Im currently planning a stardust based campaign, i want to be able to keep my players interested and eventually have them find a fallen star, but I am worried about losing their interest at lower levels
I think it's actually easier to keep interest at lower levels when all combat is more dynamic and challenging, and they're just figuring out the game world. It's mid-game you might struggle to keep attention if the players don't seem particularly engaged in the story.
That said, the best way to lose player interest from the get-go is to include a lot of big lore-dumps explaining the world in detail to them right at the beginning. Players are very selective about the lore they find engaging, so instead, hint at how the world works in dialogue or description, and then wait for the players to ask questions. Maybe the blacksmith in the start town keeps saying like "thank the Lords" this or "by the grace of the Lords" that, it might pique a player's interest and they might ask "so who are these Lords we keep hearing about?" Or, when describing the landscape, mention that the hills they're riding past are all carved to look like stern faces, now all overgrown and faded. "We've been seeing strange things like these here and there, who built these?" Then you can have an npc on hand or have them roll a history check and then tell the players about the ancient civilization that died out thousands of years ago, leaving behind strange ruins and treasures throughout the land.
That way, you're only delivering lore that the players have already expressed an interest in after following the hints you drop organically.
Im currently planning a stardust based campaign, i want to be able to keep my players interested and eventually have them find a fallen star, but I am worried about losing their interest at lower levels
I think it's actually easier to keep interest at lower levels when all combat is more dynamic and challenging, and they're just figuring out the game world. It's mid-game you might struggle to keep attention if the players don't seem particularly engaged in the story.
That said, the best way to lose player interest from the get-go is to include a lot of big lore-dumps explaining the world in detail to them right at the beginning. Players are very selective about the lore they find engaging, so instead, hint at how the world works in dialogue or description, and then wait for the players to ask questions. Maybe the blacksmith in the start town keeps saying like "thank the Lords" this or "by the grace of the Lords" that, it might pique a player's interest and they might ask "so who are these Lords we keep hearing about?" Or, when describing the landscape, mention that the hills they're riding past are all carved to look like stern faces, now all overgrown and faded. "We've been seeing strange things like these here and there, who built these?" Then you can have an npc on hand or have them roll a history check and then tell the players about the ancient civilization that died out thousands of years ago, leaving behind strange ruins and treasures throughout the land.
That way, you're only delivering lore that the players have already expressed an interest in after following the hints you drop organically.
Thank you, i never thought about it that way :)
Glad it helped! Lemme know how it goes, I love Stardust!