Several times this last week people on Twitter have mentioned how their RPG adventures have trailed off, or their tabletop wargaming got stale.
The chosen solution in each case was to ask for a "better game".
I think that is a mistake, and here is why.
A fascinating, engaging story is never A->B.
There are humans involved. Humans are messy, and we don't do things just because they need to be done.
If you simply play the rules as laid out, without layering some interest then you are playing the same game over and over again expecting it to be brand new.
I LOVE a game of Galaga, but I can't say I am emotionally involved with it. With new games though? They draw me into the characters.
Watch an actual play adventure - after a while you want them to succeed, sometimes you are even sad when they die!
Typically an adventure hook might begin "you meet in a tavern" but your characters don't just sit there and drink ale (most of the time).
So a fight breaks out, just to break the monotony. But why? Did someone spill someone else's beer?
Low stakes, no curiosity. We can do better.
Let's look at meeting in a tavern again?
Constructing this takes a moment, but it contains several threads that might pull your players in.
But first, let me explain why I include skirmish games in this discussion.
Yeah, it can be fun to simply battle your friends. Shooting your friends in the face with your plastic soldier's blaster is a lot of fun.
But if you are playing the same battle over and over, what you need is a sprinkling of some narrative up there in this thing.
WHY are they fighting? It can't be always "because they are enemies".
What are the stakes?
Let's face it, if you don't build up some stakes then there is really nothing to lose but your pride, and when playing outside of an organized competition, that is not really all that big of a deal for most of us.
Of course in roleplaying, a hook is even more important.
What is our motivation? Why do we care? What will happen if you go off and do something else?
This is a way that you can get the people at your table involved with the story behind what is happening.
Mechanically, two armies or bands or teams, whatever, are going to face off. That is a given, but what is the thinking behind it?
Throughout history there are elements we throw in to make things more dramatic:
A good conflict needs some party trying to get something, stop something, achieve something, and another party working to stop them.
There has to be a reason our heroes face unsurmountable odds but don't give up!
Then you ramp up the pressure - with a deadline, with a terrible outcome, or a wonderful outcome.
Most of all, the player's characters need to be necessary. The story needs to need them making decisions, impacting the world, changing the story as it unfolds.
Rollercoasters can be fun, but games are all about player agency. Don't railroad the game, even if you have exciting twists and turns planned.
(That said, there is a meme that "Indiana Jones has no effect on the outcome of Raiders of the Lost Ark." that I will leave to your research)
Are you struggling to come up with a hook?
Think of your favorite novels or movies.
Really it comes down to ... why should your players care?
