Getting the players more involved

[lior_shapira]

I want to change my party's style of play a bit, and get them more involved in the world. Getting hired to clear out a dungeon or getting an omen from a god or a prophetic old man just isn't cutting it anymore
So I wanted to ask how do you hook your players into an adventure ? Are they part of active organizations who send them on missions ? Does the church they belong to utilize their services ? Do their families get kidnapped/murdered/generally in trouble ?

 

[Cyclops]

The players I'm involved with are total mercs...if the money is good, they're in. Even when some hamlet has no real cash, and begs for help, the potential that the bad guy has cash is a big incentive.

 

[yennico]

Every PC has a motivation. Use this motivation as hook for an adventure.

Just my 2 cents
yennico

 

[fba827]

The most generic thing I can say is:

Go down the characters and make up a list of "Motivations - Why is the character out adventuring?"

common ones are: money, finding someone, treasure, duty, etc.

Then try and work those in there.

--
For me, personally, I do it by weaving a character's background into the background/mission some how. It's happening in their home town, or it is tied to a specific organization that one of the PCs has something against, etc.

how well that works with your players may vary though ....

 

[Gilladian]

I have used one particular character as the "party leader" and her motivation is the main one for the party - she's tracking down some "artifacts" that were owned by her family generations ago, and which, if found, would prove that she and her brother are the rightful rulers of the realm.

Others in the party are her bodyguard, a persecuted follower of a religion (druid), a rogue who has fallen out with the local guild, and a pair of elves who have left their homeland in order to marry (once they find enough money to support a family and a safe place to live).

So background is the key.

Gilladian

 

[KamarEzZeman]

This is the most difficult of all DM tasks!

I am struggling every session, but have so far had succes with the following hooks:

* By reintroducing some opponent(s) to fight or annoy the PC's many times, the players in the end will shift from 'duty' to 'this is personal'. And that is very good!

* If they have some weapon or thing they can upgrade, like a spear which were ones great blabla, they might get hooked by the persepctive of getting a nice artifiact.

* If there is a cleric in the group, the god of this cleric might ask them services. This is more tricky, though, if the other characters does not support this god.

The main point is to think about what will get the players going. That is, you should customize your hooks to your players (not PC's!)