We’re all at the gaming table for an adventure, right? But what about when your players don’t take the bait? Maybe they’re not interested in the mysterious disappearances in town? Or you’ve built a full dungeon in “The Mysterious Cave,” but they’re not going anywhere near it? What do you do when the player characters just aren’t vibing with the adventure hooks you’ve put in the water?

In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about what they’ve seen undercut PC motivation, how they get it back, and motivational tricks to use at lower and higher levels in your game (because the motivation challenge is different as the tiers advance).

1:00 PC inspiration: how do you motivate your players and their PCs to “DO THE THING!”

3:00 Justin Alexander reopens the debate about Storm King’s Thunder character motivations

6:00 Why Tony’s PCs will all take any quest

9:00 Where’s the fear?

11:00 Learning the truth can be a powerful motivation, but only in the right games

14:00 “I have a job to do” – Self-motivated PCs and the power of money

20:00 Does your campaign have enough cool things to buy to keep the PCs motivated by money?

24:00 Things PCs can spend money on as they level up

27:00 Story hooks are like gifts: If you pay attention to what your players are saying and joking about, you’ll have a good idea of what adventure hooks to give them.

34:00 How Session 0 helps you tune in to individual character motivations and set expectations for group goals

38:00 Don’t take motivation for granted in later levels

40:00 The problem with relying on the big story to motivate your higher level players (i.e., The Red Dead Redemption 2 problem)

43:00 Focus more on the story of the characters than the story of the adventures they’re in

45:00 Even high-level players are often motivated by getting epic loot and powers

46:00 Be ready to challenge high-level NPCs, even if they seem overpowered

49:00 What it looks like when motivation gets muddled later in the game.

55:00 Turning up the heat: The sublime motivation of imminent death or worse

62:00 Tricks for keeping your players motivated

71:00 Final thoughts