The easiest way to get around the 'PCs ignoring the first adventure hook' problem is to start the game *after* the PCs already accepted the quest. That way you have *somewhere* to start - preferably somewhere there will be action in the first few moments in the story - so you can have a dynamic opening rather than several hours of people talking and figuring out what's what.
Basically, games are best started in action, not in negotiations - unless those negotiations are action (not every game is about beating people in the face, after all). Games really shouldn't start out with low stakes in the first scene unless you really want a slow opening.
It's essentially the same advice given to writers - start your game off with something interesting. If you start off with something boring, people won't want to continue.
I suppose this is why the published adventure literally starts in the first combat, though I started my group similar to that of Nayt (also new DM with new players). I didn't like the whole you are already fighting something with a group of people you don't know for a reason you don't know. Let's set up a meet before this first conflict, so that everyone knows why they are there and what's going on.
My players didn't have an issue with the main NPC not sharing the info, whereas Nayt's did. However, the reason myself and my group underwent this published adventure as opposed to a homemade one was because it was a group of all new players including myself and we wanted a sort of "tutorial" so to say. My point was to learn the mechanics on what you can do, and go through the motions of doing it for a first time for boy myself and my players. I wanted to learn where and when to use skill checks, interact with things, improve my describing and story setting abilities, learn how to read/create stat blocks and encounters.
This adventure is called the starter set for a reason, it gives a strong base on many of the things you can do while laying out first time encounters. If the players didn't want to take the initial hook, I might as well have had them encounter a Tarrasque in the city and asked them what game they wanted to play now. I know it's railroading, but it's like going through the tutorial -- at least get through this first "mission" before you go off tangent. We are all new, we all know we are all new including the DM, so this scenario to me just sounds like the players giving the DM a hard time just for the hell of it. In my opinion at that point they should have been better players knowing that we are just trying to get started and the story has to start somewhere.
I also understand the point of having an open world from the beginning, but I don't think it's a great idea for an entire group of people who have never played D&D before. I mean it is jumping into the deep end of the pool, and it can work out, but it also cannot work out and fizzle the group out pretty quickly if the new DM can't just improv on the spot constantly.
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My solution to that point in the beginning though would have been to have the NPC give them some more info than just "it's something big". I know the adventure says not to share more than that, but maybe you have him tell them that he thinks he found a long lost treasure/mine but has to verify it, and knows he cannot trust many or he risks losing the potential wealth, but if they assist him they can be in on the wealth as well. As such he enlisted his fellow associates or those sent to him on great recommendations (the PC's in the party) but needs them to not share this info with anyone along the way.
This would give them reason to not think he is hiding something, but also promote the idea that other NPC's throughout the cities/towns don't know about what he claims to have found and gives them the motive of treasure/wealth in this mine. You wouldn't give them all the info, for example you wouldn't tell them it is the "lost mine of Phandelver", just that it was a long lost treasure, they can find out what it is later, as described in the adventure.
As far as other NPC's such as local townsfolk and keeping the secret from them -- to the NPC's "adventurers" and "treasure hunters" show up and undoubtedly believe they found the "next big thing" all the time, then go missing and are never heard of again, so some new dwarf claiming to have found a lost treasure is just another fool in the land and laughed off by most anyways.
