Getting the players interested in the campaign setting.

[ArcaneSpringboard]

So, I run an Eberron campaign (and have expressed to my players an interest in running a Dark Sun campaign).

However, it's started to become apparently to me that in general, my players just don't really care about the campaign setting. We could be playing the D&D Core world for all they care.

Races are picked solely for their bonuses and how they fit the classes.

Getting backgrounds for their characters feels like pulling teeth. There's little interest in setting up story hooks for themselves. In fact, during the starting session of the last campaign, I felt like there was a general "we don't care about this background nonsense, we just want to kill stuff". Since I'm a storyteller type of a DM this has been a bit frustrating.

Now, I realize that not all players are the same, and some just want to kill stuff.

However, I _also_ have gotten at least one comment saying "all we seem to do is fight".

We have made some progress though... at least the characters have names and we now know what gender they are (my last campaign had two characters that were female...for two months before anyone other than their player knew about it).

I've tried lending out my Eberron Campaign Guide (and one player did read it and is enthused by it)...but it doesn't seem like the others are interested at all in any of the backstory, geography or anything involving the world their characters live in.

When I was playing for a few months I tried to lead by example and pick some kinda iconic Eberron characters and roleplay them (a Talenta halfing who beastmaster ranger with a velociraptor companion and a House Lyrandar half-elf sorcerer).

Any suggestions on how to get the players to get interested?

 

[The Shaman]

However, I _also_ have gotten at least one comment saying "all we seem to do is fight".

I think the response to this is not shoving the campaign setting at them, but rather asking what else they would like to do besides fight.

 

[Jhaelen]

Any suggestions on how to get the players to get interested?

Err, not really. Aren't you trying to do things backwards?

When I am about to start a new campaign, I ask my players what they are interested in. If your players aren't interested in Eberron, then it's not a good idea to use it as a setting for your campaign.

 

[fba827]

campaign settings are hard to be enthused about -- either you are, or you aren't.. and very few inbetween that can be converted. For me, personally, if it's not already a setting that i have interest in, then it is especially hard to see a big campaign setting book and think "I have to read/learn all this for a game" ?


Some thoughts come to mind:

a) encounters/scenarios that don't involve killing as the main goal. Maybe they need to get something and get out. Maybe the goal is to stop a ritual. Maybe they need to escort someone from A to B.

b) introduce NPCs (both in the form of commoners and villians or allies) who know a PC from thier hometown (former neighbors, or they used to attend church with their mother, or it's the uncle that dissapeared years ago and is now back with an army of undead with him, whatever ...) thus, giving them a story connection een though they didn't think up one themselves

c) the thing that makes one campaign arc/story different than any other situation is the story. you may have a reason for the PCs to be going from combat to combat, but perhaps the players aren't understanding it yet, hence the reason it all seems like 'just killing stuff' as opposed to 'advancing the story by way of murder :-D' So see if there is another way to convey the plot in case the players aren't really "getting it" well enough to make it distinctive

d) is there an abridged primer that relates specifically to the area the game is focused on? something you can make up that is basically no more than a page long. And then let them learn other details about the world and setting as the game progresses (i.e. "this halforc bears the mark of the Gate Keepers.... those of you trained in history know that the Gate Keepers are ...."). This lets it be short and focused and therefore not intimidating.

e) you talk about iconic eberron style characters, if possible, make sure the iconic eberron style stuff is also in the encounters -- i.e. warforged, or maybe a fight in a car on the lightning rail, etc. just stuff that might make them go "oh, that's neat, never realized that sort of thing was here ..." adding to the overall tone.


(anyway, just late night rambles. maybe i said something of use in that brain dump. if not, sorry )

 

[Oryan77]

From what I've seen from players, the setting doesn't really matter to them. They'll be as enthusiastic playing in one setting as much as they would be in playing another. Unless they have a real love/hate relationship with a setting.

I think the real goal is to get them interested in your game world, not so much the actual setting. This often seems like a challenge for the DM (I know I struggle with it). The only real way a player gets interested is when he makes an active effort to learn about things. If he doesn't, he probably isn't that interested in that aspect of the game. You'll really never be able to force or convince a player to be interested. Either he will or he won't on his own terms.

One thing that works, is if you are running a published setting that has some good novels written for it. When I first played 2e Dark Sun, I thought the game was fun, but once I started reading Dark Sun novels, it made my gaming way more exciting. Just being familiar with in-game content because I read about it in the novels was very cool. It really helped pull me into the game world.

