I don't think my friends really want to play the story I've created or they don't really want to interact with the world that they're in. They just want to go from point a to b with the least amount of NPC interaction or story. Whenever I ask them for feedback, they usually say that they don't have any. One of my friends did say he wanted to have their decisions have higher consequences, but I'm not sure how to do that when they're in a world they don't care about with NPC's they don't care about. 

Just as an example of what I was talking about:

The last time we played the players they had to find a Doctor to help one of the Players who has a sick mom. Once they got the guys name from the mayor they leave and don't even ask where the doctor is, so I have them bump into one of the other NPCs who they know is the cousin of the doctor and no one says anything for a good 2 minutes (it was awkwardly quiet) so I repeat that they bump into this NPC. So one of them finally says Hi and asks where the doctor is.

When they get the location and go to the doctor I describe this scene (but with more details): They enter this massive kitchen with 50 pie tins on this massive counter and you see one male elf who seems super flustered as he's looking at this cookbook and going between pots and cutting apples. He tells them that he's been put in charge of the pie eating contest last minute and is over his head.

So the player basically tells the doctor to stop what he was doing because her mom is dying and that is more important, and the doctor at first was like ok thinking she was nearby and he could help and get back to the pies, but when the player said he not only couldn't come but also she isn't near by, the doctor replied that he didn't know how to help the Player

The player told him to just give her some medicine and the doctor said he couldn't just give her medicine if he didn't know the diagnoses and would have to see the patient. But the player was very adamant about him not coming with them at all, so the Doctor reluctantly agrees to cross reference the symptoms with his research, but all of his stuff was back in his hometown and he was just there for the festival. So the players would have to travel with him, but they would have to wait until tomorrow. So the player said fine, we'll take the first ship out. (granted they don't know how much it cost to even get on a ship) and then they leave the doctor who has just offered out of the goodness of his heart to help the Player cure her mom. They didn't thank him, or offer ny help. He was super polite to the players too,  in contrast to his cousin who only talks to the elf characters.

and so the Players wanted the characters to go to bed (despite that it was still morning), so that it will be the next day. So then I was like do any of you guys want to take part in the festival I've been mentioning all session or the ceremony that multiple NPC's have invited them too. They decided to do thhe festival (so I time skipped to the evening) and they wanted to skip the ceremony (I planned some stuff to happen) and I planned for stuff to happen at the fetival. Like I've decided one of them has a bounty on their head and so when they inevitably started making a commotion at one of the festival games, I was gonna have an NPC recognize them and give them a warning, but when I tried to interrupt their arguing to progress the story one of the players told me to stay out of it because the players were arguing in- game and I was like... (internally screaming "Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy" like Veronica in the song Beautiful from Heather's the musical).

Anyway, am I just being too hard on myself or not being hard on them enough.

I'm trying to incorporate more of their backstory and goals into the narrative, but I feel like it's not working. 

This is also my first campaign and 3 out of 4 of the Player's first campaign as well. 

They're also all writers, and play video games and I don't do much of those things, so maybe that's why I can't figure out how to make a good game for them?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I hope this wasn't super long and made sense.

First question: Do they enjoy fighting?

Fighting is most structured part of D & D so players who come from computer games usually like that they have clear objectives and turns.

So I have asked them what they enjoy about the game I’m running and it’s usually never anything specific. So then I try to be more specific and I asked them if  they want more fighting or tasks or story but they said they don’t prefer one over another.

And every time I do incorporate combat usually someone either isn’t there or has to leave in the middle of the session so the balance goes from being ok to them barely survivng and they say I need to figure out how to deal when not all the Players show up for the sessions 

For example we had to end one session just before a major boss fight and so everything was set up for them to just jump right into the fight next session, but in the next session 2 of the players (a mage and the fighter) couldn’t make it, so I was trying to make it so it wasn’t an impossible task for the remaining 2 (another mage and a rogue), but they still said I made it too hard for them

I think that consequences would actually be a great way to make them take more notice of the world around them. It seems like they feel that you will take care of everything and keep the story going no matter what they do or don't do. While that MAY be true, you can make them feel like it's not. For example, when they didn't get the directions to the doctor, force them to say how they are going to search. You can ask them questions to prompt the narrative moving forward, such as " so you turn away from the mayor  and you come up to the bustling street. Which direction would you like to go?" If they don't ask what the options look like , have them run into difficulties and obstructions because they "weren't paying attention". i.e " OK, who is going first? Player 1? Ok, so player1, you absentmindedly wander down the left side street and stumble into a carriage, surprising the horse attached. The horse startles and kicks out at you (roll for attack)."

