Preparing for the Unknown

We're getting pretty close to our next session and there's still been no word from the players on what they're planning to do next session.  So today I'm thinking about how to fudge a little bit.

It is possible that the party will elect for the several month jump forward to the next part of the Bioweapons plot line.  It is also possible they will try to scout out Galveston for the Wyrm plotline, and it equally possible they'll go to California to pursue the Sarna plotline.  Finally, they might do something else entirely; an equipment raid or something similar.  They might pursue Alexei somehow.  They might bake a cake.  I have no idea.

Presuming they follow one of the existing leads, though, I need to take inventory of what assets I have available to run those sessions.  At present, the list is depressingly short in terms of maps and scenarios.  I really should have one session written for each plot, but realistically, I have none.  How to hedge?

Seat-of-the-pants running is rarely a good idea, unless you have your entire game loaded into your head before you sit down, and frankly, that's not going to happen for a Sunday Morning game.  So today I'm going back over my session notes and trying to decide what the most likely next session for each plot line is, when it is, and what plot points I need to make.

The Bioweapons plot is the easiest, since that is the one I've been working on.  The next step is for the party to find out about the Word's program in Montana, and to investigate it by raiding their "public" office.  Inside they'll discover that Clark's research into the Branth directly lead to this program, and by extension, the development of the Alarion plague.  I just need to type up some in-game documents for that and create another office building map.

The Wyrm plot I've put less thought into, but given that the next session of that fires in January of 3069, after the October 3068 Bioweapons event, I'm less worried about having this event ready.

That leaves the Sarna plot.  This I'm actually thinking about making a big non-combat skill challenge based around ground navigation and finding the site.  I want it to be more complicated than a regular encounter, so I can close out the session before they actually enter the facility (which I won't have prepared if I properly work out the Bioweapons plot ahead of time.)  This will require me to put on my game designer hat, but I think will work out pretty keenly if I can get it right.  More on that later this week.

Overall, I really can't get out of my game prep this week, but I can focus on the most probably culprits and hope that those are the sessions that we end up running.  Incidentally, I sent out an email kindly asking the party to give me a hint as to where to focus my effort.  Perhaps that will turn up something...