Planescape has several Players Guides that the DM can give to players to read about various planar fluff. I think they are pretty entertaining books because they are written first person, which makes it seem less like a rule book. But I just can't get anyone to read the damn things.

So what I did recently was I reminded the players that I have these books, and they can read about Pandemonium if they wanted before their PCs went there during the next session. My intention was to give any players that read them some bonus XP. At the beginning of the game, as they prepared for their trip to Pandemonium, one of the players started spouting off some knowledge he picked up from reading the Players Guide (I was surprised he read it). The other players started asking him questions about what to expect on their trip. When he got done telling them a few things he remembered, I announced that his PC earned 50 bonus XP because the player read the book. Then everyone started smiling and did the old, "Ah man!" routine, while the player with the bonus XP grinned.

So now I'm hoping that the next time I remind them about the Players Guides before they visit a new plane, they'll all come back to the next session all ready to get some bonus XP.

I don't know how well it will work to bribe players with XP for reading about the setting. But it might be worth giving it a try.

 

[Someone]

There's the possibility that you are putting your group through a series of fights, and your players are responding to the environment. There's no reason to have the backstory, environment, NPCs, background, character gender and landscape description in mind when action happens in a dungeon and success depends on how quick you can deplete the foe's HPs.

Maybe you should spice your sessions with social skill challenges, circumstances where they can take advantage of NPCs motivations and personalities, and non-combat encounters.

Also, talk to them off-session and try to find out if they really don't care about their race and just enjoy their power, or if they feel that they have to min max to keep pace with your encounters.

 

[Nagol]

The only way I've found that works, sort of, is if the setting becomes a giant puzzle that they need to solve.

As I understand it, Eberron is already set up for that with its various conspriacies and secret societies.

 

[Hand of Evil]

You have to get the players to interact and place some envolvment into the setting, they need to feel part of it.

1) Background - start small, keep the players in a location and let them learn about it. Place their backgrounds into the area and let them have family and friends that are envolved in the rumors and events of the area. Example of theis would be fathers or grand-fathers that fought in a war and the players hearing the stories or even getting a connection to other people from it.

2) Rumors - What is going on in the area. People want news and they get it, travellers talk. Pass on information.

3) The Actions of the players MUST cause a reaction - If the characters are changing the enviroment, the players need to know about it. If they kill a big bad, that is news (reaction), if they burn down a tavern, what are the results (reaction). This has to get back to the players, for them to feel the interaction with the campaign setting.

4) Interact with the players - let them help you. The information from a character's background can help you. Do the questions; how many brothers/sisters, where are they now, why did you become an adventurer, how did you meet the other party members, etc. You provide some basic information and let them fill in the details. Later you can then draw from the information and use it against them. Example: Player character finds out the big bad is his brother that left to join the army 10 years ago! The player provided that info for you in his background - you just take it and use it.

Let them players tell you how they meet and started to work together!

5) See link in my sig on DM Advice.

 

[vagabundo]

I've had this problem and I've come to the conclusion you need to start the campiagn with how you wish things to be.

So the very first session should have very little combat (combat is always easy to add). Mostly character roleplaying (maybe a fight at the end or skill challenge). And, if your players are anything like mine, you need to engage them with some structure and lots of story hooks that for their characters backgrounds. I think the reason a lot of players like combat is that it is very structured.

There are people on these board who can give some advice to getting this structure, but it involves lots of DM questions or activities (it sounds like some training excercise, but it can be fun).

- Give a very brief summary of the setting and some background - do not overload, keep it simple and to the point.
- Do a round table and get a concept/race from each of the players that they would like to play. Make suggestions here about race combos or concepts and how they fit in the setting, but don't say no unless you really have to.
- Do another round table and get them to create a for name their character and create a connection to another players character. Do this three times, each time the player must pick another players character. BAM they have a shared history.
- Have some prepared hooks ready and connect into the new story the players have created.
- Now play out a scene from their history and use iconic elements from the setting. The scene should be mostly role playing and, occasionally roll dice, allow the players to have a +1 or +2 if they say they have a high score in something (make them make a note of it). Set your DC's to stun ^H^H err low for this level 0 scene. The 4e DMG2 have some premo advice from robin laws on doing these types of scenes, but if you don't have access to 4e I'm sure there are some good blogs articles around.
- Now do character creations and get all your stats.
- Then do the opening scene of the adventure or role play some more random scenes with strong links to the iconic bits of the setting and hopefully everyone has a nice idea of the links that bind them as a group and to the setting. Remember there needs to be conflict, but this does not mean just combat. You cant just have them wander about aimlessly.*
- End this session on a nice plot hook cliff hanger and hopefully they will want mOAR PLZ.**

*Do another round table and get them to create a backup character concept here, somehow linked to the first character, but keep it vague. So maybe a sibling or close friend who is also an adventurer, maybe in a different class. But do not spend too much time on this concept so as not to take away from the main character. This backup character will only be wheeled out if the grim reaper has his dirty, little way.

