So My party skimped on the meet-and-greet

[Ayanzo]

Spoiler:

Pretty much the title, thus I was unable to get in any foreshadowing. The players are actually staying at the tooth and hookah so there was no need to put a plot hook in to drive them. As an added incentive, there were several merchants there as well who were interested in items that didn't immediately have a market value (ie: the maps found in the planning room)

Rather than throw the NPCs at the players, I described the concentration of adventurers as well as played out snipnets of overheard conversations. Velriana was voiced out with her yelling at her subordinates as well as belittling the Marrn over her claim on the Erudite Eye. The party however seemed more apt on just resting that night.

It appears my party is skimming most of the roleplay, and preferring the combat. Any suggestions on penalties for the lack of interaction? Should I even doll out the experience for that roleplay encounter?

[captain yesterday]

well then, you gotta draw them out of their shells:) have a friendly night time break and entry style meet and greet:) or else throw something role-play-ish before the next crypt, maybe at the lottery for the next site.

[Pan]

If they dont want to RP then making them probably isnt a good idea. If they do desire some RP moments, and they are not biting on your RP hooks, you may need to put the cow in the road so to speak.

[yosemitemike]

Spoiler:

That encounter foreshadows the appearance of the Scorched Hand later but isn't really essential for the adventure to progress. If the PCs don't pay attention, they won't be forewarned that someone else is interested in the Erudite Eye. I might give a penalty to perception checks in part C because they are less aware of possible trouble. I might give the Scorched Hand a chance to ambush them. The story award is for interacting and finding out about the Scorched Hand's interest in the Erudite Eye. If they don't do those things, they don't get the award.

[Ayanzo]

I ended up awarding partial experience, They'll level slower, but I'll raise the random encounters to compensate for the lost exp. I'll in addition, penalize their perception checks in the erudite eye pertaining to who's in there.