I had a bit like this once, though not quite to this level. I had a world where Gnomes lived in caravan groups like Romani, and there was a lot of racism against them. I thought my players would sympathize, but what actually happened was “let’s not rock the boat”.
I find that my players take a lot of cues from the scenario. If there’s an obvious way for them to get involved, and a clear benefit to the character, they jump in. If not, they treat it as part of the world and continue about their business. But they are relatively passive, story-wise and expect a bit of railroading to tell them where to go.
Agreed - RPGs are a collaborative process, but need a framework in which to collaborate. The DM is there to provide that framework, so if there’s no indication that they’re angling for something to be more than flavor, I’d prefer to get to the story they’ve been intending rather than sidetrack the session. It probably varies by though.
I had a bit like this once, though not quite to this level. I had a world where Gnomes lived in caravan groups like Romani, and there was a lot of racism against them. I thought my players would sympathize, but what actually happened was “let’s not rock the boat”.
I find that my players take a lot of cues from the scenario. If there’s an obvious way for them to get involved, and a clear benefit to the character, they jump in. If not, they treat it as part of the world and continue about their business. But they are relatively passive, story-wise and expect a bit of railroading to tell them where to go.
Agreed - RPGs are a collaborative process, but need a framework in which to collaborate. The DM is there to provide that framework, so if there’s no indication that they’re angling for something to be more than flavor, I’d prefer to get to the story they’ve been intending rather than sidetrack the session. It probably varies by though.