Dealing with Action & Drama Avoidance in PCs

[Quertus]

This is… complicated.

Most of the OP, I look at, and respond with, "they're role-playing? That's awesome!"

There is one exception, though: "The GM puts a bunch of big shiny plot hooks out, baited with what they think are interesting and exciting dramatic stories - and the players go into hiding and avoid the bait and hooks earnestly."

At this point, you (probably) don't have a game. Even if you do, it's clear that a) your effort was wasted; and b) your players / their charters have different ideas about the game than you do. It doesn't matter how good a story could be if nobody wants to play it.

Now, let's be honest: a lot of the time, "what makes for a good game" and "what a remotely sane person would do" don't match up very well. "Being a D&D Adventurer" is generally on that list; "continuing to be a D&D Adventurer after you've earned enough to retire" definitely qualifies.

Some characters - like Bilbo - are a little more sane than others. They need a bit more of a push out the door. Which is just a special case of the general, "the adventurers hooks and rewards need to match the PCs".

So, if you don't know how to make adventures that hook the PCs, talk to the players. Explain the hooks you had set up, find out why they didn't bite, and what kind of hooks they *would* bite.

Maybe the hooks weren't right for the PCs. Maybe the players didn't notice them. Maybe they were metagaming, and thought that they were *supposed* to ignore those hooks. Maybe they were looking for a completely different type of game.

Maybe maybe maybe. Easy way to find out? Talk to your players.