Now, on to the goals. Once players have connected with their characters it’s possible for them to make in game goals that they care about. At first their goals are likely to be entirely mechanical, maybe a new vehicle so they can go faster or for more protection. These will get you started in a game but after a while, the players will run out of items that they’re interested in acquiring. What do you do then?
Most often a GM will introduce a new sourcebook with new goodies. Other times the players goals may take on a new aspect and they start to explore different locations in the game. This can last for a little while as it’s likely to span several games.
People As Motivators
What can be done in addition to that to keep a player interested in the game? Something that I’ve seen few GMs do well, give the PCs allies. I’m not talking fellow adventurers, that would only limit the PC’s effectiveness (more characters trying to do the same job). The allies that the PCs will want are ones that make them more effective. For example, a town that needs protection actively feeds and houses the PCs when they’re in the area so that they will stay longer and protect them if bandits come through. This is usually presented in the wrong direction in games. The town leader approaches the adventurers crying ‘Oh please protect us from the bandits, we’ll pay you X’.
If you want to make protecting the town the player’s goal (as opposed to just getting paid), you approach the situation more subtly. They can take the same approach gas stations and doughnut shops take. By giving police officers free food, the police are more likely to spend their breaks there. If the police are known to hang out at a scene, they are far less likely to be targeted by criminals.
No one says anything to the players overtly. When they come into town, people are friendly if not a little shy. The shop keepers give the players a discount. Some of the young boys ask if they can carry heavy items for the PCs. The innkeeper pulls them to the side and tells them that if they stay out of trouble, they can stay here for free.
The first thing that’s going to do for the players is freak them out completely. They’ll be looking for a downside, some plot to trap them. Don’t give them one. If the players ask the townspeople why they’re being nice to them they’ll come clean. They know that by having adventurers that aren’t causing trouble in the town they’re less likely to be targeted by bandits. You allow this to go on for a while, let the PCs get to know the townsfolk by name. Little touches can be huge here. Have a boy that comes up and tells them stupid jokes for no reason. A widow that comes out and gives them a small amount of food. Eventually, when the players decide they want to help the townspeople, now you have a great motivator. Slowly something is moving in on the town. It’s not the townspeople’s fault, it’s just something that’s happening in the area. Now the players identify the town as their town and nobody better mess with it.
People are one of those motivators that never get old if managed properly. If someone is more trouble than they’re worth, players may move on so it still shouldn’t be abused. The point is to motivate the players with something other than mechanical money rewards. To keep the players from getting frustrated with a villages inability to protect itself, the villagers should be trying to defend themselves periodically with varying degrees of success especially if the players weren’t around.
Thinking Bigger
Another motivator is for the players to think beyond new toys to play with in game. Things like building their own home base, maybe a fortified bunker or even their own fortress. Let them enjoy building it, when you sense that they’re done with their building process, make it the scene of several games where the action takes place within it. Then set a threat to it that would have come anyway so the players can be glad they built up their base.
In some cases I’ve had the players find an abandoned fortress that they adopted as their own. It allowed for interesting games as the players tried to remake the base more to their needs. The more eccentric the original builder the better because this leaves for plenty of exploration.
Mine
When a player lays claim to a certain part of the game world, they become more invested in it. They set it as their goal to keep that part of the game world. There is a balancing act between making their claimed territory enjoyable and making it challenging. A GM should be cautious to allow the players to enjoy their claimed territory more often than it causes them trouble, otherwise they may abandon it and the goal of keeping it. Let the players build something. It could be a physical structure or social ties, it only matters what it is as long as the players are interested in it. You may need to try a few different things and maybe only part of the party will be interested in any one thing so try a variety and let each player pick what interests them.
Not every set of characters has to go down these paths but every player should. My feeling is that the sooner they do, the sooner they’ll learn to set their own goals. Do you agree? Have you used these situations in your games? Did your players grow from the experience?
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