Willie the Duck
Hero
What exactly is it that they want their characters to do? Just stand around and bask in their their-character-ness? Do they not want to do anything with these characters? Cause if they just want to sit around talking in character, I'm not sure why you need to show up.When the only thing the players care about is their own character...you have nothing to leverage for story and drama. They don't care about the town or the townsfolk, so threatening them doesn't evoke story or drama...it evokes a resounding "meh." Same goes for basically everything else. If the only important thing to the player is their character, that's the only leverage you have as a referee.
Alright. Doesn't sound like something a rules structure can address. Forget the 5-minute workday, the individuals you describe sound like they aren't interacting with the day at all, or place, or story. It's bizarre, frustrating, and more than a little puzzling, but honestly it sounds so far afield that in seems a mile past the thread topic.Well, look at all the other kinds of games that exist and have existed before D&D. The parlor games, story games, card games, non-D&D RPGs, etc.
Absolutely. The players are not interested in D&D as I understand it. They want something else. But, because of the dominance of D&D as the RPG, they try to play D&D like...whatever it is that they're actually after.