Forums of the Megaverse®

I am going to assume this is a Rifts campaign as you didn't mention which portion of the megaverse this is in. That said...

There are several things you can do to get the players interested. The most important one, of course, is to ask the players why they felt bored, and what they were expecting. Communication between GM and players is the key ingredient to a fun time to be had by all. Talk to your players; let them know that you are trying, but want to get their input as to why they feel bored and unhappy. This will give you some insight into what to do better next time.

The next thing is to use things in your campaign world against the players to get them thinking about stuff. Such as:

1. The plant is used as a weapon, right? What kind of weapon? And can the players be assaulted by a rogue person with one of these weapons as they are trying to get to and/or on the transport off that rock? And darn it all if being attacked didn't make them miss the transport!

2. When ingested, the plant makes someone euphoric and open to suggestion? PCs have to eat and drink at some point, so why not have someone slip a little of the plant into a PCs drink? Then you get to tell the player that he is feeling wonderful, and that he feels more open to suggestions. Make sure it's a PC whose personality isn't always happy-go-lucky, and that will get the rest of the group asking why he's acting so weird. If it happens to more than 1 PC, that's all the better because then they will truly know something is going on.

3. The reverse of that would be to have the NPC they are taking home come to his sense before they get to the transport and tell the players his story about being on the planet, and that he thinks he may have been drugged or something. Once they see that his mood changes dramatically, they will start asking questions.

These are just suggestions, of course.

I assume its Phase World?

I need to see the players races, OCCs, alignments, dispositions, goals etc. - The BEST(?) way to engage the players is to make the plot specific to them so that they care about the scenario and desire to stay with it. To give you some ideas on that I need to know about the characters (& players too).

What are the characters links to this bounty hunter (BH)? To bound and gag someone is quite impersonal. Do they "care" about him? What's the plot with his wife? If she's been kidnapped and is on the planet the BH could ask them to help him? Also does the drug wear off, will the BH come round and give them more info?

It sounds like a decent adventure so far (I love mysteries and so does my group) but the scenario didnt have much combat(?). So is that where the group lost interest? Do they need to vent some aggression (it's not unusual).

You definitely need a hook to keep them on the planet. Didnt Big Will mention in "GMing tips" podcast about holding a ship back because it is out of fuel(?) and here you are with a plot about a certain type of oil. If its the only food then it could well be the only fuel source to.

Did you watch the whole episode?

Have a main foe show up to pick up a batch of the plant/chemical/oil and have them give the PCs some trouble.

Maybe a few of the enemies goons show up to investigate why they kidnapped someone who was happy with their new life on the planet..

If/when the PCs manage to escape they will have the realization that someone is stockpiling the chemicals to make weapons most likely as a prelude to invasion.

They may also be wanted for kidnaping, resisting arrest and more then likely murder.