Help a DM engage the players in his campaigns arc.

[Ashrum the Black]

Okay folks, I'd love to pick your brains. I've posted this over at the RBDM forum, so Ithought I'd cross post it here and see what kinds of answers I get. I've run into a dilemma of sorts with my players. They're playing in my arcana evolved homebrew and they each have a thirty page brief on the world as they know it. Now, I don't expect them to have read the entire brief, heck I don't expect much beyond them just skimming the parts that pertain to their character really. But they have it so they can't say I didn't tell them.

As the campaign has been progressing (a year and a half strong) I have been slowly feeding them tidbits of information in the form of books they've found. These books have hinted at great treasures, and bits of added history that flesh out what they already know. Including who the BBEG's are and what they may be after.

But they never seem to sit down with all the book handouts, and just look them all over. These aren't more than a page in length each, and some of them are much less. I don't want to spoon feed them the information, or have a NPC just tell them, but I hate to see them floundering around like they have no idea what's going on in the world.

How do some of you folks pass along information to the PC's that you want them to figure out on their own? I just can't seem to engage them. Last session they finally nailed some pirates they'd been after for over four months of real time. They found them in an underground location with some rather nasty drow-like humanoids. They had fought the drow knockoff creature before and knew them to be nasty, but had also allied with them for a time. They never once asked why the pirates were there. What was the connection? Or even, what their once allies were doing with the demon giant they were also after or why they all seemed interested.

I've created history tomes, rhyming prophesy, and had NPC tell them dire portents, but they never seem to want to get beyond the surface of what is going on. Maybe I should just except that they seem to want to be pointed at the villains and then let loose. But I want more as DM.

Help?

-Ashrum

 

[Nellisir]

Get an NPC to ask them the basic questions. What were the pirates doing? Who's behind it? Who benefits? What's in that sack?

Gets them involved and responsive.

 

[Andre]

Consider that maybe your players aren't as into the campaign as you are. Sometimes players just want to play casually, without a lot of detail. One suggestion: If you want them to pay attention, go for the "wow" factor, rather than the "here's some more info on my detailed world for you to absorb".

 

[Mercule]

Consider that maybe your players aren't as into the campaign as you are.

Think very carefully about that one. You will have much more fun running a casual game for casual players than trying to do a "masterpiece" for casual players. I've learned that the hard way.

Otherwise, there's also the notion in Eberron (I think) that PC-classed characters stand out. People notice the PCs and realize, instinctively, that they have great potential. Other PC-classed NPCs are included in this, too. Because of that, the PCs will find the villains tend to take the PCs into account, just in case. More aggressive villains may even try to kill the PCs pre-emptively. The townsfolk, and even aristocrats, will reflexively turn to the PCs to solve their problems. That doesn't mean the PCs get 10 points of Charisma for free. You don't have to like or respect someone to want them to do something.

 

[just__al]

30 pages of background material is a bit much for most players (I'd eat it up because I could get more out of the DM as far as a little extra spotlight time and I'd be more immersed).

You should have all this detail but let details come to the players during the game instead of giving them homework before the campaign. If they keep learning more about the plot of the world from gaming in it, it will mean more to them then if they read and forgot about it.

The secret is to not overwhelm them at the beginning but give them a nugget of background info each session or two. Don't tell them these nuggets and DM to Player, but have them find them on their own or have a NPC tell them something important.

 

[Quickleaf]

Well, for what it's worth, every time I've thought the players were hard-headed and weren't getting my ingenious incredible sneaky lovingly-crafted sinister beautiful plot hooks, it turned out they felt I was being unclear, unfair, railroading, or too serious. Hmm.

How do some of you folks pass along information to the PC's that you want them to figure out on their own?

I use concise description that focuses on just one theme/sense. I create skill/ ability/ investigation DC charts. I say "yes" to my players. I have them possess the answer all along in an encoded object. I have a hated villain feign his death, revealing a secret to the PCs upon "dying" at their feet. I have a collection of rumors they can pick up when traveling in civilized areas. I incorporate the information in the personality/attitudes of various NPCs. I have them find magical tomes that need to be researched. I have them accidentally come across a plot hook while searching a villain's lair. Of course, they visionary dreams (though I overused this one a bit).

