Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Running Phandelver - help me make it less like a video game
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7019693" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>The quest-giver is a pretty old trope in D&D. I can't venture a guess to know when the first quest-giver appeared, but I imagine they did pretty early on, if only as a loose reason to have the PCs turn up at some Gygaxian dungeon or another adventuring location and toss the place.</p><p></p><p>Quest-givers serve a purpose and I think its similarity to video games is probably because it's simply the most efficient way to provide exposition, adventure hooks, and maybe say something about the flavor of the adventure/setting. I think the key to it is to make sure the quest-giver scene doesn't take too long and gets the damn point across. Nothing worse than a quest-giver scene that drags in my opinion because, really, there is rarely any dramatic conflict to it, no stakes, nothing to win or lose. You get your info dump and you're off.</p><p></p><p>So, I suggest just leaving it as is and maybe explaining to your players that in the chicken-and-egg of quest-givers in RPGs, tabletop or otherwise, it came from D&D first.</p><p></p><p>Edit: One other thing - you really don't have to give all the quests away up front. Let them trickle in, when it makes sense, and when the given quest-giver has the pre-text to approach the PCs about whatever problem they need solving. It needn't be a matter of talking to all the NPCs in the bar with the question marks above their heads. Whenever possible, let it happen naturally.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7019693, member: 97077"] The quest-giver is a pretty old trope in D&D. I can't venture a guess to know when the first quest-giver appeared, but I imagine they did pretty early on, if only as a loose reason to have the PCs turn up at some Gygaxian dungeon or another adventuring location and toss the place. Quest-givers serve a purpose and I think its similarity to video games is probably because it's simply the most efficient way to provide exposition, adventure hooks, and maybe say something about the flavor of the adventure/setting. I think the key to it is to make sure the quest-giver scene doesn't take too long and gets the damn point across. Nothing worse than a quest-giver scene that drags in my opinion because, really, there is rarely any dramatic conflict to it, no stakes, nothing to win or lose. You get your info dump and you're off. So, I suggest just leaving it as is and maybe explaining to your players that in the chicken-and-egg of quest-givers in RPGs, tabletop or otherwise, it came from D&D first. Edit: One other thing - you really don't have to give all the quests away up front. Let them trickle in, when it makes sense, and when the given quest-giver has the pre-text to approach the PCs about whatever problem they need solving. It needn't be a matter of talking to all the NPCs in the bar with the question marks above their heads. Whenever possible, let it happen naturally. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Running Phandelver - help me make it less like a video game
Top