So I have been running a homebrew game, set in a homebrew world that is mostly water. It is a very ocean based game, so the players spend a lot of time island hopping and being on a boat. I own the ghosts of saltmarsh book and have read up on it's appendices for travel by sea.
A few sessions ago, they got on a boat and began traveling on a long distance voyage. I provide encounters and environments for them to interact with, but there are some days on sea where nothing happens and it's just a usual calm day in between encounters. The players arent interacting with each in game, they just wait for me to throw things at them. And when I do, the interact with the stuff as little as possible. I do the occasional it's been a few mundane days at sea, but I dont want to time skip to every location or encounter.
I suppose what I am asking is if there are any tips on how to get my players more interactive with each other or with the encounters and environments? Any help is very appreciated.
Why don't you want to skip to every location or encounter? It worked for Indiana Jones.
If you have some form of tracking device for where the characters are in relation to the rest of the world (the more mundane of us may call it a "map") then make each "unit" of the map a day. Roll on an encounter chart once per day, and then apply the result or not. Encounter at sea you say? Well it can be anything that swims or flies, of course it could be a ship, but it can also be weather. Want to get the players interactive with the environment, throw a gale at them, not challenging enough you say, make it a cyclone/hurricane. Interactive skill challenge, with bonuses to be awarded for RP and creative spell use. Player's not keeping watch, reefs and shallows can spring up in funny places. Calm day you say, as in NO WIND, so they aren't going anywhere? Food and water may or may not become an issue, depending on party level.
Overall, I'd suggest doing no more than a week of travel at a time, use "fast travel" and roll one "challenge" for the week. But it depends on one major question, is the point of the campaign the destination(s) or the journey? Both are valid answers, but the journey needs to be memorable if it is the point.
It sounds like your players aren't terribly concerned with RP, so I wouldn't force them. Instead, maybe focus down on the mechanics of travel and make them track resources? Make travel itself something of an encounter by telling them they have X amount of food and water per se, maybe they consume more or less depending on how much activity they take during the day, maybe give them limited medical supplies, etc, and then throw challenges at them that they need to think their ways through rather than RP.
-Should they help the shipwrecked survivors on that deserted island if it means more mouths to feed? If so, once on board, are the survivors who they say they are, or something else in disguise?
- maybe Kuo-Toa attack the boat, but instead of just trying to kill the party, they have an objective of stealing food or weaponry. A main force attacks to distract from the swimmers sneaking around the stern. Do the players notice? Are they prepared to fight with an objective rather than just to fight?
- maybe they spot some giant, formidable sea creature that, if killed, could feed the crew for days. Do they risk injury, withtheir limited medical supply, in order to replenish their food stocks?
- maybe if resources get low enough and crew morale suffers, there's talk of mutiny and now the players need a way to either placate their crew, quell any potential dissent, or figure out what to do now that the ship is no longer under their control.
Those are just a few challenges I can think of that are not terribly RP-focused that should still engage players to make decisions and take the game more into their own hands.
In my experience, two things. First, I would explicitly tell the players that I think it would be interesting to hear them interact with one another during the downtime days. Directly letting them know what you want is helpful for everyone. Second, I would reward them for the behavior I want to elicit. If I want them to interact with one another more during downtime, I might ask each player to write a goal and mention that the next leg of the adventure happens only after they've all completed their one goal, plus everyone gets inspiration and maybe even some XP if that's how you run your game. Encouraging and incentivizing goal-oriented play can sometimes help players be less passive in the roleplaying part of the game.
Have you tried just asking them, “what are you doing today while nothing is happening?” Even something small like that can spark more conversation and interaction. or, the crew is playing dice or cards, anyone want to join in? Or have an NPC start a conversation with one or more of them.
Or they might not be into RP, as others have said. Not every game is going to be Critical Role. Few people have that level of improv skills, especially if they are new to the game. You might be expecting more than they can do.
