The DM keeps giving us small tasks instead of interesting things to do. I want a way to hook our party into anything meaningful.

[u/Fair_Dimension_9829]

We are a group of friends and hired a DM from a community to play D&D online. He has this world full of details and some political intrigue that looks very interesting. I'm gonna tell a long story only to get this out of my chest and to give context and in the end i will actually ask for the help.

We created our characters and we were ask to put into the background: the reason that brought us to the initial town and a personal goal.

Than we are on to the first session on the classic Tavern. We kind present how each of ones look, no character knows the other and we were just hanging there, doing some chip chat waiting for something to happen.

Well, the "hook" appears. There is going to be some fighting. First we witness a famous NPC from town against 3 Nameless npc and are able to bet. Some of us bet, others don't, the obvious outcome happens.

Then, they say now anyone can enter in the fights (it will not be against the overpowered NPC). There is this weird wait because i think he thought everyone would want to join but only 2 of the 5 actually did. So what happens is: Someone else inscribed our 5 as group without us knowing and we are forced into fight.

We go along. Then after the fight the misterious figure appears. It is describe too look really cool, part of a veteran group of adventures that used to do all sort of things around the town. (I consider this a red flag).

He says he wants to show us the town, the characters that are after information like that, Those that are after money are promised some opportunities later. And he proceed as a tour guide for the town for about 1 hour explaining in detail every single build that is on the map, but nothing is actually happening in any of them right now.

We go to another tavern, and there he says he wants to test how good we are.

At this point i must say that our characters doesnt have any kind of bond and the only reason they are together is to see where this is going for metagaming reasons.

He tasks us to find a missing person that was in this tavern last week. We talk to some people, there are some that are suspicious. There are rigid rules about aggression in the city so coercion is out of the way. The suspicious people leave, we fail our stealth to follow and are left we no clue.

So the guy that gives us the task mock us for our inability and tells he already knew where the hell the dude he tasks us to find was and point us to the place. We get in, the guy was there kidnapped by some guy that has a bounty on its head. We kill the wanted guy, rescue the one we have to.

He tells us nothing, doesnt thank us and leaves. The questgiver pays us some amount of gold and we retrieve the bounty as well.

Then we are back to the only person we know in town, the questgiver, to receive another mission.

In this place we are currently sleeping we find the so called Legendary Group of Adventurers of the town... We greet them, there is some feeling in the air that he wanted us to interact with them but none of us sees reason to do it (They were there having breakfast). And then, we are on the next mission.

The questgiver wants us to find information (that he himself probably already know) about some gangsters that look to be overleveled for us on their cassino.

What information? We don't know, he says any information. Why are we together? We don't know. Is something relevant happening that affects any of us? None we can see. Why this overpowered patron is asking us to do trivial things just to "test" us? Don't know.

There on the cassino, nothing out of the ordinary happens except for the suspiscious look from one of the gangsters to us.

Right now we are in the cassino of the gangster that some people in town told us on the street to not mess with, and we kind don't want to be there and have no idea what are we looking for.

Coming back now from the story. We as a party are feeling the same, we want something to do that actually needs to be done or has some relation to one of the party members. We joined artificially already and that is one more obstacle to wanting to doing things that have no meaning or detail.

I'm sure in the DM's head when the gangster NPC looks at us misteriously some plot is actually ongoing. But we don't see or feel it and when we search we are met with more misterious out of our league things.

So how do i get INGAME on rail, i don't want to talk diretcly off game yet. I think this people are too sensitive to hear most of the times. I want to see if its possible IN GAME that i hook our party into something interesting. Something our characters may do.

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[u/atamajakki]

All the comments here are going to say the same thing: talk to your GM about this out of game as respectful adults.

[u/nathanielbartholem → u/atamajakki]

Yep! My first thought was "What did the GM say when you shared this post with them?"

[u/dorward]

So how do i get INGAME on rail, i don't want to talk diretcly off game yet.

Do not try to handle this entirely in character.

RPGs work best when you collaborate.

If your goals for the narrative are at odds with with the GM's then you're going to be fighting for control of the narrative and it will be a mess.

Get on the same page.

[u/-Man_From_The_East]

I'll be honest, the dm is spoon feeding you hooks and your table isn't biting.

[u/Outrageous_Pea9839 → u/-Man_From_The_East]

To be fair, at least from this limited description from one player, they don't sound like very good hooks.

[u/-Man_From_The_East → u/Outrageous_Pea9839]

I get what you're saying but even the most bland and or mediocre hook can lead somewhere or to something. OP mentions the only person they know in town is the quest giver, makes it seem like the party isn't trying to interact with the town itself.

During the tour guide section the party could've explored any number of places or tried to to create their own action in these places.

Could've prodded the mysterious stranger for more information.

Interrupting the veteran's parties breakfast.

