My characters won't stop doing irrelevant RP stuff and start playing the damn game

Where is the problem? If a Frodo and his gardener can save middle earth, so can some CHA smiths. If they want to smith, let them smith. But let the smithing be a reward.

As long as their are die rolls and stakes, does it matter if it's for RP or combat?

Since they are incompetent in combat but high on Charisma, think around Kurt Russel in Big Trouble in Little China. Let them bumble their way through the action.

So they set up shop. They smith. They are great with their customers and are able to charge above market value thanks to their high charisma. Word spreads far and wide about this great smithing operation, causing them to attract business from well beyond the walls of Stormwind Fallacy.

One night a group of men in dark cloaks arrive just after dusk with a large order. Swords, daggers, shields, chainmails, breastplates, nails, arrow tips, caltrops, you name it. They tell the party it's for a operation back home that is none of their concern. Their supplies have been exhausted and need a full replacement.

The party works long and hard for a week to fulfill this large order and they finally complete it. Gold changes hands, and the leader of the cloaked men offers a handshake while complimenting the good work they have done. He says they will return in the future for more business.

Before they ride off, the leader has his men carry a 6 foot tall golden statue out from their caravan and place it in front of the shop. The leader informs them that it is a token of thanks and good faith. He would let everyone know that their operation was successful due to the masterful work of these smiths.

The men ride off into the evening sunset. The party are exhausted and as they are closing up the shop for the night, the statue begins to glow faintly before turning into a fine dust that surrounds the party and puts them into an uninterrupted slumber that lasts until the next morning.

The party awakes in the morning and the statue is gone. Stepping outside they can see that the city has been attacked. The blood soaked corpses of several noble families are still strewn about the streets. The noble houses that aren't still aflame are looted and burnt to the ground.

Dozens of refugees are flocking to the various entrances of the town, all with stories of cloaked men raiding the various small towns and villages in the area.

The guards are approaching the party, shackles in hand. They have been summoned by City Council, who want answers.

  • Sentence them to death, but them CHA their way out of it, with a promise to stop the cloaked men, avenge the fallen, and get back the stolen noble relics. Banish them from town until this is done. (Now they have to leave).

  • Strip the noble's family of their prestige and wealth.

  • Perhaps let them find a new smithing recipe that will allow them to combat their own weapons. Like how Valerian steel easily smashes White Walkers and their weapons. (Mechanics wise, this will give them a bonus to overcome their attack penalties at least, and withstand blows from their old weapons).

  • Let them CHA their way through a dungeon to get this recipe. Perhaps it's a tomb of a descendant. Keep the combat low. Instead let them use puzzle solving and etc to get through. Use the noble's family heirloom as the key to the recipe container.

  • Let them take back one of the villages to establish a new forge. Keep combat low. Maybe let them smith a big trap or trojan horse. Let them recruit former residents to use as minions. Maybe stem the flow of their supplies and cause a lot of the occupiers to desert. Use smiting skills to restore a bridge?

  • Let them barter deals for the materials they need. They need access to a special mine? What do they need to do first? How can they establish a good flow of materials to their forge in the village? Maybe the mine is on half orc barbarian land and they are mad at the cloaked men too? Thus giving the players materials and some tanks/meat shields too.

  • Let them smith their way to the final encounter with the cloaked men. Let them furnish their meat shields with their finest masterwork gear. Maybe the recipe is for sentient golems they can command? Whatever is it, let them bumble along thought situations that fit their skills.

/r/Pathfinder_RPG Thread