I recognize silley fun post but I am going to add to it with real RPG thoughts as though this were a real person.
First of all, if the DM has just fully invented the name "Sam Smorkle" out of whole cloth, this DM rules. That's a hilarious name and it has a lot of character. No wonder the players want to engage!
We got a lot of description of the other person--but no name at all (probably because the DM wants the party to Engage With This Mysterious Guy). But we don't know him as well as this goblin whose name we've just heard and now fallen in love with.
Second of all: Clearly the man "wearing a crown of bone and blade with three sentient rings of fire and an arm made of steel" is meant to be the quest-giver NPC.
Probably, given his vibe, some kind of badass who recruits the party into the fold to help him carry out some minor task while he takes a break from murdering demon lords. That's awesome. Good for you. However. The party is not interested in that guy. The party is DEEPLY interested, right from the jump, in Sam Smorkle.
This is presented like it's a problem, but it's absolutely not. The story hack here is--quest givers, and the interested parties in quests, are all fungible. They can be perfectly exchanged without losing the original quest. This means that if you are paying attention to your players, you can turn the whole campaign 90 degrees in a second without having to give up any of your prep.
Let's assume my guess is right, and Mr. Crown Of Fire is there to give the party some eldritch quest. Let's say he needs to steal a magic item from a local wizard, but his magic is SO powerful that he can't even enter the wizard's tower without all the wizard's enchantments exploding simultaneously, so he needs a bunch of level 3 schlubs to go in and steal it for him.
It's REALLY important that the PCs get the quest from this guy--because all I (the DM) have prepared today is a four-story vertical dungeon crawl in a wizard's tower. I'm new and I'm not ready to go off-book. I don't have the stats! I don't have the prep!
Not a problem. We've got this.
Step one: fuck that crown guy. Uninstall his admin privileges from the campaign. He's now a random NPC who happens to also be in the bar. Why? We don't need to know. All the attention is on our new hero.
SAM SMORKLE is now a goblin who needs to steal a magic item from a local wizard. Everything else about him is instantly all the plot-relevant stuff from the edgelord at the bar. Sam's incredibly powerful. He's willing to pay a substantial sum of gold, which he carries on his person in even the sketchiest bars. He's the true king of Avernus.
But JWF, you say, there's something else about the bone crown boy specifically which is HIGHLY plot relevant! The crown of blades he wears is the key to the NEXT quest, which I also already prepared! His three rings of fire are ESSENTIAL clues to the endgame! No problem. Let's hook him back in.
The guy with the metal arm is now related to Sam in some capacity. Maybe he's Sam's bodyguard, or his husband, or his adopted son, or his father-in-law. They are now inextricably entangled--they are both the questgiver.
What does this accomplish? Well, most importantly--you've taken note of your players' interest. You have to at ALL times be tracking what your party is interested in. That's where fun is happening. But that's only maybe 70% of the fun.
The other part, which is less important for pure fun but no less important for an RPG, is that you've now hooked up your story to the player's attention. They're invested in Sam Smorkle, and by extension, they're invested in whatever he has to say next.
Moreover! Simply by changing the name of your questgiving NPC, you've not only kept their attention--you've instantly made your world unique! The campaign module might have bone crown guy. We've all seen fantasy stories that have bone crown guy. But only YOU, the DM, have a campaign where SAM SMORKLE is willing to pay you to punch a wizard.
You can do all the prep and worldbuilding you want--none of it is going to make your players be interested. So wherever their attention goes, you follow. And the good news is--while that's not always as easy as in this example--it's also not hard.
So go into your notes, Ctrl+H to find and replace every appearance of "LORGAZAR THE MERCILESS KING," write "Sam Smorkle" there instead, and get back in the game.
turnnoffyourmind
kianamaiart
theartofmadeline
areudirty
izzy806