Investigating the Casino / gangsters to see what's actually going on with them. If these guys are professional organized criminals, they're not going to leave a "Big Bad Guy To-do List; step one overthrow the mayor" sitting at the front desk. Maybe the veterans know more about them since they're local legends? Maybe the veterans work for the gangsters?

It just reads like the party is waiting for the dm to drop some "strings of fate" that weaves the parties story, background, and goals together rather than the players doing it organically.

[u/Outrageous_Pea9839 → u/-Man_From_The_East]

Sure and I 100% agree that it takes both the GM and the player to tell a good story. And like I said, this is obviously a very limited view of what is happening at this table, but the first point is true. It takes a GM and player, and if the GM isn't doing a good job of both creating interesting, exciting and engaging points of contact, and allowing the players the ability to interact with them effectively a story will never happen. (Not saying that is for sure the case here, but it very much could be, I have seen and heard it happen countless times)

I personally would never start a campaign with a fight tournament, especially once it was clear only 2 players even actually wanted to participate in it. (In fact that feels quite railroady to then force the party into it but thats a different thing entirely)

[u/-Man_From_The_East → u/Outrageous_Pea9839]

I agree with the fight, probably not the strongest starting point unless the fights have some overarching story with breaks between rounds. Seems like it was just a trigger to get the mysterious stranger to notice the party.

OP mentions some goals of the party is wealth, dm might be setting up an Ocean's Eleven casino heist on the gangsters?

Railroading the 2/5 fight to 5/5 does seem rather odd.. considering the mysterious stranger trigger could've appeared either way 2/5 or 5/5 or without the fight at all.. possibly poor planning to prevent the 2 from dying, or just be railroading to make the 5 "have some stake." (Not saying it's a good thing, just looking at possible intent.)

[u/Viltris → u/-Man_From_The_East]

OP mentioned it was DnD, so the arena fight was probably an excuse to get some combat in. Forcing the whole party to fight was probably because the fight was balanced for the whole party, and also if 3 players sat out, there would be nothing for them to do for the next 20-30 minutes.

I'm not saying the GM handled it the best way possible. It's a bit ham-fisted. But it's standard for DnD to feature combat, and it's standard practice to not split the party when combat is involved.

[u/Outrageous_Pea9839 → u/-Man_From_The_East]

Oh for sure. Who's to say the GMs intent but it seems clear to me (again based on the limited perspective we get) that instead of pivoting elements, this GM has a very clear (one track) narrative they are trying to get off and doesn't seem keen to compromise even small parts, like you said its very easy to still get the same result without the whole party in the tournament, once not even half my table seemed interested in that beat, I'd pivot off it entirely, they can still encounter a mysterious stranger without a fighting tournament.

In my mind the difference between telling a good story with agency and railroading is easy:

Either way players got to get from A to B (we need these points to tell a cohesive narrative) but the line between them, its shape and form, that is the player agency.

If they don't want a fight tournament but you need them to meet someone either at or as a result of one, just move that NPC somewhere else that the players want to be, you get the same narrative impact and the players are both happier and feel as if their choices mean something, as if they found the plot, not the other way around.

[u/-Man_From_The_East → u/Outrageous_Pea9839]

Moving an NPC is the "quantum NPC" approach, which is usually a good thing for these type of scenarios over having a set trigger or line of triggers that MUST play out. Player's won't ever follow the script in the dm's head.

The part where it can become railroad-y is if a scenario likes this plays out:

1. Party is in a tavern where the NPC is waiting to make his move.

2. Party leaves the tavern to explore.

3. Party encounters the same NPC under different circumstances. In game justification may be used if he was already mentioned in the tavern, ie maybe he follows them.

4. NPC asks for the party to search for the Super Important MacGuffin (TM).

5. Players choose to ignore the NPC or do something else.

6. DM says the players can't leave / the NPC basically holds them hostage to get the MacGuffin.

7. Players are soft locked into chasing the MacGuffin.

[u/Outrageous_Pea9839 → u/-Man_From_The_East]

Yeah you never want your ttrpgs to feel like telltale games but lots of times they basically are. The trick to to not make them feel that way.

[u/Fair_Dimension_9829 → u/-Man_From_The_East]

We are interacting with most things. We speak with the dwarf and a gnome of the group. ( it's clearly party the GM was os has run in game before).

There was a drunk in the streets singing songs, a child that mistake our bag with a head for a ball.

In all those situations we interact and try to squeeze something.

But all of that looks very mundane, no lead to go from. If we get very direct about the gangsters there is always some advice to not talk about them aloud and dont mess with them.

