Weak Plothooks

[Stalker0]

You got to take the plot hook for a newbie DM. The DM and PCS are a team with the same goal of having fun!!

Now for an experienced DM, I'll make him work for me

But I do notice as players get more experienced, it can take a lot more to get them hooked on an adventure.

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

... I decided that I would run a module as a lead in to my own creations. I sat down with the players and told them the barest description of the intro to the module (standard gaurd a caravan plot hook) and asked them to work out a reason why their character wanted to be going along. Its a bit of a cop out but it did mean that the start of the adventure and their joining as a party went smoothly.

Hmm a bit long winded, was this BAD DMing (tm) or acceptable?

I did something similar when I started my Eberron game. After the players had created their characters/background, I found a suitable "leader" figure and told him he was sent on a mission to Sharn by his House leader. He picked up the other characters in a tavern as we started the adventure. For homework, they each had to write why they had joined this guy and he had to write why he picked each one. We assumed they all joined the group and built the story from there.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I always bite at the plot hooks. After all, if you're not interested in going on adventures of the DM's devising, then why are you playing?

 

[Mallus]

I always bite at the plot hooks. After all, if you're not interested in going on adventures of the DM's devising, then why are you playing?

Right. Put another way, starting off by essentially telling the DM that you don't trust him/her to provide an entertaining time isn't productive.

Most campaign starts are rocky, contrived affairs. Take the hook, help the DM out, and see if you can't build something more satisfying as the campaign progresses.

 

[werk]

Just honestly tell the DM (after the session) that the hook was very naive, and he'll learn that he needs to do better than that.

I occasionaly will put in really obvious, fake hooks in my campaign. If the party is either too lazy to find adventure, or way too eager, I let them find a really hokey adventure hook. Usually traps laid to ambush goody-goody (equipment laden) adventurers.

Play your character. If he would not be interested, that's your answer. If he is even remotely interested, you may want to indulge the DM a little.

 

[painandgreed]

Metagame it with your DM. See if he's willing to go with something else or wants you to do this one and he'll develop something more along your lines later. Personally, I try to present three different plot hooks or so to the PCs while winging it and once they've picked up on one, develop it further. ideally, I'd like the PCs to come up with an idea of what they want to do although that is hard to do unless they get lots of information on the surrounding world. My current Dm just asks us what our future plans are so she can plan accordingly. If we say we're going to go over there, she plans the trip over there. If we say we want to look for a dungeon to loot, she comes up with a dungeon.

 

[ThirdWizard]

When playing, I'll bite just about any hook that comes my way if I know its going to be the only hook around. I'm a nice player, though.

Going a bit into my own hooks:

Looking back at our games, I handle plot-hooks in a far less, hook -> adventure, hook -> adventure method.

At the end of a session, I ask the PCs what their plans are, then develop the next session from there. Oftentimes, the PCs will spend a good amount of time in town asking about the area, getting an idea of the various adventures to be had about. There is a gnoll problem in the Farfields, the lizardmen are taking over more territory through which travelers come to the city, and Lady Abedeu is hiring adventurers to investigate something and paying quite a large amount but noone knows exactly what.

The PCs work on loose ends from the last session, taking care of whatever it was they told me they were doing this session, then after it is over, they tell me what their future plans are. I then write up something for that while throwing in "unavoidable" circumstances, like assassins coming after them or undead showing up nearby, so that they have choices in what they do. Plots then intersect in a Dickensonesque way and crazy times ensue.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

We talk ooc during the character generation session to work out the introductory plot hook, it will always be a peripheral consequence on the campaign theme. Eg:

* My pc is a replacement lawman going to the wild frontier & the other pcs will be soon-to-be-deputies or victims of the lawlessness driven to seek justice.

* As a DM of my 'rise of lords' campaign, the pcs were all in court with/seeking patrons when the civil war broke out.

The last game where the pcs didn't want to bite led to me to stopping the session, cancelling the campaign, taking the pick of the group & changing my ways. An obstinate pc would theoretically effectively miss a session but I'd have to query the behaviour before that; I don't know anyone who would pull a 'lone wolf' stunt so there would have to be some effort I haven't made to include the pc that needs fixing.

 

[the Jester]

I sat down with the players and told them the barest description of the intro to the module (standard gaurd a caravan plot hook) and asked them to work out a reason why their character wanted to be going along. Its a bit of a cop out but it did mean that the start of the adventure and their joining as a party went smoothly.

Hmm a bit long winded, was this BAD DMing (tm) or acceptable?

This is a great approach, especially for new dms. "You players tell me the hook!"

 

[DrNilesCrane]

Go ahead and bite (you're all there to game, right?) and after the adventure, give some constructive feedback to the newbie DM and (hopefully) help them improve next time. DM's job is hard enough as it is: not every DM, especially one new to the game, is going to hit a home run everytime.