Always prepare an escape plan

An advice from a colleague of mine in my office (an experience Game Master)....
In whatever campaign you play, as a GM, you must always prepare an escape plan for your story.
Usually done by giving the players small random items or events. Like a distant sounds, they saw a car moving, etc

He also gave some examples:

"A player of mine(in one of his campaigns, Shadowrun) made a car, really fast but weak. He made it for fast escapes and loves it. I (as The Boss) gave him an envelope that looks and feels like empty and told him not to open it until the mission ends. The next session I had another GM take over as I had things to do. That day the guy's car was wrecked. He came and complained to me. I remembered about the envelop and told him to open it, there's a letter inside written by The Boss. The Boss has been interested in his car and had it secretly switched with a look-alike to study it. So the car that was wrecked was a fake, and his real car is safely in the garage."

Another example:
"I had the players raid a factory and kill the boss there. But I had planed for the boss (really strong) to survive. While the players was outside the factory, I told them that they saw a truck going inside the factory. The players storm the place just as the truck entered the compound. Somehow they managed to defeat the boss(some really good rolls), and they celebrated. I told them when one of them kicked the body over, they notice the body was a fake and that they have been fighting a robot. Suddenly the truck outside started and leaves the compound, it was the boss running away."

These are just some examples of preparing escape plans, when you're stuck in a bind, these helps you a lot. Always prepare something for the unexpected. Be it some small envelop or a distant noise, these insignificant things gives you alternatives to fall back to.


( ._.)Ø