** Before the next session you can start an email thread with them and drip feed some setting information related to the cliff hanger and plot. Hopefully they will be invested in their characters and see them as living, breathing things.


Anyway just some idea's that have been poking around in my head the last few weeks. I've done something like this on a smaller scale before and it worked well, but this is much grander. I'm sure there are other good round table questions you can ask:

- What does your character wear when not in armour and wearing his 6ft greatsword. Does he have a dagger in his boot?
- What hobbies, professions does your character have before becoming an adventurer.

And then the dreaded:

- What are your character long term, short term goals? Traits, blah blah..

 

[ExploderWizard]

However, I _also_ have gotten at least one comment saying "all we seem to do is fight".

I think the real goal is to get them interested in your game world, not so much the actual setting. This often seems like a challenge for the DM (I know I struggle with it). The only real way a player gets interested is when he makes an active effort to learn about things. If he doesn't, he probably isn't that interested in that aspect of the game. You'll really never be able to force or convince a player to be interested. Either he will or he won't on his own terms.

3) The Actions of the players MUST cause a reaction - If the characters are changing the enviroment, the players need to know about it. If they kill a big bad, that is news (reaction), if they burn down a tavern, what are the results (reaction). This has to get back to the players, for them to feel the interaction with the campaign setting.

These are all great bits of very important information. First of all, players will usually only be interested in what is fun for them which is perfectly natural. If the players just enjoy a series of combats then they might not care to bother with anything else. OTOH, a comment such as "all we seem to do is fight" might mean that there is a desire for more.

Caring about the campaign vs the setting:

Is the intent here for your players to be more generally interested in Eberron or interested specifically in your Eberron campaign? There is a world of difference between an adoring fan of a published setting and a player who is energetically engaged with what is happening in the game world each session.

My campaign is set in Mystara but I have no expectation that my players will be hyper-excited just because of this. My job as a DM is not to try and get the players to take a more active interest in the game world as it is published, but rather in the campaign events that we create together as we play.

The game world as it exists before the players begin play is simply just some imagined place for their characters to romp around in. You can create ties and backstories and things but the place won't feel alive (especially to the players) until actual play begins. It's like walking through a house that you might want to buy. There is potential but not too much excitement for the house itself. The excitement comes from imagining your personal stuff in the space and thinking about actually living there.

Generating Campaign Interest:

Generating interest in the campaign is nearly impossible if the means of doing so are not fun and rewarding for the players. Interaction with an environment that has a noticeable effect is a great way to generate that interest. Be very free with information, especially information that is created as a result of in-game events. If the players are not getting enough feedback about their effect on the campaign and the goings on within it, they have little incentive to show much interest.

If the PC's just slog through the world killing things and the world just trudges along taking little notice then the action becomes very detatched from the world which will become little more than the scrolling scenery in a videogame. The PC's need more to interact with than just foes and obstacles. What Hand of Evil mentioned above is the most critical part of the mix. The players need to know that their actions are having a very real effect on the campaign. This provides a sense of accomplishment and helps the players see the in-game events from an ownership perspective as opposed to mere observers.

Campaign Rewards:

Nothing motivates a player like getting rewards. Active interest in the campaign should be rewarded by the kind of cool stuff that can't be found in a treasure chest. Special privileges, favors, connections, and reputation benefits can be more valuable than gold. The DM is responsible for making this stuff worthwhile though.

The PC's let a bad guy flunky go? Make sure he reappears later perhaps with valuable intel that would (at a minimum) save a ton of ponderous legwork.

The PC's kill a major bad guy? Let their reputation work for them. Perhaps they can get invitations to exclusive clubs leading to more lucrative opportunities or mentioning the deed to a captive would be enough to get him to spill his guts without an interrogation.

These kind of rewards motivate the player to not only care more about the campaign, but about their own characters beyond the numbers on the sheet.