DM coming out of retirement want to get everyone into 5e

[luckythepirate]

a little background first: the particular group i tend to play with has a really bad habit of going through the process of getting excited to play some dnd, making characters, playing them once, then never play that game again.

the other day i went and got 5e phb and got everyone excited to play. ive decided to skip the part that always gets us snagged and instead of rolling character and going through the process of meeting then forcing ourselves to go through whatever quest, im starting the game out like this - they all know each other, they trust each other enough to go through dangerous places and come out alive, and they are headed to some newly discovered ruins to test their luck. ive decided to force this part, because we have never tried to run it that way, and im hoping to be dungeon crawling, meeting fun npcs, killing monsters quick enough that no one gets bored and we all have a good time and want to play again.

wanted to get that all out of the way before anyone asks why im running it that way. so what i want to know, is if they aren't feeling it, are bored, what can i do to get their attention and get excited about playing? so far i have the town their headed too, drawn maps of everything, fleshed out npcs and encounters and the first floor of the dungeon. i want to maybe play 2 hours, just long enough to get into it and get something accomplished and hope they want to do it again.

almost every time we get together, to play mtg or smash or whatever, someone always says it "why aren't we playing dnd i mean were all here whats stopping us?" so i need this to be fun and awesome because its been too long since weave gotten together regularly to game like this and i want it to catch on. im open to all suggestions and will answer any questions, thank you.

ps: first time posting, so please feel free to give me a crash course on etiquette here, i read the rules and all that good stuff just don't want to be the new guy noobin up everyone's favorite board.

[Madfellow]

Really this is going to be a process of trial and error. You'll try stuff, and some of it will work and some of it won't. Eventually you'll learn what they like. As long as everyone approaches the game from a place of mutual trust and respect, any problems can be workes out. Remember that the PCs need to be active driving forces in the story AT ALL TIMES.

[luckythepirate]

that always seems to be the problem, they are all really into role playing, so every game is literally 4 or 5 pc's wanting to all go different directions to do their own thing while the dm is stuck trying to wrap them around to the threat at hand. so im hoping if we go straight into a dungeon crawl instead of role playing out the initial encounter they will get interested in whats going on in the world right in front of them instead of worring about how their charecter is going to get a house or try and win an archery contest or ask the local guard about possible bounty all at the same time and after 2 hours nothing gets done.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Have you been able to pinpoint why you all get "bored" so quickly, after being so "excited" two hours before? It sounds like the players get invested in the characters, and the lot of you get together regularly anyway, so why wouldn't you pick up where you left off before?

Are you making it into a huge production, with maps and handouts and what-not? Maybe having to set everything up again, week-in-week-out is what's draining the enthusiasm? You could try running it TotM, with minimalistic backstories and a shortened set-up, just to try something different. 5e's design should back you up in that.

[luckythepirate]

im normally a player, so i know exactly how it happens. dm comes up with a grand idea and puts in alot of work. we all get together to play. we go through the awkward process of how were all going to meet up and decide to as a group of people who have never met go on this adventure or quest or whatever. 2 of the characters get off on the wrong foot and get into a fight. 3rd guy gets bored so goes off and does his own thing. i try and play along and get the necessary information that will propel us past this awkward boring stage and into something fun. an hour later we finally get around to it. now everyone bored cause they did squat for the first hour. dm gets nervous keeps asking if were having fun doubting himself so that's just more nails in the coffin. we finish up with dm who at this point lost all self confidence in his ability to run a game, and all the players are shaken their heads "no you did good man i cant wait to play again" knowing full well it was a disaster. and we dont play or even try to get together for months until we start to play with the idea to run a game.

as for how much work i put in? i spent less than an hour putting it all together, with the intention of bypassing all the stuff that keeps us from getting into the story and right into some action. they way i see it, as long as their on the right track the game plays itself as long as its interesting (unique npc interactions plus multi terrain dungeon). one thing i learned from playing that last game with them, keep rolls to a minimum outside of combat. when things went down hill and he got nervous we started doing a bunch of pointless skill checks.

[KorvinStarmast]

they are all really into role playing, so every game is literally 4 or 5 pc's wanting to all go different directions to do their own thing while the dm is stuck trying to wrap them around to the threat at hand. I am reading this as 4 or 5 people not understanding what teamwork is.

What our DM does a lot of, between sessions, is to use email discussions between players and him to flesh out some of the "what I did" stuff on the individual level.

This helps us focus on the team's efforts when we can all get together.

[Giant2005]

You should look into Tunnels and Trolls Solitaire Adventures. It is a completely different system so will need some serious converting into 5e but they are fun and quick little romps that your players shouldn't get bored of.
A personal favourite of mine is one called "Beyond the Silvered Pane" - I converted that into 5e for my group and made a bunch of maps on Roll20 but we never got around to actually playing it. It is basically a dungeon that is based around a magic mirror that transports the group into little pocket dimensions where they go in, get their loot or do whatever it is to do in there and get back out before going back in and being randomly transported somewhere else. Each scene is completely different from the next and both the risks and rewards are very high.
With the constant changes of scenery, impending doom and plentiful carrots to satisfy their Id ego, they should be absolutely thrilled. It is also pretty much impossible for everyone to wander off from each other as they are all transported to the same place and they don't need to really know each other prior to the game as the Dwarven host of the dungeon (The guy that owns the mirror) could simply be picking a bunch of random people from the crowd in order to send them in there to restock his shop and there is nothing like impending doom to encourage bonding between the characters. Obviously they could simply refuse to go in the mirror and end the game before it even starts but the players shouldn't be that stupid considering that mirror is the whole point.

[Rimeraven]

If the problem is the players getting bored trying to figure out why they would be together, and wandering off on their own, get them involved. As you sit down to roll your characters ask them "How do you know each other."

You could give them some options: are you an adventures guild, a band of witch hunters, a traveling circus, pilgrims on the road, locked together in a chain gang.

Let them pick so the story is their idea and they are more invested in it. Make the adventure about what their group is trying to do.

[Safety Sword]

I think you should go with a "Friendships Forged from Adversity" angle.

Even if the characters don't know each other you can bring them together when the Prince's Guard storm into the bar and arrest everyone for being involved in the treasonous plot.

Throw them in the same jail cell. Have them be brought into the same courtroom. Have them face the same executioner (and presumably escape).

I'm not saying you can't do this to get them all going in the same direction either...

If they are all wanted and are being chased they might all find their way into the sewers to escape or perhaps the same smuggling ship.

There are literally a million ways to drive the story into the characters faces to get them going in the direction you would like. Then you can see where they take it.