How do I make players feel really invested in story characters and NPCs besides being a vending machine for buffs or...

How do I make players feel really invested in story characters and NPCs besides being a vending machine for buffs or using cheap emotional manipulation straight out of a Pixar movies?

By accepting you have no real control over how they react to your NPCs. Especially ones which are strangers to the PCs.

Players will get invested in the characters they get invested in. Typically they enjoy NPCs who amuse them in one way or another, and avoid ones who annoy them. "Story" NPCs typically fall into the latter category because they make players feel like they're just a captive audience for the GM's soap opera. It's best to enhance stories around the NPCs players like.

It's entirely dependant on your players willingness to get invested. Some people don't really give a shit about the game world and the people in it , and there's nothing you can do to change that. Otherwise , just try to be appealing to their sensibilities and likes/dislikes and it should come naturally.

You have to make the characters interesting.

JUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKAJUSTMONIKA

>or using cheap emotional manipulation straight out of a Pixar movies?

Use cheap emotional manipulation not in Pixar movies.

Let the players come up with the story.

But what you posted is cheap emotional manipulation by all accounts

By getting a better class of players. Murderhobo types will not meaningfully interact with NPCs. Players who are interested in interacting with worlds will react well to an interesting NPC.

You don't make your players be invested in NPCs. You make NPC's, and see which ones your players get emotionally invested in.

This applies to story-important characters, too. Have multiple valid options for every plot role, and use the one which resonates most with your players. If none of them do, try other things or rework your plot if a character like that will never really connect with your group.

There are some ways you can weight things in the favour of specific NPC's, but they're not things that you can describe in general terms. It's all about gauging the preferences and traits of your group and learning how to tune an NPC to their specific preferences. And even then, this isn't guaranteed to work. Your 100% waifubait character designed to specifically appeal to the PC's might fall flat while they all suddenly get really interested in the random barmaid you described as being a little snarky.

>Not using cheap emotional manipulation straight out of a Pixar movies

This notion only murderhobos reject NPCs is completely false. Being a good roleplayer doesn't require patronizing the GM and feigning investment in an NPC you don't like. You're not a murderhobo just because you ignore the waifu DMPC.

Build up a backstory for them. Have an idea of who they are, how they react, what they like and dislike. Have a recent event or two they can talk about. Have emotions behind them, a reason for them being who they are. Give a couple of identifying features.
Heres an example from a weird war 1 Nechronica game I'm running:

Corporal Nina
Description: About 10 years old, wearing faded grey uniform. She has a Lewis gun attached to her shoulder with a bandolier of drums across her chest and her left arm ends in a sword.
Personality: normally cheery Nina is on the verge of losing it after she witnessed her CO, Annabelle, killed by a artillery shell the previous day. Currently exhibiting signs of PTSD whilst trying to hide her suffering.
Notes: Nina will try to act cheery around the players, although she is also nervous at being left in charge. Mentions of Annabelle or attacking will cause her to tear up, whilst talk of the tank or enough pressure cause her to collapse into a state of shock. Untended she will eventually find herself looking back out to the tank where Nina died, or look at her dead friends possessions.
Mention of going too or attacking past the tank will cause her to panic, she holds it in fear.

Take a read of that and tell me what you get. Its not much, but you can feel the character, and you can build around it.

What I get from that is I have to kill some warlord and liberate this child soldier

>Description: About 10 years old, wearing faded grey uniform. She has a Lewis gun attached to her shoulder with a bandolier of drums across her chest and her left arm ends in a sword.
How the fuck does she reload?

It's Nechronica so it's probably a robot zombie.

Give them a quirk that makes them stand out and then work from there. My player's favorite reoccurring villain was just a fuck off bandit that called himself the Stool. His only weapon was a beat up bar stool.

>Monika
>not "using cheap emotional manipulation straight out of a Pixar movies"
Pick one.
>"b-but she's the only one who is real in the VN!"
Do you really want to open that particular can of worms?
Because, I can assure you, a philosophical zombie that supposedly demonstrates its awareness of its own existence is no different from other philosophical zombies that don't act in a similar manner.

If you want a truly good story about the exploration of fourth wall interactions, watch a good movie that doesn't try to manipulate your emotions instead.

Yes, we're all very impressed that you're above popular things.

I'm just saying, a mediocre weeb (as in literally weeb as per its original definition i.e. wannabe japanese) rip-off of Kimi to Kanojo to Koi hardly deserves all the acclaim it received.

Thats not right reeee!
Its hard to put into words, but the gun can dip down on its mounting

Monika is perfect!

I have the opposite problem of most GMs, I'm really good at coming up with NPCs the players like, and a setting/story they can dig, but I have trouble with the mechanical stuff.

Some practical advice: give each unique character an accent. Think of a little blurb as to who they are, and run with it. If they become important, or were already important to begin with, come up with the sort of information you would for any important character, such as motivations, backstory, and so on.

Worst thing you can do is make a character annoying, although it can be pretty fun to make a character annoying and make it so they have a reason not to kill them (party has to escort the dipshit crown prince, who proceeds to act like an idiotic spoiled brat).

why do you think people here say d&d is shit? its because d&d is shit and there are better systems out there. doki doki is shit is too, and there are better games out there that break the 4th wall.

>why do you think people here say d&d is shit?

Because they're a couple of idiotic contrarians?

What? You really thought anyone was fooled?
The majority of this board plays D&D. Hell, a majority of this board plays 5e.