So I just stared my second campaign with all of the same characters but I have been noticing that two of my players are not as involved as the others. The main one is a technician who always stays with the ship, hacks stuff, and uses all of the tech. The other player doesn't seem to enjoy himself but when I ask him he says he has loads of fun so I don' really know what to do.

Keep your lines of communication open. With player two you have done exactly the right thing, engaged him to see if he is enjoying himself. The next step might be to narrow down what parts he is enjoying to ensure that when possible you can include those items/parts. There is no better method of gauging what the players want than talking with them candidly.

As for your technician, give him problems out in the field with the rest of the team. The team might be able to blow open the door to the storage facility, but slicing it would be quieter and less likely to draw attention. Or maybe he can create a set of small, fifth level droid drones that go haywire and draw off the Imperial patrols near where the team needs to be. Engage the character away from the ship. Maybe the port does not have good comm lines that allow the character to slice from afar. Or maybe the locals require all ships to be locked down empty unless the ship's captain is aboard. Heck, maybe they have to fumigate all incoming ships due to a recent outbreak of off-planet critters. This may force the character off the ship and help engage. If not, give the character things to do on the ship. Just make sure that the character has a chance to be as important to the group as any of the other characters are.

There was a thread about a character who refused to leave the ship a month or so ago. It may also give you some ideas.

Thank you so much! This is really helpful!!!

1 hour ago, Quelthan said:

maybe they have to fumigate all incoming ships due to a recent outbreak of off-planet critters

Love that idea.

There are some players who simply enjoy being there for the show, but if you really feel the player is unhappy then I agree you should talk with the player and make sure they are ok. Sometimes it helps to know what people expect from the game so that you can get an idea of what they want and like. I use a group chat channel as well as private ones for my players so that we can discuss the game throughout the week and bring any issues up in a feedback format. Also, are the players whom you feel are enjoying themselves willing to share the spotlight? If so you could talk to those players about interacting with the less-active players in the game.

I also notice that this game seems to have that issue with tech-based characters who really just want to be the "Van Man." I have found that sometimes this is ok with me, and other times it isn't. I don't like when players just try to remote bypass every challenge by being in the ship or hacking with a Datapad from far away, and so I will summarize activities away from the group if I feel its just self-indulgent "Solo play in a Group Game," type deal.

You can talk to them, but if they're actually happy with the game you might be asking for a solution looking for a problem.

On 1/25/2018 at 1:42 PM, Quelthan said:

Heck, maybe they have to fumigate all incoming ships due to a recent outbreak of off-planet critters.

Pure Gold. Stealing this.

Most folks have good days and bad days - have the players in question always been disengaged or is it new?

It's possible they're more casual about the game and are still having fun, but like the others have said, communication is key.

I think some of the best advise I've seen for casual players is to not push them.

I too have a casual player. He's younger than the rest of the players and very new to RPG's. I know he's enjoying himself, but most of the time when we're focusing on social encounters or I spring a social encounter on his PC, he shy's away from those opportunities.

He absolutely enjoys the tactics and I think he enjoys the evolving story overall too. But I agree. I think it would be a mistake for me as the GM to try to force his character into more social encounters (at this point).

So in conclusion, don't be afraid to let a casual player be casual.

And as an odd aside, I have 5 players for my group and I've informed everyone that I'm at my limit and we're not going to accept new players. However, I have one guy who is showing up to just watch the sessions.