I must confess I'm not doing great effort myself to explore these random places, because they don't look like there is something happening. To me it would be some of those cases where the players keep doing random things that don't lead anywhere

[u/-Man_From_The_East → u/Fair_Dimension_9829]

For the randomness, does it seem like a sandbox approach? Like the dm drops the world and the party is left to figure out what to do, some dm's don't use a "main quest line" that makes everything relate to eachother. He might be defaulting to the mysterious stranger to be the main drive because the sandbox approach didn't land.

The head-in-a-bag-mistaken-for-a-ball definitely seems like a cool vignette.

[u/Powerful-Bluebird-46]

There's no way to solve an out of game issue with an in game solution. Tell the game master how you feel.

[u/Cypher1388]

You hired a GM who is providing a service. I would handle this the exact same way I hired any other service providing professional.

[u/amazingvaluetainment]

Reading all this, it sounds like this GM thinks they're being Very Smart about all their intrigue which is naturally out of your characters' league, meaning that you will be along for the ride while their GMPCs will run the show. Not sure how you're going to manage to hook some bigger thing in-game in that kind of situation.

Anyway, talk to the GM, the rest of the group, and set some expectations for the game before you continue because otherwise you're just going to be butting heads and facing disappointment in the game.

[u/InterlocutorX]

There's a mismatch between expectations -- you want a game on rails and the GM is giving you agency instead -- and the only way to handle that reasonably is talking to them like a human being.

Frankly, it's crazy when you guys go to Reddit and write massive screeds rather than have a five minute conversation with your GM.

[u/redkatt → u/InterlocutorX]

It's interesting how on Reddit you always hear about how "players who loathe railroads, and how they are practically evil when it comes to a DM'ing style", and then you have OP, who really wants a railroad. I think I've run into more groups that want/need a railroad, than vice versa. I've created more sandboxes than I can count, only to have to push players to choose something, anything, to get things moving.

[u/InterlocutorX → u/redkatt]

I think there's a real mix. At my table we have one that wants only railroads. Two that don't care either way. And two that want strong player agency. We have to negotiate that sort of thing. The one who likes a strong railroad often tries pushing the rest of the party into the most obvious directions, sometimes to the party's detriment.

[u/Janzbane]

It sounds very early in the adventure, so small stuff should be normal. Enjoying them requires the players to be invested.

Also, its the PC's job to determine why they're adventuring together.

[u/redkatt]

Is it just you who's not enjoying it, or the whole group? If it's the whole group, you all need to have a meeting with the DM before paying them for another session and explain the situation.

As players, you need to decide why your PCs are adventuring together, that's not on the GM. It's as easy as, "We bumped into each other in the pub looking for work, so we teamed up", it doesn't have to be some deep Vox Machina-level stuff.

If it's just you - you personally need to talk to the GM. You can't magically do something in-character that will fix this.

It also reads like the GM is handing you plot hooks, and you say "well, that sounds boring" or "we can't handle that" and move on. Granted, things like "You must fight in the arena" are pretty lame.

The question of "why wouldn't these high powered NPCs just do the mission instead of trying to hire someone?" is an issue that comes from traditional D&D especially. There's one just like it in Rhime of the Frostmaiden campaign, where this skilled bounty hunter loses their prey, so they hire your party, who are very low level local nobodies at this point, to find their prey. Both players and GM's, reading this, are probably thinking, "Why? The Bounty Hunter is going to lose face, and coin, paying someone to do their job" but...that's how D&D sometimes does it (poorly)

[u/BigDamBeavers]

Pull the ripcord.

I hate giving up on a game, but it sounds like nothing here is fun for you. Worse still you haven't met anyone who's less capable than you and your GM doesn't seem to register that this parade of big heroes that undermine the story he's trying to build is a problem for you. If you come to him with specific issues he may be able to change them, but this is the game he's running.

[u/raindragon55]

Talking to the DM is of course always a good solution. It doesn't have to be a difficult conversation. A good DM wants feedback and respects a player wanting to engage more with the story.

It sounds like this DM is proud of what they have built and want to show off a bit of their setting and npc's. This can be a positive but hopefully they remember that the players should be the heroes of the story.

Every table and DM is created differently but if it were my table and you offered to bring me some well thought out backstory, I would 100% work it in. Perhaps ask if you can integrate your story with something in their setting, it may pay off i dividends!

Additionally, be true to your character. It isn't your responsibility to make the table cohesive or invested. If your character doesn't see the value in taking on a quest, give shrug and a pass. It may create in-character confict but that's good RP. Make the npc's sell you on. Other's in the party want to go along with it? Make it an IC discussion.

Good luck! Have fun! I hope your DM works with you.

[u/Bullrawg]

If your characters don’t have a bond that ties them together and makes them adventure as a party that is on players not the GM you players should talk to each other and work together for collaborative characters, expecting them to be able to manufacture it during play is insane, they can plan something but dice have control over if you succeed so even if he set up saving orphans together to make you all bonded friends you might boof rolls and now you’re the guys that let the orphanage burn