Consider some of these possibilities:
Your agenda: You want to pass along information to the PCs. That's good. But are you attached to which bit of information they learn? If so, perhaps your group is better served by being provided with several plot threads to pick from.
Lack of clarity: What seems perfectly obvious to you (because you made it up!) can require what seems like bluntly obvious methods to convey to your players. If show-don't-tell doesn't work, then TELL, just don't tell all. A little help from NPCs every now and then is fine (though if they're high-level or expereinced players, they shouldn't need it).

 

[Jarrod]

They may just be casual players.

You hear over and over again that it's better to show than tell. That's true when writing a novel, but mainly because a) a reader is by definition paying attention to you and b) they can always go back and reread a chapter. With D&D it's harder. Some people will pick up on things, but I've found that a very large number of people need to be told rather than shown. Again. And again. And again. Or, as my wife puts it, "Hit me over the head with it!".

As a side note, do you have anyone who is in charge of keeping a campaign journal? I've found that these people, whoever they are, tend to pay more attention to things.

 

[Turhan]

My last two campaigns have had moments like yours.
Quickleaf has pretty well covered my answers, but I can add this. Sometimes when you really want to get a bit of info out, you have to bend your reasoning to make it fit the circumstances the PCs are in. Make up some new way for the info to fall into their laps.

I have a couple very learned NPCs who usually show up with bad news or to mooch off of the PC's hospitality. But sometimes they are trying to learn something as well.

You might have an NPC arrive who has several threads of your campaign plots in hand, but simply can't follow them all. He may know the name of a bad guy, but not where he lives; he might know the bbeg's fondest desire, but not have anyone to help him thwart it; or he may just want to pore over certain books of the PCs and even pay them for the right to discuss the tomes and where they came from.

And remember, all the stuff you know to be obvious, really might be obscure to the players. Usually they don't have enough hours in the week to really stay on top of every little facet of the game world. Sometimes, as much as I hate it, I just have to tell them, "Look, this is kind of out of game knowledge, but your PC's have this info in their heads somewhere, so here's what you know...."

 

[Mercule]

30 pages of background material is a bit much for most players (I'd eat it up because I could get more out of the DM as far as a little extra spotlight time and I'd be more immersed).

30 pages?!? I missed that the first time through. That's your problem. I'm pretty extreme about absorbing setting stuff, and I'm not sure I'd go at that. I might reference it as the game went on, but probably not all up front.

Your best bet is to give the hand-out to the players, let them know it's purely for reference and expect none of them to read a page of it. Then, regurgitate a small amount back to them at a time, and only when it's immediately relevant.

 

[Thunderfoot]

My first suggestion is that on the next gaming session...don't game, make it casual time and engage in a series of Q&A... Think carefully about what you want to ask but the bottom line comes down to:
1) Is the campaign fun?
2) What are your suggestions?
3) What would you change?
4) Why would you change it?
5) What do you love/like/dislike/hate about the campaign?
And I'm sure there are other specifics you feel like you should over. The most important thing that you need to realize is that while you may or may not be at fault, you are culpable - but don't don't don't let it it get you down. If they are casual gamers, you'll have to adjust fire as such, if they are serious gamer and haven't cuaght the clues, shame on them but interject a few NPCs to get them back on track. Sometimes a well placed question by an NPC will get the brains stems singing again.
We had a time recently where my fellow DM and I had to stop play because of a statement made by a player, "If this grand police organization can capture a whole crime syndicate why can't they track down the 'Cult of the Rat' and take them out?" A fair question in hindsite but, a quick OOC discussion brought a quick cool down and reinvigerated the game play! (The answer BTW was, the guild in question were normal humanoids, easily killed and arreted with the proper application of force. The Cult of the Rat is full of lycanthropes and magic using members. Well above our means to track and kill.)