Hey so you're a writer yeah? I was wondering if i could get your opinion on something. Im about to DM a campaign of DND for my friends and i have a story basically planned out. Essentially 2 countries are at war and it eventually escalates to each side having/using a superweapon unless the pcs stop them. My problem is, how do I get the players really invested in the story if they just do some mercenary work for one side or the other? If u had any opinions thatd be awesome but u also dont have to
god I’m a zombie rn writing this between insomnia and passing out but I’ll try and offer you what suggestions I can:since all the characters will have individual motives for joining the group/becoming adventurers (presumably, idk your group but most people I know come up with reasons for what brings them to the start point of the campaign), you should try to familiarize yourself with those first and give some thought to what you as the DM/writer might be able to include that pertains to those motives and storiesusually the easiest way of getting characters invested in something is to give them some stake in one outcome or the other. if you want the characters to care about the main story and the war, think about how the ongoing conflict affects the jobs they do. would peace benefit the characters? would having one side win benefit them more? humans are selfishly motivated so its good to think what may selfishly motivate the characters into action (or selflessly motivate them, if you have any lawful good types)
and you can lead people into thinking about what their preferred outcome is/ what the stakes are by leaving small hints in lesser quests and events. like a little cheese trail of: quest > main plot hint > better quest > main plot interference > distract quest > eventual finishing of the original quest. and so on. this is a kind of bad description of it, but basically you make sure the Plot has some impact or plays some background noise during the Non-Plot activities, and people will pick up on it. Remember that all plots are character driven, so let the characters drive it, trust them to pick up on your cheese trail and get invested in the story. As long as you aren’t railroading them, players usually find reasons for their characters to care about what’s happening
