Is there any way to get characters really invested in an RPG

>>50620524
Find better players.

>>50620524
>>50620718
Sadly this guy is partly correct. There's only so much you can do as a GM to make your players care about their characters. Pretty much, caring about their characters is the only job of the player.

>>50620524
Stop being such a boring dm?

>>50621247
This

I've run a superhero campaign twice. Lots of NPCs who are meaningfully affected by PC actions and are part of the PC's lives.

The first time I ran it, the two players loved punching villains and viewed NPC interaction as a waste of time and once literally told me 'We wait around until you tell us what to punch'

The second time I ran it, some random roll20 players went all out with backstory and interacting with NPCs and caring about their actions, and the campaign was great and involved and all that

You can tease shy players out of their shells, but some people just aren't interested in roleplay

>>50623420
>how to I be a better GM
>be a better GM
Thanks, anon. You made it all clear.
>>50623560
Yeah, my players are relatively engaged. They don't just wait around for shit to punch. I just want to pull them in that little bit further, so they're thinking as much in-character as possible.

>>50623972
Give them a reason to care about the world. That can beby giving them characters to care about, or, more rarely but more effectively, by immersing them in the world to such an extent that they begin to care about it in its own right. Have you ever talked to someone like me who won't shut the fuck up about Morrowind? That's why. The characters in Morrowind are hardly sympathetic. The most compelling ones are pretty awful people. But the world is so alive and detailed that it draws you in.

I guess my practical advice is to give details, even when they don't contribute to a specific narrative. You want to foster the idea that your players and you are one small story out of millions. Have a shopkeeper tell a story about an urn being the only thing to survive the sinking of the local ferry back in 87 when the river crested its banks and flooded marshton. The real world is gorgeous in its interwoven complexity. The mark of a true storyteller is to emulate that without getting lost in it.

You'll fail to balance it, of course, but your failures will grow less severe over time.

>>50620524
>Animal companion can't have a mount
What if its a monkey? I want a pet baboon riding a dog.

>>50620524
>How do I non-shit players
By getting better players

>>50623972
>>50625068
This guy is also partly correct. I find my players will care about a character more if they feel at some point that they are character's in an NPC's quest. It doesn't have to be long term of course (and in fact I would advise it to be a relatively short period of time) but overall, if you treat your NPCs as just tools for the players to achieve their own goals, then they will treat them as such. If you give your NPCs their own goals, dreams and storylines, good players will naturally feel engaged with them as actual people.

>>50620524
It exists, but unless you're extremely good at creating scenarios that really gets to your players, then you're just gonna have to pray that you get really good players.

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>>50625258
>not having a chihuahua riding a mandrill
Pic related, it's you

>>50625258
>>50627636
Strap a narwhal to a work horse instead.