I've been reading certain role-playing games lately that have systems for stepping up the conflict, whether action or social. They also have ways of introducing complications to make things more difficult, which equals more interesting. These elements are something to strive for not only in games but also if fiction. Never mind that the progression started out in the opposite direction. If you are not caught up on the newest update to the Umbral Intentions blog you may want to go do so before continuing.
Last week I stepped up the brewing conflict in Umbral Intentions. I also complicated things for our hero Josh. In brief, Josh and his team were tracking a mind controlling entity causing trouble and following some weird plan no one can make any sense of yet. They caught up with this entity and brought along a specialist sent to destroy it. The specialist ended up dead. Teammate Jenny Brumal was heavily wounded and hospitalised. Our hero Josh was shot and permanently lost all use of and feeling in his right arm. Not only that, but the entity isn't the only one. Talk about a bad break for Josh, but an exciting new turn for the readers.
What hasn't been said yet, and isn't really a spoiler, is that obviously someone makes these mind controlling entities. Even for a world where psychics can make people's heads explode, start fires with a thought, and can bring a crude wooden toy to malicious life to bludgeon people to death with a sledgehammer, someone making possessing entities is extremely frightening. More importantly, what has been tense but surmountable, is now going to push this team to its limits, and strain their beliefs, if it hasn't already crippled them just like Josh's arm.