I'm a GM more than a player, so I'm going to give a sneak peek into my plans for the next games I'm running. However, since some of my players may be aware of this post, I'm going to switch it up: I'm not going to label which of these games the plans belong to, and I've got enough games running that I think it could still be a surprise.

(questions and image from autocratik.blogspot.com)

The Sun Shines Through The Eye of the Storm

The players will discover that one they believed to be an enemy is actually a friend, and an ally presumed to be dead is found alive despite all expectations.

However, the players have made mistakes, and they may be forced to pay the price for these.

Complicating this matter is the fact that other enemies remain, and may indeed still be more powerful than the players even with this unexpected boost.

My goal here is to push the players to have more opportunities to interact with some of the background settings of the world and characters from outside their own factions, and maybe even have some opportunities for "social stealth" as they try to coordinate efforts between multiple groups without giving up their own plans.

Alternatively, I figure there's at least some chance that the players wind up not buying it, or perhaps even pulling a betrayal of their own. I haven't fully figured out what happens if this occurs, but it isn't catastrophic to the plot.

A Stranger Waits In The Wilderness

The players are heading into an unfamiliar place because of the company they keep and the enemies they have made. As a result, they are leaving behind their known contexts.

In this new place, they will find someone who has completed the journey that they walk before they have.

The advice they may receive will be helpful, but it will also be wrong. The prophets and seers are silent and do not see the true reality, but even so they are only half-wrong, so they can provide aid without taking away heroic agency.

My goal here is to give the players a chance to catch their breaths, but also a chance to see what the world is like on a broader scale than what they have seen before. It will give them a chance to brand themselves and their identity, with the change of scenery meaning that they can choose to keep their current approach or adopt a new one.

Alternatively, it's a nice interlude that keeps them from going too fast.

Once More Into The Breach

Joining with newly-met friends, the players are going to be sent into harm's way. They are not the first to attempt their mission, and unless all goes very well they will not be the last.

They need to consider the motives of those they are working with. They have seen too much, or at least are suspected to have done so.

Their trusted allies have met their end or struggled along with them, and are no longer able to provide any significant help, but the new friends they have made will help–until the pressure builds to be too much.

My goal here is to keep pushing the players, causing them to deplete their resources. Struggle is futility, and they cannot choose their own path without abandoning their current perceptions and motives. Only decisive action to break the mold will get them away from the trouble they're in.

Alternatively, they'll keep on barely keeping their heads above water.

A Thousand Years In One Minute

The players are outmatched in their current fight, but might win because the enemies don't commit enough resources to the encounter.

There is a need to formulate a plan and move quickly, but it conflicts with their current objectives. They can keep going and cast the dice of fate, or adapt to face the more pressing problem.

In either case, the going will be difficult. One who was formerly an enemy may become an ally, but they are a Shapeshifter; they have their own goals that run contrary to the party's interest, because the plague that besets them all threatens to destroy the object of the stranger's hatred.

The goal here is to redirect the players from their original course. I had set up the plot as going too slowly, and they're going to wind up having too much time to develop but not ever confronting the main threats unless I get things going forward.

The big challenge will be not having the character that gets re-introduced have too much control over the plot.