out (often via prep before play).Anyways, I'm keen to try your style with my group - I seem to believe it may work better (or should I say feel easier to handle) with some genres (and systems) rather than others.At the beginning of that write-up you referred to a movie as some inspiration which I had intended to look up. Did that movie include any inference of lycanthropy. Just curious if you had something to work with in your mind before sitting down with the players.When I have not documented anything for prep, I usually have some ideas running in my head before the game which I intend to inject into the fiction.Often, as a procrastinator, I have to panic-brainstorm in the shower before my mates arrive for our in person games.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f923.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":ROFLMAO:" title="ROFL    :ROFLMAO:"  data-smilie="18"data-shortname=":ROFLMAO:" /></blockquote>

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