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So I have been running a homebrew game, set in a homebrew world that is mostly water. It is a very ocean based game, so the players spend a lot of time island hopping and being on a boat. I own the ghosts of saltmarsh book and have read up on it's appendices for travel by sea.
A few sessions ago, they got on a boat and began traveling on a long distance voyage. I provide encounters and environments for them to interact with, but there are some days on sea where nothing happens and it's just a usual calm day in between encounters. The players arent interacting with each in game, they just wait for me to throw things at them. And when I do, the interact with the stuff as little as possible. I do the occasional it's been a few mundane days at sea, but I dont want to time skip to every location or encounter.
I suppose what I am asking is if there are any tips on how to get my players more interactive with each other or with the encounters and environments? Any help is very appreciated.
Why don't you want to skip to every location or encounter? It worked for Indiana Jones.
If you have some form of tracking device for where the characters are in relation to the rest of the world (the more mundane of us may call it a "map") then make each "unit" of the map a day. Roll on an encounter chart once per day, and then apply the result or not. Encounter at sea you say? Well it can be anything that swims or flies, of course it could be a ship, but it can also be weather. Want to get the players interactive with the environment, throw a gale at them, not challenging enough you say, make it a cyclone/hurricane. Interactive skill challenge, with bonuses to be awarded for RP and creative spell use. Player's not keeping watch, reefs and shallows can spring up in funny places. Calm day you say, as in NO WIND, so they aren't going anywhere? Food and water may or may not become an issue, depending on party level.
Overall, I'd suggest doing no more than a week of travel at a time, use "fast travel" and roll one "challenge" for the week. But it depends on one major question, is the point of the campaign the destination(s) or the journey? Both are valid answers, but the journey needs to be memorable if it is the point.
It sounds like your players aren't terribly concerned with RP, so I wouldn't force them. Instead, maybe focus down on the mechanics of travel and make them track resources? Make travel itself something of an encounter by telling them they have X amount of food and water per se, maybe they consume more or less depending on how much activity they take during the day, maybe give them limited medical supplies, etc, and then throw challenges at them that they need to think their ways through rather than RP.
-Should they help the shipwrecked survivors on that deserted island if it means more mouths to feed? If so, once on board, are the survivors who they say they are, or something else in disguise?
- maybe Kuo-Toa attack the boat, but instead of just trying to kill the party, they have an objective of stealing food or weaponry. A main force attacks to distract from the swimmers sneaking around the stern. Do the players notice? Are they prepared to fight with an objective rather than just to fight?
- maybe they spot some giant, formidable sea creature that, if killed, could feed the crew for days. Do they risk injury, withtheir limited medical supply, in order to replenish their food stocks?
- maybe if resources get low enough and crew morale suffers, there's talk of mutiny and now the players need a way to either placate their crew, quell any potential dissent, or figure out what to do now that the ship is no longer under their control.
Those are just a few challenges I can think of that are not terribly RP-focused that should still engage players to make decisions and take the game more into their own hands.
In my experience, two things. First, I would explicitly tell the players that I think it would be interesting to hear them interact with one another during the downtime days. Directly letting them know what you want is helpful for everyone. Second, I would reward them for the behavior I want to elicit. If I want them to interact with one another more during downtime, I might ask each player to write a goal and mention that the next leg of the adventure happens only after they've all completed their one goal, plus everyone gets inspiration and maybe even some XP if that's how you run your game. Encouraging and incentivizing goal-oriented play can sometimes help players be less passive in the roleplaying part of the game.
Have you tried just asking them, “what are you doing today while nothing is happening?” Even something small like that can spark more conversation and interaction.
or, the crew is playing dice or cards, anyone want to join in? Or have an NPC start a conversation with one or more of them.
Or they might not be into RP, as others have said. Not every game is going to be Critical Role. Few people have that level of improv skills, especially if they are new to the game. You might be expecting more than they can do.