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The point is don't be afraid to change the adventure up and make it your own. It gives you alot of spaces to do this and leaves alot of open-ended plots, but don't be afraid to do it all over the place and somewhat change the story as you go. As others have said, work in the backstories. An example that I have taken with this in the starter set is one of my PC's father had gone missing over 15 years ago, and his reason for adventuring is to find him. He described his father as a half-elf wizard who worked for the government within Waterdeep and went of on a political mission and never returned. I worked him in as Iarno Albrek/Glass Staff (of course just changed him from human as described in the adventure to half-elf), But Iarno Albrek is an alias he used as a member of the Lord's Alliance as to protect his family in the case of something terrible happening. Therefore Sildar had no idea who the PC's dad was when the PC asked Sildar upon finding out Sildar was of the Lord's Alliance, but Sildar insinuated that it wasn't uncommon for members to use aliases. Sildar then got the adventurers interested in finding Iarno Albrek because as a wizard Sildar said Iarno would be the best bet to help the PC's find the one characters father. I am going to have Iarno/GlassStaff/Sevan (the name the PC gave me for his father) running the Redbrands because he is currently charmed, but that charm will be broken upon coming face to face with his son. This will lead us to more story following the conclusion of the adventure (who charmed him and why), and it also helped the PC's start trusting Sildar whom they completely mistrusted/disliked upon finding him in the cave and not Gundren whom he was supposed to be protecting.
Mehetmet, I really like your adjustments, those are going to be some awesome reveals. Your players are going to love it.
One issue I have in my group is, I think, getting my players to put some effort into their characters' backstories.
Of the full party of six, only one player was interested in creating a more fully-realized character and spending time thinking about everything that goes into that. Everyone else was sort of game to see how DnD worked, but the prospect of sitting down and determining race and class, choosing backgrounds, flaws/ideals/bonds, equipment, etc. etc. was simply overwhelming to them. So, of my six, three are using pregen characters. So, I feel like this first campaign is almost like a sell... If I can hook everyone in and get them to buy into the benefits of investing their time on those areas, then I can really start working those background angles into the future campaigns.
Make sure to actually use that one players background in the game. Everyone else might see it as pointless and don't want to waste time of something trivial, so make sure to show them it will matter in game.
Tell the one player he knows some bit of information tied to his background wihrour rolling. Have someone from their past show up.
The characters can add to their backstories now if they are interested in it, it doesn't necessarily have to be prior to the campaign. If they want to spend more time in it, tell them to and send it to you, then you can work more into it.
I had 3 give really in depth backgrounds, 3 gave virtually none. It wasn't something I required, but the 3 seeing the others getting worked in are starting to develop theirs more, and playing it as "their characters are opening up to the party" at this point (it works well, as those characters were all actually low-charisma and playing introverted type characters). I just am adjusting more in the story down the line for them, they won't be worked in immediately, really only the guy with Iarno as his dad is an immediate tie in, because to me that story fit really well together. I also had the players roll for trinkets at the start, and I'm working on a story magically tying them together somehow, that the players may discover in time. Just another plot option down the line, should we decide to go long term.
I like the idea of having someone from the past show up as NightsLastHero said. That should garner some interest. Even if it's something like a character who didn't give much background -- have something like their trainer/mentor from the past has shown up (if they haven't given you a name, make one up for them, but make it known that that PC knows who it is immediately upon placing their eyes on him) and either desperately needs their help, or the opposite, that person has shown up with the intent on stopping the party completely. You can adjust the NPC's given in the campaign to fit that (think the evil mage at Old Owl Well, he could actually be someone from one of the PC's past that has somehow become corrupted and learned the ways of necromancy, or even the doppelganger was shapeshifted the PC's entire life pre-adventure and the PC's discover that during the adventure when encountering the doppelganger the first or 2nd time; alternatively without making that NPC evil, use one of the captives in the redbrand hideout -- maybe a PC's relative or close friend was captured and imprisoned there, rather than the NPC's described).
Change the story slightly to fit your players, it makes it more interesting for them and you. Also, don't fully "write" the stories out. Let them develop. If improv isn't your strong suit (I'm hit or miss, so I like to prepare) write up several possibilities, but be prepared that none of them happen. For example with my characters I'm expecting them to want to figure out who charmed Iarno and why and am thinking up plot lines along that, but also I know they could just continue to not trust him and want to imprison/execute him for the crimes he committed. A third possibility is they completely ignore the story, they rescued him, assume he will go back to his family and carry on with other plot lines (this is the scary one, because if I put alot of time into prepping a story they actually aren't interested in, them time wasted, but that's how it goes). I'm not going too far down either path, because the story needs to write itself (that's part of the game) but I have certain reactions and that of other NPC's planned out in certain situations. Additionally, how will the town react, knowing the wrong he had done, despite the fact that he might have been charmed when doing so -- they surely won't be happy about it. The townmaster might want him to pay for the crimes, because well, someone has to, right?
