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Hello all,
I have had issues with one of my players during the first twenty days on the wormwood. He has stated that he is bored with so little agency. I think it might have something to do with his choice of character. He is playing an orc fighter with few social skills. We are currently on day four after the first session, just before the Owlbear fight. He has managed to get himself sweatboxed for attempted murder, but passed every save like a champ. During the fistfight on day two he sent Fipps deep into the negatives with a hit using his butchering axe (Got it back after a run of good luck by a thieving bard). Most recently, after a giant squid attacked the boat, only to be killed by Harrigan, the orc fighter attempted to push Harrigan off of the boat. I am curious what I can do to engage him more in the story. He admitted that the reason he did it was because he was bored. In his own words, "I was fine with this hook if it only lasted about half the session." Currently, the best idea I have is to try getting him to think about the press-ganging as the first adventure and not as the hook.
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The best approach I've seen with the Wormwood Mutiny is for the GM to tell the players upfront that for the beginning of the adventure - not just a session of two - they'll be press ganged on a pirate ship, starting with none of their gear, and will need to navigate the social environment of a pirate crew. A player who doesn't know this going in that makes a murder hobo pirate PC will be very disappointed with what little there is for him to do.
Whether or not you've done this isn't important at this point, however. Here's some suggestions on how to help him now:
-What you said - be upfront with him and tell him that his situation isn't going to change anytime soon. The first half of this book is supposed to be a railroad with timed events and lots and lots of socialization.
-urge him to make a new character - one who inherently has some more agency as a press gang-ee - and you can simply introduce the new character as a member of the crew that the PC's haven't met yet. This will put the PC in a position of someone who has inside information on the Wormwood, making his character automatically a valuable person for the rest of the group, reinforcing his increased agency even further.
-Shorten the amount of time the group spends on the Wormwood. Play through only the outlined days.
-Make an effort to engage him with important NPC's. Get Cogsward to find an interest in this violent, rash newby, or have Sandara find him attractive - anything to give his character roleplaying that doesn't actually involve skill checks.
-How does the rest of the group feel about the adventure so far? If they're of the same opinion as this player, you may want to just skip right to the Man's Promise, followed immediately by the storm and Bonewrack Isle. I personally love the first book of S&S, but I know it's not for everyone.
Thank you for the help! The other players are enjoying the adventure. The bard has been befriending Owlbear and Ratline, as well as doing some theifery. They took quite a bit, but did a good job hiding it, so I am letting them get away with it. The Hellion(SGG class) is enjoying making friends with Rosie Cusswell and Jack Scrimshaw, as well as playing a large number of games of chance. He has also proven abysmal at mysteries, as I introduced a teenage scion of a Chelish house, in disguise as a man, on the ship. So far the hellion just thinks he's gay. Our goblin alchemist missed the first session, but seems pumped and is soon to be discovered by a barrel. I think I will try to get him more invested in the NPCs. Thanks, will let you know how it goes.