>DMing 5e campaign
>Set up multiple plot hooks
>Give multiple opportunities for players to interact with NPC's and world as their character would
>Integrate backstories into story and weave further plot hooks into potential character development for the players characters
>Players ignore plot hooks - won't do anything unless they're led by the nose from setpiece to setpiece
>Won't investigate or explore anything - need every bit of important information relayed to them instantly or they're lost
>Players don't bother to act out their characters or even bother interacting with the world as a denizen of it
>Instantly devolve into murderhobos attacking people and guards who even look funny at them
>Forget key details from their backstories and literally don't recognize or events from their past unless I remind them
>Midway through most recent session
>Hey user why is there so little roleplay in the campaign?
>I tell them that I've given them multiple opportunities to act out their characters but that it's them who have to choose to roleplay, not me
>Players look at my like I'm retarded
What do I do here? We're 6 sessions in and while I love my players outside of the game DMing for them is one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had.
DMing 5e campaign
I shall help you.
First, you have to answer a question: when your players' characters enter a town, what do they have their characters do?
From what OP described, it doesn't look like they do anything
>What do I do here?
Ask them what type of game they want to play. Ask them if they're having fun.
If they can't answer those questions, ask why it is they want to play D&D to begin with.
If they can't answer any of this, consider getting a new group with people that can.
I'm a noob, but it seem like they may prefer dungeon crawls? Maybe cater to that.
Same exact situation OP.
Except my players can't even be fucked to level up their characters, learn abilities, or god forbid spend a few minutes selecting spells.
>"It's too much reading DM, I don't have time."
>one session once a week
>can't find 5-10 fucking minutes to do 1% of the fucking work I put into this god damn game
>yes I'm fuckin mad
Is it a new group? If so maybe put the campaign on hold for a session to have a practice one-shot that is 99% investigation and roleplaying so they can get an idea of how to roleplay, maybe outright dropping ideas on who they should talk to or what they should do so they can start thinking through their characters and understanding how and with whom you want them to interect. For example.
Party goes into a local village to find info on where a bandit camp is located
>Tell party that they could be overt and just ask the village chief/leader/elder/mayor if they know where the bandits are
>They could be covert and assume the villagers might refuse to tell them either because they fear retribution or the bandits give them kickbacks, and get the info by acting normal and trying to get the issue to come up in casual conversation
>They could look for signs that maybe a member of the bandit camp has been there recently or is visiting currently (eg. an outsider who clearly isn't a merchant has been dicking around town with more money than he should)
>If they have ideas you didn't mention they can follow those ideas too
And provide fallbacks should their plan fail, giving them suggestions of what to do if their plan fails eg.
>Mayor/townsfolk refuse to tell you where the bandits are so the party could try to force them to hand over the info, bribe an individual to hand over the info, or simply get someone liquored up and ask them
As the one-shot continues provide fewer and fewer hints until the party is investigating and roleplaying entirely on their own without you giving them direct suggestions.
I did this while running CoS, so I just starting beating them with a stick anytime they did stupid things.
Pretty much this actually. They'll just stare at me or motion for me to go on or I have to heavily imply where they should go by reminding them of what they're here for. There's so little engagement on their part that the only times they really control their characters is in combat. All other times it may as well be me
Hmm.
Do you use miniatures? Like, not just for combat, but also for when they're in towns. If not, I recommend you do. Normally I wouldn't, but if you, say, lay out a town map and place a few miniatures to represent plot-important NPCs, then your PCs might engage them now that they can actually see who is where.
After a little while, start including non-plot important NPCs on the map as well, but make sure to have some ideas of what they might say, including maybe useful rumors - or dead ends.
Basically start thinking of setting up the game like a CRPG. That's the best advice I can give you to start trying to get your players invested.
I've asked them up and down if they're enjoying the game and they insist they are but it just feels so hollow to me since they seem so uninvested in the game. They don't play on their phones and they pay attention to the game but there's just so little engagement on their part.
They certainly like combat but trying to guide them through dungeon exploration and problem solving is just as hard as the rest of the campaign.
I give my players 'free time' before the start of the campaign proper. I say, we will just role play this out the three days before you guys meet up. I put them in a starting city, but don't give them a map, and basically anyplace they want to do, or ask if there is a place, I put it in the town. It will give players right of the bat to do some background story stuff, they know that I do this, and I make sure they have a good lump of gold.
It shows how much they actually care about role playing, some just hand wave it and say, I'm reading my magic book in the inn. Others go wild with it, rouges go on a stealing spree and getting caught fencing stuff, or fighters getting into drunken fist fights, resulting in a bout in a under ground fight club. I don't screw them over if things go bad, but I make it it that they are not welcome back, which is a good hook for making them leave on an adventure.
If none of them want to do anything, then I know the tone of the game a bit better. since your already in the game, make them wait for something in a town, dropping hints of what they can do. you can also do a camp fire thing and make a NPC tell his story of is past, and he asks the PC about theirs.
of course if you have to really brow beat them, pull shenanigans. when they get a murder instinct and go out and shoot some random guys on the road with out knowing who they are, let some survive and turn them into innocent pilgrims, or part of the good guy army. make them at least ask who are these people and who do they work for.
That sounds like a decent idea. I'll give it a go but if my players are still apathetic then I'll just give up on the campaign. Cheers user.
>5e for first timers
>printed reference guides for all players
>90% of player questions or disputes solved by refsheets, basically saved the campaign
>one player refuses to use the sheet for god knows what reason
>he insists on looking up the relevant info on his phone every time instead
i don't get it
>running 5e
>did a bunch of dungeon crawl shit
>leave a dungeon halfway through it
>murdered a farmer for quest reasons
>only animals on his farm are horses in his stable, obvious solution to the quest was to kill the horses
>one of the player decide the best course of action would be to steal his farm
>gets an NPC to maintain the farm while they go off on plot
>on any mission they go on their first priority is to steal the animals for their farm, and then finish the mission
>has actually failed missions because of this
>mfw they turned my dungeon crawl RPG into harvest moon
i now have to figure out how to implement farm mechanics into dungeons and dragons
You kick that piece of shit out I don't care if they are your best friend
user why hasn't anyone just fucked up their farm that they stole?
Have a tax collector come by and inquire about the sudden change of ownership when he sees the party.
Link to reference guide please.
Have their farm bought up by an aggressively expansionist businessman or noble. What goes around comes around and it could make for a great quest.
I managed a good bit from a fairly quiet party doing the same, I had them training together and getting to know each other, but let the group choose the method. The first bit went slow, i go to the tavern, i read alone in my room, but once 1 player did something meaningful and got a small reward for it the rest wanted in on it.