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How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
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Mehetmet, I really like your adjustments, those are going to be some awesome reveals. Your players are going to love it.
One issue I have in my group is, I think, getting my players to put some effort into their characters' backstories.
Of the full party of six, only one player was interested in creating a more fully-realized character and spending time thinking about everything that goes into that. Everyone else was sort of game to see how DnD worked, but the prospect of sitting down and determining race and class, choosing backgrounds, flaws/ideals/bonds, equipment, etc. etc. was simply overwhelming to them. So, of my six, three are using pregen characters. So, I feel like this first campaign is almost like a sell... If I can hook everyone in and get them to buy into the benefits of investing their time on those areas, then I can really start working those background angles into the future campaigns.
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
Make sure to actually use that one players background in the game. Everyone else might see it as pointless and don't want to waste time of something trivial, so make sure to show them it will matter in game.
Tell the one player he knows some bit of information tied to his background wihrour rolling. Have someone from their past show up.
The characters can add to their backstories now if they are interested in it, it doesn't necessarily have to be prior to the campaign. If they want to spend more time in it, tell them to and send it to you, then you can work more into it.
I had 3 give really in depth backgrounds, 3 gave virtually none. It wasn't something I required, but the 3 seeing the others getting worked in are starting to develop theirs more, and playing it as "their characters are opening up to the party" at this point (it works well, as those characters were all actually low-charisma and playing introverted type characters). I just am adjusting more in the story down the line for them, they won't be worked in immediately, really only the guy with Iarno as his dad is an immediate tie in, because to me that story fit really well together. I also had the players roll for trinkets at the start, and I'm working on a story magically tying them together somehow, that the players may discover in time. Just another plot option down the line, should we decide to go long term.
I like the idea of having someone from the past show up as NightsLastHero said. That should garner some interest. Even if it's something like a character who didn't give much background -- have something like their trainer/mentor from the past has shown up (if they haven't given you a name, make one up for them, but make it known that that PC knows who it is immediately upon placing their eyes on him) and either desperately needs their help, or the opposite, that person has shown up with the intent on stopping the party completely. You can adjust the NPC's given in the campaign to fit that (think the evil mage at Old Owl Well, he could actually be someone from one of the PC's past that has somehow become corrupted and learned the ways of necromancy, or even the doppelganger was shapeshifted the PC's entire life pre-adventure and the PC's discover that during the adventure when encountering the doppelganger the first or 2nd time; alternatively without making that NPC evil, use one of the captives in the redbrand hideout -- maybe a PC's relative or close friend was captured and imprisoned there, rather than the NPC's described).
Change the story slightly to fit your players, it makes it more interesting for them and you. Also, don't fully "write" the stories out. Let them develop. If improv isn't your strong suit (I'm hit or miss, so I like to prepare) write up several possibilities, but be prepared that none of them happen. For example with my characters I'm expecting them to want to figure out who charmed Iarno and why and am thinking up plot lines along that, but also I know they could just continue to not trust him and want to imprison/execute him for the crimes he committed. A third possibility is they completely ignore the story, they rescued him, assume he will go back to his family and carry on with other plot lines (this is the scary one, because if I put alot of time into prepping a story they actually aren't interested in, them time wasted, but that's how it goes). I'm not going too far down either path, because the story needs to write itself (that's part of the game) but I have certain reactions and that of other NPC's planned out in certain situations. Additionally, how will the town react, knowing the wrong he had done, despite the fact that he might have been charmed when doing so -- they surely won't be happy about it. The townmaster might want him to pay for the crimes, because well, someone has to, right?
How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave!