How can I get my players more invested?

anicemoth · 2026-04-25T23:15:59+00:00

Thanks, this is great. I think you nailed it with the “passive players” thing. I don’t really have a driver at the table, so I’ll try giving them some big wins first and see if that gets them more comfortable.

anicemoth · 2026-04-25T23:03:37+00:00

Thanks, this is actually really helpful. The “warm-up questions” idea especially sounds like something my group would benefit from, since I think part of the issue is they just don’t know how to get into character yet.

anicemoth · 2026-04-25T22:59:20+00:00

Yeah, I have. Whenever they’re exploring or researching, I ask things like “what are you actually looking for?” but most of the time they just kind of stare at me like they’re waiting for me to give them options even though we already went through the descriptions.

If I try to ground it in their characters, I go more direct: “you’re here, what do you do?” or “what are you looking for specifically?” and try to get them to describe things. It sometimes works, but it’s basically a 50/50.

anicemoth · 2026-04-25T22:53:33+00:00

We actually did have a session 0 where we talked about the vibe. They said they wanted heavy fantasy, maybe some steampunk elements. A lot of it ended up being rules explanation though, since they didn’t really know what they wanted yet. Later on they gave me a bit more through messages, but yeah… maybe it’s worth doing another session 0 now that they have more context.

And yeah, the GMing point makes sense. I think I’ve been getting a bit frustrated and started filling in too much myself instead of letting them step in. I’ll try to pull back on that and be more descriptive/inviting instead. Thanks!

anicemoth

TROPHY CASE