Casus Belli Update

So, Saturday will be the conclusion of "season 2" of this campaign run and I'll (gladly) go into hiatus for a time. This will be 13 episodes, which is better than the 12 I'd originally planed but not quite twice. I had material for at least two more eps after this one (probably three or four given how the PCs prevaricate) so why stop now? In a word: death.

One of the players whose character is one of the primary if not the primary driver of the story had an idea about killing off his PC for dramatic effect; he has said that he's been enjoying the campaign and will miss the character and I have no reason to doubt him (even though I've made more than a few missteps along the way), but he was completely right in that having this character die will radically shake things up. And, as luck would have it, this upcoming installment fits the story narrative for that perfectly. So, in an ideal world, we'll end at the normal time with his character's tragic and (mostly) unexpected demise due to poison and treachery. (One other player is aware of this plan but I use him as a sounding board for some things and he is playing the druid so...)

This death accomplishes a number of things for season 3: not only does it shake up the entire status quo, but it also allows me to get real-world history back on track and it will (hopefully) force other players to step up as their characters suddenly gain importance. Depending on certain elements planned for Saturday, this may also give the PCs a new enemy to be aware or or contend with, one who has a direct hand in this death. Of course, the PCs may remain entirely oblivious to that aspect, which also works out nicely.

I had originally planned to end season 2 with a five year timeskip for all of the PCs but one - long story: he was going to end up in the Otherworld or the Nevernever as it is known in the Dresden Files universe - and initially, I was concerned this was going to throw those plans into shambles. Instead, I'm probably going to stick with the time jump for dramatic effect by picking up season 3 (whenever I run it) five years (or so) later with the characters all having moved on with their lives after the tragic death of their leader.

Here's to hoping this doesn't blow up in my face...

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