Anyway, my point is, make it clear that if the PLAYERS don't engage, then the PCs don't engage. If they don't ask the convenient NPC where the doctor is, they can keep searching, only to keep missing him till he's gone and they missed their chance. If they didn't bring the convenient and friendly doctor with them, and forced him to create an uninformed and haphazard cure for the mom, the mom dies due to mistreatment. If they choose to blame the doctor, the doctor can set the entire Healer's Guild against them because they were the ones that didn't accept correct treatment. They didn't attend the party, well guess what, they just find out that an all important NPC they NEED to talk to, or even the villain, showed up but they missed their chance. Or maybe now the villagers wont help them because they are too snooty.  Basically, just as actions have consequences, inaction should have consequences too. If it keeps happening, make the consequences HURT. I always try to think about what would happen in real life and then fit the timing of the consequences to the story I'm telling.  If someone is rude to someone in real life, they can be disdained, attacked, sued, or all sorts of other negative things, so why shouldn't that happen in RPG? 

Anyway, this is just how I feel about it. Hope this helps though!

-thechimericalcookie

My first reaction is WTF?!

To me, it sounds like your players really don't know what an RPG is, at all.

Players wanting to go to sleep at 8am and sleep 20 hours to "zip ahead" is something I do in a video game ( like Fallout 4 ) - but that has no bearing on a plausible story line. Neither does telling a Doctor how to do his job.

And if I had a party essentially tell me to shut up and butt out, I'd have packed up and left - "tell me how your story works out, guys". 

I'd recommend a retroactive Session 0, after you have them watch the first session of campaign 2 of Critical Role, or something like it, so they get an idea of how an RPG session typically flows.

Then ask them - "OK guys, what kind of adventures do you want to play? What books do you like? What games do you like?"

Then lay out what the DM responsibilities are, and what the Player responsibilities are ( including not sitting there like a bump on a log for 2 minutes until the DM spoon feeds them something to do ).

Players are there to play a character, make choices as that fictional person would, and react to the world in a plausibly realistic manner. The DM is there to run the rest of the world realistically, plausibly, and consistently - which includes not unrealistically having spoon-feeding NPCs repeatedly run into them. Have the world react in a realistic manner. In that particular case, if they want to brush off the warning, let them. Then the guards show up and arrest the character who has a bounty ( btw, you said you decided - does the player even know? If not, why not? ).

It's not rocket surgery - the world behaves pretty much as ours would if it had magic and monsters and Gods walking the world, but the basic laws of cause, effect, society, and sociology world pretty much the same.

Quote from Vedexent >>

And if I had a party essentially tell me to shut up and butt out, I'd have packed up and left - "tell me how your story works out, guys". 

I actually have a similar mindset with Vedexent on this. Them telling you to "stay out of it" is an extreme disrespect to the DM and the entire table in general. You are taking the time to prepare and run this game for them, but as DM you have to receive a certain level of respect. If they wanted to continue with what they were doing, they should have politely asked if they could continue once and then listened to your final ruling. If they have a problem with something you do, they should come after the game and talk with you about why they feel frustrated and how they would like to resolve it.  With the way it was handled here, they are, essentially, taking away your power as DM, and I really advise this should not be allowed. You should probably pull the players who did this aside and let them know that the way they handled the situation was wrong, or there may be further issues with respect at the table in the future. All games have rules for good reason, and one of the major rules of D&D is that the DM is the ultimate boss man/woman when they are running . 

-thechimericalcookie

Thank you for the advice. I’m definitely making a note of your suggestions, and I plan on talking to them individually now before the next session.

I would go along the 'show not say' path. If they want consequence then railroading will get them to do what you want but not let them realise cause and effect. Let them ignore plot hooks and have a nice nap - suddenly there's a plague where there was just one sick person. They don't say thanks and miss appointments? Folk remember and hold grudges.

I would also let them head off after a rest to do what they say they want. It might be that they currently only think of cause and effect on a very basic level, in say combat. Start small and expand. As has been mentioned, combat is an area where the rules are pretty defined but there is still player choice. Once they get used to affecting a battleground then, we hope, they will be able to use that sort of process on more free-form tasks.  

