Party Motivation

[Awakened]

I just started a new campaign after a long hiatus, and things are off to a bad start.
Two of the players are playing monks who became friends on a caravan that passed through the desert Aunarauch and came out alive on the other end. Which is better than what you can say for their fellow riders; everyone else aboard died of a strange plague and there's an odd lapse in memory of the entire voyage.
The party's favored soul refuses to show up, so the only other character is an arctic druid who came to Sundabar (and coincedentally, the same city the monks abandoned the sickness-ridden caravan in) in search of warriors to accompany him to the Night Trees to kill off a rival Druid guild.
The whole session was extremely slow and when the party eventually met up, the two road-weary monks decided they had seen enough action lately and that the druid would have to convince them to come along. This was expected, but all the druid offered them is food and now the motivation for a trek through the wilderness into extremely hostile territory seems unrealistic. Both monks have decided to work with the druid but feel that they have no long-term commitment to stay (basically, as soon as things look dangerous, they quit). This is no adventuring party! I'm wondering what I can do now to supply motivation without seeming heavy handed. It took the whole session just to get them on board, so they haven't even started moving yet. The characters are very cold and distant to each other, including the monks, which I don't entirely understand. Does anybody have any ideas or should I just scrap this campaign and run the Shackled City when it comes out?

 

[EricNoah]

You could deal with it in-game (toss them into battle or some other conflict where they need to stand together to prevail), or you could do it out of game (ask the players -- individually -- if they could do you a favor and try to figure out a better reason for adventuring, give you a bit more backstory you can work with -- maybe they'll give you some ideas you can use).

 

[Quicken]

Every group, new or old, needs a "we work well together" moment. Try and structure some encounters that allow the different players to make the most of their skills (some out of combat encounters are good too to see if the druid can talk to an animal or the monk can jump a gap). If they get through it alive they'll want to stay together. If they die horribly then you can start all over again

 

[Mark]

I just started a new campaign after a long hiatus, and things are off to a bad start.
Two of the players are playing monks ...

That *is* a bad start.

Does anybody have any ideas or should I just scrap this campaign

Scrap it.

 

[Quickleaf]

Both monks have decided to work with the druid but feel that they have no long-term commitment to stay (basically, as soon as things look dangerous, they quit). This is no adventuring party!

Well, some fantasy novels have the main heroes start off reluctantly involved with each other. In fact, this is ripe material for a GM to work with, so long as none of your players are planning on coming to logger-heads with you and saying "I leave the party."

Set up a scenario which tests the character's morals. For example, the druid saves the monks lives. Later, things really heat up and the druid actually requests to do something truly deadly alone - it's not the monks' fight after all. Do the monks leave or do they (like true heroes do) feel obliged to their self-sacrificing friend who saved their lives?

 

[Oryan77]

One of the best ways to make party members bond together is to throw in an NPC that can be used as an arch nemesis. The more arrogant and insulting the NPC, the more the party will hate him/her and they'll all have something in common (getting revenge on that prick).

It's awsome to hear a group all bitching together about how much they want an NPC dead.

 

[SweeneyTodd]

It's a player issue, not a character issue. It doesn't sound like you made having the party be a cohesive whole a priority in creating characters or the first session. I'd consider backing up a bit and asking the players if they're okay with everybody doing a retcon and coming up with reasons why the characters know each other and

This is one of those areas where I think metagaming is a good thing (please don't burn me at the stake). Having the players come up with reasons collaboratively to be a party is totally "out of character", and yet it makes for much smoother play in the long run than hoping it'll just happen or imposing in-game events to force it to happen.

 

[Quickleaf]

Actually, I second what Todd said. Definitely do what he said before you do what I said.

 

[MonkeyDragon]

When I start campaigns, one of the things I have my players do during character creation is come up with a reason why the party got together and has stayed together. They are to assume that they've been together for some time. Although this makes things a little awkward when the players don't know much about the characters, it nips that whole getting together thing in the bud.

Since you're already past that point, and might not want to go back to it, this might be a good time so smush them together in a way they can't part for awhile. Force them together with some threat or situation in a way that it would be very dangerous for them to part. Hopefully by the time the threat is dealt with, they'll have meshed as a group and won't be so likely to split.

 

[Land Outcast]

three months ago (or so) I ruled that when a new PC was created, they'd have to get throug some questions...
one of them: what moves him/her/it?

Priceless information: injustice to be undone? monsters to kill? treasure to loot? prove themselves superior?

And then, when you have to get them tied to a NPC/hook, just use the information adquired