DMing your way into a corner

[LostSoul]

One way of stoking internal tensions is to have the fate of the previous colony (or one even older) be revealed, and have that conflict with the plans of some of the leadership factions. Retrieving a treasure that awakens something dangerous is the first thing that pops into my head; there should be ways to twist that.

Good stuff.

I will also add that a great way of stoking tensions is to figure out what the PCs want and to come up with reasonable obstacles - reasonable meaning something that a normal guy, not an insane BBEG, would do to get what he wants.

That adds another axis of tension, conflict within the PCs and the party itself. That might not be what your group wants, so be careful!