"No adventure ever survives contact with the players," a gamer friend of mine recently said. It is a fact of gaming that players will do unexpected things. The beauty of tabletop role-playing games is the way they allow for creative solutions to problems. The other edge of that sword is the possibility that players will come up with a solution the GM is totally unprepared for. And in some cases, that solution unravels all the GM's nefarious and deadly plans.

In such a situation, the last thing you want to do is end the session in frustration or appeal to your players to choose a different solution for the sake of the game. Players should be rewarded for highly ingenious thinking, not punished.

Here are some common 'break down' moments and how I've dealt with them in the past:

Players Sneak in the Wrong Way:
Sometimes it can be as simple as rearranging the order in which things will happen so that the players still encounter things in an appropriate order. If, for example, they need a certain item on the ground floor to defeat the main evil foe in the dungeons, but they figure out a way to enter through the basement, you can simply change the location of the item for the enemy so the players don't die needlessly in a hopeless battle.

Players With Superior Numbers of Allies: Sometimes players contrive ways to bring a ton of other NPC allies with them to what was to be a final duel. Strategic-thinking players, especially, have a tendency to play it cautious in order to preserve as many resources and assets for the final confrontation as they can. They see beating an enemy with overwhelming force as the smart solution, if the less classically heroic. To ensure that the players and their mini army don't bulldoze your entire set up, you can either beef up the smaller enemies in order to pick off more of their forces early or increase their numbers to compensate for the players' superior numbers. If you are a GM who appreciates brilliant strategy for its own sake, perhaps you could instead consider rewarding the players for their tactical thinking by allowing them to plaster minor enemies in record time. However, if you do so, consider one of the following for the final challenge: 1) If they are to face some final, powerful enemy, make the enemy that much stronger and scarier. 2) Rule that, because the players decided to sweep in with a large, obvious force, their ultimate foe had enough warning to plot an escape. Such a ruling is a fair trade-off that makes strategic sense: by bringing huge numbers to bear, the players sacrifice stealth, mobility, and the element of surprise.

Players Figure Out Things Too Soon: Sometimes a shrewd player will guess, deduce, or research and discover what was to be your entire strategy. They know everything before they ever enter a dangerous area. To keep things interesting, feel free to throw in a couple of unexpected, minor red herrings. After all, no intelligence is 100% accurate to the smallest detail. Even minor obstacles can keep things exciting and keep players on their toes, and it doesn't feel like they wasted all that effort to get information you're just going to make useless.

Players End Up With a Super Item They Weren't Supposed To: Remember that actions have consequences, and that it's impossible to keep huge discoveries totally secret for long. Once word gets out of what the players have at their disposal, they may find themselves being tracked, watched, or even hunted for possessing it. Perhaps the item in question is evil and that evil starts to curse them. Perhaps the players begin to have disputes with NPCs who covet the item or followers and hangers-on who start to slow them down or embarrass them. Since such items are usually stolen, perhaps people related to its former owner come looking to recover it...by any means necessary. This can be tricky if players feel you're punishing them for having something they feel they deserve to keep. If it's clear they love having the item, then just alter future game challenges to account for its presence. Perhaps even provide a few challenges that can ONLY be solved by use of their super-item.

Players Kill Someone They Weren't Supposed To: Again, actions have consequences. If the victim was supposed to be a main ally, such allies most likely have friends and family who will seek restitution and can then become other potential allies who fulfill the same role. If the victim was a main source of information, perhaps the players find clues that yield the same information on the victim's body, among the victim's possessions, from a helpful assistant, or simply scattered in a timely matter throughout the ensuing storyline.

Finally, I have one simple rule when it comes to unexpected actions by the players: if what they did or did not do doesn't strictly matter to the larger objective of the story or campaign, let them do what they like. Chances are, they'll find their own way back to the pre-planned paths to that objective eventually.