I understand the comment by Vexedent that maybe watching a streamed game may help - but personally I would avoid that. It, in my opinion, leads to that becoming a model that such a new group will see as a true pattern. I far prefer waiting for a group to develop its own way of playing, even if it can be really rough in the first few sessions.

The argument part is going to have been really frustrating of course but it really depends what their discussion was about. If they are that able to become emotional then you now have a good idea as to what makes them manipulable and what they consider important. On the other hand if it was totally unconnected to the game then make your escape now.

TL:DR This game works when everyone talks and respect one another and game/story expectations need to be known by the entire table. 

I'm not sure I can follow completely along but that is the trick of these things. You are actually at the table and can see how people interact. As to what they want and than not giving you and specifics you are going to have to just experiment:

I am going to say much more than probably needs to be said. Very first thing, this game works best when all the players and DM talk. If you feel like they don't care about the world flat out as them, "Do you care about this world or NPCs" if the answer is no you can find out why afterwards. Maybe this is just a mismatch of gaming expectations.  Did you have a session 0? 

Session 0s have been become godsends for me. It lets the group decide how their characters are tied into the world. Oh you are a monk from a monastery?  Where was that Monastery located? Was is a place of learning or more of a inner focus thing? Was their any orders there? At this point you can start to try to tie backstories together. Backstories can be fun to add to a campaign but unless it is a super story heavy game sometime they just get in the way.

Is the group just wanting to be a group of ratcatchers who gain fame and eventually become to go to group for problems?

With them not caring about the NPCs or being people to them, has this been a normal interaction with all NPCs? 

As to being a dick to the doctor the way I would play it off is a doctor's time is pretty important to them. I don't know if you know any of them out there in the wild but their jobs are generally pretty stressful and get to deal with people all day. Once that clock says it is fun time, like helping make pies for a festival, (I mean he must love baking to want to help out with this chaos) and is asked for help but isn't given respect I would just have him say too bad too sad. Or have him say that there is no way he can leave at the moment and may even need some time to recover, unless of course the players want to help.

One the hardest things for me to do is to give NPCs actual characters. I do the best I can and there was a method I heard/read about. Basically you write down three things. 

1. What does this NPC do

2. What is this NPC's fear

3. What is this NPC's goals

This will help flesh out the world. Because at the end of the day the NPCs and things attached to them, jobs and the like, are what a story make.

As to the double dump on the NPC I probably would have not given them that second bump. Interactions like that can feel forced, and railroady. Maybe have they need to search for the doctor since they missed that interaction. Have them roll and depending on the number maybe it takes half a day to find were the doctor is. This serves to also push the clock forward for the table.

As to being told to butt out.  If they were talking to you and not the NPC you were trying to use to interpose in their argument, than that is a severe lack of respect and I do not think I would be able to run that table.

If it was toward the NPC, this is another chance for something to happen due to their actions. Instead of getting warned now they have to deal with a much bigger group that is well prepared for them, that is unknown to them.

One last edit, as to the fights being too hard. I remind my players running away to fight another day is always an option. The conditions will be different as time passes but running away to gain power or items or help can be a smart move.

I just got here and I’m going to be blunt because I truly believe you can make a super exciting and interesting story!  I hate to say it but the problem is..... that sounds prettty boring! 

Most people don’t expect to live out their wild fantasies of going and finding a doctor to come see their sick mother......! If that’s how the adventure started and something interesting didn’t happen in the *very next sentence* I’d check out and not return. 

Most people don’t expect to live out their wild fantasies of going and finding a doctor to come see their sick mother......! If that’s how the adventure started and something interesting didn’t happen in the *very next sentence* I’d check out and not return. 

That's fair enough but... the DM apparently has asked them what they like and their answer is "we dunno" (or something similar). He asked if they want more fighting and such and they didn't say they did. 

So in fairness to the DM, I am sure if they had responded like you do, this DM would have said great! Now I know what to do for you guys, and maybe reached for Dungeon of the Mad Mage. But they have not given your sort of specific feedback so the DM is at a loss.

I agree (as usual) with Vedexent. Stop the game, and have a "session 0," and ask them what they want out of it, what they like, what they are looking for.