Do something unexpected, Deus Ex Machina to get them excited.
Suddenly a meteor comes crashing down from the sky!
One of you was a Doppleganger that lost their memories in the River Styx and adopted this player's identity as their own, your kidnapped character can be found in . . .
An angel/dragon/god/archfiend appears before you and declares one of you will die if you don't do this thing for them.
Something like this might work.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Oh man, I've been there. It's okay to feel burnout. And if your players aren't excited, maybe it's time to find players who are. (This happens a lot with groups of friends you talked into playing...they still don't really want to be there, so they just zombie through the game.)
That said, it's okay to run classic Scooby-Doo monster of the week games! Not every game has to be intimately connected to "backstory"; in fact, most of the best ones aren't. Try a simple, straightforward story with an obvious goal, like "find the pirate treasure in the jungle temple" or "kill the orc lord who kidnapped the prince." Maybe the players just enjoy a simple story.
Also, some players aren't self-starters. They don't want to co-write, they want to roll dice. D&D is their brain-off chill-out time. If your players are like that, just get them on a railroad. Believe it or not, some players are happier that way.
As a dm I don't want take to much agency over their action but if they don't have any back story they could work through
Are you saying none of them have a backstory? Or are you saying that you don't want to make a backstory (for your world) for them to work through? These are 2 very different conditions.
If the PCs don't have a backstory, my question would be why did you even allow that as a DM? You don't have to demand 2 page essays, but you should ask for them to come up with at least a few sentences to go with their background option (for example, if they picked a noble, what noble house is theirs, and what was their life growing up like, and what do their parents think of them being an adventurer?).
If your world doesn't have a backstory, then that is up to you to control, and to produce. It's not taking over player agency to make up the backstory that tells you where the ruined temple came from and that kind of thing.
As a dm I don't want take to much agency over their action but if they don't have any back story they could work through
Are you saying none of them have a backstory? Or are you saying that you don't want to make a backstory (for your world) for them to work through? These are 2 very different conditions.
If the PCs don't have a backstory, my question would be why did you even allow that as a DM? You don't have to demand 2 page essays, but you should ask for them to come up with at least a few sentences to go with their background option (for example, if they picked a noble, what noble house is theirs, and what was their life growing up like, and what do their parents think of them being an adventurer?).
If your world doesn't have a backstory, then that is up to you to control, and to produce. It's not taking over player agency to make up the backstory that tells you where the ruined temple came from and that kind of thing.
No back story from them
It would have been nice to have a back story but that didn't happen
All right, so if I now understand this... you, as a DM, had your players make up character sheets but did not require backstories of them. Whose fault is this... theirs, or yours?
You are the one who allowed them to start playing the game without backstories. As a DM, if you want backstories from your players, you need to say they are required, not nice to have. And if you as a DM want this from them and the players resist (we had a thread about this a few weeks ago), then right there it tells me there is a disconnect between how you want to run the game and how they want to play it.
You clearly need to have a sit-down with your players, out of character, and talk about what everyone wants from a game session.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
If there's no investment in the story you're trying to tell as a DM, then you can't really force it. I'd try to get a better understanding of why your players are at the table. Do they really want to play D&D, or are they just humoring someone who did and they just want to hang out? If they are there for the game but still not trying to engage with your story, maybe they're not after a big epic plot. Maybe try the old trick of dropping them in a town and telling them to sandbox it up with a few sidequests and encounters to navigate. Some players just like to have fun and run amok. Basically, if they don't want to play the campaign you're running, try to find out what campaign they *do* want ton play.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I just had a one of my worst DnD session. After the session I had an overwhelming sense unease
where I founded myself constantly asking to pc's about what they wanted to do or else I would get mostly blank stares
As a dm I don't want take to much agency over their action but if they don't have any back story they could work through
As a Dm I have no idea what should I do with my group
I don't hate them they are cool people to hang out with some times I just feel like I can't engage them to the game/story
Do something unexpected, Deus Ex Machina to get them excited.
Suddenly a meteor comes crashing down from the sky!
One of you was a Doppleganger that lost their memories in the River Styx and adopted this player's identity as their own, your kidnapped character can be found in . . .
An angel/dragon/god/archfiend appears before you and declares one of you will die if you don't do this thing for them.
Something like this might work.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Oh man, I've been there. It's okay to feel burnout. And if your players aren't excited, maybe it's time to find players who are. (This happens a lot with groups of friends you talked into playing...they still don't really want to be there, so they just zombie through the game.)
That said, it's okay to run classic Scooby-Doo monster of the week games! Not every game has to be intimately connected to "backstory"; in fact, most of the best ones aren't. Try a simple, straightforward story with an obvious goal, like "find the pirate treasure in the jungle temple" or "kill the orc lord who kidnapped the prince." Maybe the players just enjoy a simple story.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Also, some players aren't self-starters. They don't want to co-write, they want to roll dice. D&D is their brain-off chill-out time. If your players are like that, just get them on a railroad. Believe it or not, some players are happier that way.
I'm a little confused by this line:
Are you saying none of them have a backstory? Or are you saying that you don't want to make a backstory (for your world) for them to work through? These are 2 very different conditions.
If the PCs don't have a backstory, my question would be why did you even allow that as a DM? You don't have to demand 2 page essays, but you should ask for them to come up with at least a few sentences to go with their background option (for example, if they picked a noble, what noble house is theirs, and what was their life growing up like, and what do their parents think of them being an adventurer?).
If your world doesn't have a backstory, then that is up to you to control, and to produce. It's not taking over player agency to make up the backstory that tells you where the ruined temple came from and that kind of thing.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
No back story from them
It would have been nice to have a back story but that didn't happen
All right, so if I now understand this... you, as a DM, had your players make up character sheets but did not require backstories of them. Whose fault is this... theirs, or yours?
You are the one who allowed them to start playing the game without backstories. As a DM, if you want backstories from your players, you need to say they are required, not nice to have. And if you as a DM want this from them and the players resist (we had a thread about this a few weeks ago), then right there it tells me there is a disconnect between how you want to run the game and how they want to play it.
You clearly need to have a sit-down with your players, out of character, and talk about what everyone wants from a game session.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
If there's no investment in the story you're trying to tell as a DM, then you can't really force it. I'd try to get a better understanding of why your players are at the table. Do they really want to play D&D, or are they just humoring someone who did and they just want to hang out? If they are there for the game but still not trying to engage with your story, maybe they're not after a big epic plot. Maybe try the old trick of dropping them in a town and telling them to sandbox it up with a few sidequests and encounters to navigate. Some players just like to have fun and run amok. Basically, if they don't want to play the campaign you're running, try to find out what campaign they *do* want ton play.