The timeline of the campaign begins on Rova (Sept) 22 with the Swallowtail Festival. In my campaign, it's only been about two weeks since the raid on Sandpoint and my players have just finished visiting a certain medical facility and are headed back to Sandpoint. I imagine they'll get sidetracked to the farmstead on their way home, and head out to a certain mansion afterwards, most likely the next day.
Sorry if I'm being vague -- I didn't feel like using spoiler tags. :P
I feel that, given the timeline of events throughout the adventure, not enough time has passed so far. My players seem to hate downtime and have no interest in roleplaying with NPCs unless it involves getting gold or loot, so I tried to stretch the time between Burnt Offerings and Skinsaw as much as possible but I ended up only getting two or three days out of it, and even most of those days was me hand-waving and only very briefly describing the happenings.
The problem is that when I leave it open ended or when I present roleplay opportunities, my players just stare at me. The Shoanti Barbarian in my party, for the two days of downtime, decided he was going to sit and watch the wizard craft magical items rather than involve himself in anything going on around town. I had the citizens of Sandpoint throw a parade for the heroes after having ended the threat and even that didn't get them excited. They don't even take the time to eat! Should I step in and say, "You are incredibly hungry and thirsty?"
Does anyone have suggestions for extending downtime when I need to? For getting the players more proactively involved in the setting during said downtime? I've used Shayliss to some degree and it has worked to varying degrees, since she has a thing for one of the party members still (and he for her), but short of derailing the plot to introduce new characters (any time I introduce a character, my players assume it MUST be plot related and will hound the NPC to no end), I'm not sure what else I can do to get them involved. I know the wizard would appreciate the time to craft some items, but even he JUST wants the downtime for that purpose -- when asked, he said he stayed in his inn room all day, even when his crafting for the day was complete.
Is the adventure being rushed? Is two weeks in game too short a time to have already gotten into Skinsaw Murders? I was imagining the early events in the Skinaw Murders to occur much nearer to Halloween, given the flavor and mood, but Lamashan has only just begun in my campaign.
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Well, if the players aren't interested, then there's not much you can do to overcome player apathy. Some people aren't motivated by interacting with characters, other than "I hit it with my warhammer."
One thing I'd try is taking a look at their traits, and guide them towards encountering NPCs that play off those traits. Did you have them use the campaign traits from the AP Player's Guide? Most of those have some built-in ties to Sandpoint. If you didn't, no worries, the rest of their traits might suggest some other people to talk to.
Yeah, I have to agree with Misroi (surprise, surprise): If the players aren't interested in downtime, there's not much you can do to force it.
My players INSIST on roleplaying out every. Single. Day. They want to describe what they're doing that day. Who they're meeting. What they're eating. Where they're staying.
And even with a group that insistent on, "We want every single day to matter," they're going to finish off the final BBEG and complete the AP in mid-February. That's a grand total of 5 months of game time, INCLUDING a couple of weeks on a side quest I added just for the fun of it, to do everything described in all 6 books and then some.
So yeah, APs (other than Kingmaker) just don't take a huge amount of "real time". Our Carrion Crown campaign took maybe 2-3 months of "real" time. We were AMAZED when Second Darkness started and gave us roughly ten weeks of just hanging around, running a casino. Seemed downright odd...
I feel the need to second (third?) the verdict, that you can't force the players to gain an interest in the extraneous material.
Be sure to keep that material there, and drop references to it whenever it comes up. You might eventually find something that grabs their attention, but if they just look away don't keep waving it in their faces. They'll let you know when something interests them.
It sounds like your group is happiest when they're rolling dice and crunching numbers. As long as they're clearly enjoying themselves, it's hard to say they're doing anything wrong.
If you want some time to pass, and maybe give them a chance to earn some XP and other rewards that missed roleplaying is leaving out, consider tossing in a short dungeon-crawl that's worth about the same amount. Your players will probably jump at the slightest pretense to go dungeon-crawling.
Most important point has already been made - if they're having fun (keep coming back for more) just roll with it.
But a few random thoughts...
Have you asked them why? Could be they're completely uninterested but it could be they're scarred. DMs in their past have used NPC relationships as a weapon. "As soon as I have a girlfriend or make a social connection with an NPC, sure enough she gets kidnapped or turns out to be the second-in-command to Lord Slorgoth, the Death Master of Antioch!" Those kind of experiences can lead players to say "Pass."
Carrot > Stick. Point out that story awards of XP can be gained through social interactions - make sure you actually award them if hinted at or promised. Offer skill points if they find mentors (or more nefariously, force them to find trainers for new skills or raising skill points past certain levels.) Suggest they can make money by entering into relationships with NPC's - better prices, investment opportunities, etc. Make sure those social interactions give them meaningful story background or info that helps them. Example: if they have a positive relationship with Daviran Hosk (Goblin Squash Stables) he can tell them exactly how to find Thistletop, instead of wandering for half a day getting poked by thorns. If they do stumble through to Thistletop, tell them they could have had it easier if only they had spoken with Hosk. Feel free to remind them what they could have done so they think about that strategy or tactic in the future.
Your mileage may vary.
My campaign is progressing into mid Pharast (March) and they are only at Turtleback Ferry.
They've made friends with Mayor Deverin, who in turn endorsed their claim on Thistletop, and contemplating turning it into the western chapter of the Black Arrows (Party Ranger pursuing franchise opportunities)
Maelin Shreed has agreed to cast spells for the party gratis (provided they don't have any expensive material components).
Daviren Hosk allows the PCs to stable their horses for free.
Ameiko Kaijitsu lets the PCs stay at her inn for free (for life).
They were (incidentally) responsible for Lt. Licot getting promoted to Captain (For his role in stopping the Skinsaw Cult in Magnimar, i.e. letting the PCs do it)
One of the PCs was tied to Justice Ironbriar as a mentor. Didn't end well.
The bard commissioned the Valdemar shipyards to build him his very own ship.
The bard also spent his own money to (re-)train an NPC from 1st level commoner to Fighter (Brawler)3/Rogue (Thug)2
Our Fighter/Ranger is in a romantic relationship with Shalelu (and there is a chance that the campaign might need to be put on hold for a couple few months for nature to take its course there)
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon