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<blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 5377994" data-attributes="member: 67">I feel your pain to some extent.&nbsp; Sometimes, early in a campaign, it can be difficult to get the PCs to bite.&nbsp; Two suggestions should help.First, more hooks.&nbsp; Lots of them.&nbsp; Keep track of them, even the ones they don't bite on, because...second, consequences.&nbsp; Whenever you need a new hook, if you have no idea for one, off hand, go back to an old hook and look at what consequences may have come to pass as a result of the PCs failure to bite and how they might now be relevant.&nbsp; This will help save you effort in the long run, and help establish a sense of depth to your campaign.Later, through the PC's own (mis)adventures, they will likely create their own hooks more often than not, but you should still occasionally (or often) pull up something old to haunt them.Well, no wonder.&nbsp; All you did was provide motivation not to do what you wanted them to do.&nbsp; If you want them to have fun with the game you have prepped, don't shut off their options and don't get frustrated; fold their actions into the game.Or, at least, they think they did.Again, save them for later and give them a chance to become relevant.&nbsp; In the meantime, listen to the players table-talk while you're pretending to do DM stuff behind the screen and figure out what their motivations are.&nbsp; Take notes.&nbsp; Feed them more hooks.&nbsp; Tasty, tasty hooks.Creating hooks is not a responsibility; it is the way to integrate the PCs (and players) into the setting (your character) that you are playing.&nbsp; If your setting is interesting, allow the hooks to communicate it to the players.It is not the players' responsibility to bite just for the sake of following the DM's story.&nbsp; It is, after all, their story to tell, as well.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rune, post: 5377994, member: 67"] I feel your pain to some extent. Sometimes, early in a campaign, it can be difficult to get the PCs to bite. Two suggestions should help. First, more hooks. Lots of them. Keep track of them, even the ones they don't bite on, because...second, consequences. Whenever you need a new hook, if you have no idea for one, off hand, go back to an old hook and look at what consequences may have come to pass as a result of the PCs failure to bite and how they might [i]now[/i] be relevant. This will help save you effort in the long run, and help establish a sense of depth to your campaign. Later, through the PC's own (mis)adventures, they will likely create their own hooks more often than not, but you should still occasionally (or often) pull up something old to haunt them. Well, no wonder. All you did was provide motivation [i]not[/i] to do what you wanted them to do. If you want them to have fun with the game you have prepped, don't shut off their options and [i]don't[/i] get frustrated; fold their actions into the game. Or, at least, they [i]think[/i] they did. Again, save them for later and give them a chance to become relevant. In the meantime, listen to the players table-talk while you're pretending to do DM stuff behind the screen and figure out what their motivations are. Take notes. Feed them more hooks. Tasty, tasty hooks. Creating hooks is not a responsibility; it is the way to integrate the PCs (and players) into the setting (your character) that you are playing. If your setting is interesting, allow the hooks to communicate it to the players. It is [b]not[/b] the players' responsibility to bite just for the sake of following the DM's story. It is, after all, their story to tell, as well. [/QUOTE]

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