Help Improving "fetch" quests

[Quentin3212]

Also, if the rivals are equal to the party perhaps they are busy doing something else but still want to disrupt the party so they hire lackeys to do the job for them.

You could even have them collect a different item first and then have the party figure out a creative way of retrieving said item without risking losing someone.

 

[Omegaxicor]

Thanks to everyone, I have thought about it and I like the Ritual needing:

{Random Amount} of Powdered Silver (most Divine powers do) the only mine in the area is a Dwarven mine that has recently been overrun by {Random Enemy 34}.

{Random Amount} of Sacred Ash from a burned plant creature, the Wood Elves can help them locate it but they respect all Plant life and must be 1) Bargained with, a Diplomacy check, and then aided in the collection, pacification and purification of the creature.

Blood of a random creature (maybe the rivals have annihilated all creatures in the nearby area, especially if they are rare) which must be tracked (I like having a Ranger in the party) and defeated and it's blood collected to be purified at the church later.

Some other unique item which has to be located, I'm guessing some kind of Relic of the Church.

The rivals could be either a rival church, inhumans who want the ritual scuppered or another band of adventurers hired by the church to complete the same assignment (but I doubt they would destroy all of the creatures for the blood)

any ideas, improvements or suggestions are welcome

EDIT: I have just checked and it seems only Curse and Bless Water need powdered silver, 5 pounds, but the ritual needs a circle of it so they will need a lot of it and it will need to be purified

 

[Omegaxicor]

Thanks to everyone, I have thought about it more:

25 lbs of Powdered Silver but the only mine in the area is a Dwarven mine that has recently been overrun by {Random Enemy 34}.

{I have no idea how much Ash is made from a Medium plant creature} of Sacred Ash from a burned plant creature, the Wood Elves can help them locate it but they respect all Plant life and must be 1) Bargained with, a Diplomacy check, and 2) Aided in the collection, pacification and purification of the creature.

Blood of a random creature (maybe the rivals have annihilated all creatures in the nearby area, especially if they are rare) which must be tracked (I like having a Ranger in the party) and defeated and it's blood collected to be purified at the church later.

Some other unique item which has to be located, I'm thinking the Sword of Heironeous, the party must travel to the cathedral and pick it up and then transport it to the ritual but they are attacked by their rivals, assuming they haven't already been dealt with, and whether the party fight or run they have to get the sword to its destination

The rivals are humans, working for an unknown Evil, who want the ritual scuppered.

any ideas, improvements or suggestions are still welcome

EDIT: I have seen the "Needlefolk" creature from MMII pg 158, might make a nice plant to burn for Sacred Ash.

EDIT 2: I have always wanted a reason to use "Grimlocks" from the Monster Manual as enemies of the Dwarves, I will read the fluff about them and say the Dwarves tunneled into them

 

[Quentin3212]

And here I was hoping [random creature] could be anything for the mine I was looking foreword to the mine overrun with dracoliches

Perhaps have the blood of creature be very rare, and in a dangerous region. That way you have the possibility of having terrain effect combat in interesting ways.

 

[Omegaxicor]

And here I was hoping [random creature] could be anything for the mine I was looking foreword to the mine overrun with dracoliches

Perhaps have the blood of creature be very rare, and in a dangerous region. That way you have the possibility of having terrain effect combat in interesting ways.

I am open to any suggestions

I have reviewed several creatures, I love Monster Finder, and discovered:

Asabi - medium humanoid(reptilian) - Monsters of Faerun Pg 15 - Cousins of the Kobolds who live in Deserts, I don't have Sandstorm but Desert terrain is difficult and the party must choose between finding the monsters or getting the blood from their rivals who the party can find passed through a nearby town with a Gather Information check.

Krenshar - Medium magical beast - Monster Manual I, page 163 - I haven't really read the fluff for this one but they are roaming Beasts that can be hunted down but are fairly rare, maybe they are prized for their fur or something. Again they can either track the creatures or fight their rivals

Blood Hawk - Small magical beast - Fiend Folio, page 22 - Again I haven't read the fluff but it is a rare hawk that must be found, I guess you can't track flying creatures but learning about it could teach the party about it's nesting habits, but again the work has already been done for them by their rivals

I am going to read through the MMI and FF, I don't have a copy of MoF so if noone can point me to any fluff regarding the Asabi, I will just make it up

 

[Quentin3212]

It really depends on what regions are viable for the quest.

If your doing a desert, be it sand or snow you could introduce weather and supplies as an obstacle. I once had a friend tell me of a campaign where he had dire bats carry off the party's pack mules in the night (despite the party trying to stop them), effectively leaving them in the desert with no food or water.

Forests can be home to all sorts of dangerous creatures, and if your setting is more fantastical you could even have the party travel amongst the boughs of a giant forest, in which case fighting enemies who pick up players or push players could add a real threat of falling, mountains and cliff faces can also be used to produce similar threats.

Then there's water, the party could need to cross water to reach their destination in which case pirates and water monsters could play a role. Or the destination could even be beneath the surface, forcing the players to determine how to reach it, possibly pursuing magical means for surviving aquatic environments for extended amounts of time.

As for creatures I've always liked both Bulettes and Sharn.

 

[Omegaxicor]

Those Monsters seem too powerful, I think I like Desert or Plains, since they will be Underground or in Forests for the other two parts of the quest and in an Urban environment for the fourth part of the quest.

I really like Underwater questing, but it seems too difficult for low level adventurers

 

[MarkB]

25 lbs of Powdered Silver

Mind how you mix this with the standard D&D economy. The party may just take to doing a lot of shopping, and always asking for their change in silver pieces.

 

[Quentin3212]

I'm not sure what level your running at so it's tough to recommend monsters.

As for the powdered silver - silver coins you could always claim it needs to be unrefined silver. Thus the need to go to the source.

 

[Omegaxicor]

I thought I had put that in my first post but I hadn't, Level 1-3.

I always figured silver/gold/platinum coins are made of the element mixed with others to make them cheap to produce and prevent people from making their own. There also has to be some sort of crime associated with destroying Imperial currency