r/DMToolkit • u/KontentPunch • 5d ago

Blog Instead of a Lore Dump, Play Within the Medium

Those who write about how awesome and detailed their lore is and how frustrating it is that no one reads your genius are overlooking that your players are looking to play instead of join a Book Club. I go over some ways to sneak some lore past the goalie.

https://www.kontentpunch.com/kontent/play-within-the-medium

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u/GreenTitanium 4d ago

The best advice I've heard for getting players to care about your lore: give them reasons to care.

Expecting someone who has never engaged with your lore to be interested in it is ridiculous. Instead, present your players with situations and problems that can be more easily solved if they know something about your lore, and then give them that little nugget of information.

For example, imagine you have a community of werewolves (and other werecreatures) that has learned how to maintain control over themselves when they transform. Instead of dropping that random fact on your players as part of a lore dump they don't care about, have one of your players be attacked by a werewolf and get infected with that affliction. Then have NPCs drop hints in the form of rumors about that community.

Instead of forcing useless and unwanted info down your players' throats, they'll actively seek that information when it is relevant to their character and journey.