Design & Development: Quests

[sidonunspa]

Looks like a new Design & Development article is up, detailing the quest system thats going to be in 4th edition:


http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20071121


It sounds like it could end up being a pretty cool way to add some mechanics/guidelines to adventure rewards and making sure they are balanced with everything else.

Some Living Campaigns... such as ::: warning! Shameless plug, warning! ::: Living Arcanis have been doing this for years.

Except the "Cards" are replaced with "Certs"

Good to see that they have included it in 4e

Here is another idea for home games.... find a picture of an item online (lets use a brooch for instance) with Photoshop or some other program, add an inscription to it.. Or in a word processing program just write in some nice script what’s on the back of it..

Use that as the clue/outline of your quest, in character, cool looking, and gives the characters that "hook" to remind them what they need to do

 

[Lackhand]

Remember that the cards are metagame.

At the point at which the players' characters stroll up to the (still on fire) Baron and request their thirteen chests of gold, he denies them payment.

They complain and proffer their "quest contract".


You smile, grimly, and hand them a new one -- "Steal thirteen chests of gold from the baron."

 

[Odhanan]

I am so not a target customer for this game... :\

 

[XCorvis]

I think the card idea has potential. I do NOT think cards should have XP rewards written on them, just perhaps promised rewards if any from the quest giver...

A concern of mine is flexibility. I don't want DMs or PCs to get stuck that what is written on paper is what needs to occur...

Agreed. I think of the quests as being meta-objects. They don't exist in the game, they're just handy physical representations of something you were told verbally (or maybe you do have an in-game contract). I think the key is to keep the wording pretty general. You're summarizing the quest, not describing it. For example: "Recover the MacGuffin for the Sinister Man," but not "Find the MacGuffin at 1505 Fifth St, slay all the hobgoblins who protect it, salt the earth with rock salt (not sea salt), and deliver it to the Sinister Man by 5 pm on Friday at the coffee shop on 3rd and Vine." If there are several conditions "required" by the quest-giver, let the players write them down on the card.

One thing that worries me about it is that more literal minded players may decide that if a GM doesn't give you a quest card for an event, it's not worth exploring. The cards seem great for GM-driven games, but could be problematic for player driven games. One quick fix for this might be to let the players write some quest cards too, or at least be able to ask the DM to write a card.

 

[Badkarmaboy]

Seemed like it was just a suggestion.

I can see how it would be a good idea to keep folks on track (players and DM)

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Quests?
Quests?
?
?
?


?



[Sarcasm] No, they aren't MMO influenced [/Sarcasm]

I actually think it is an okay suggestion if you have a somewhat ditzy group or are light on immersion. It's a DMG thing which basically means like all DMG stuff it will get ignored.

 

[Rechan]

I am so not a target customer for this game... :\

Dude, it's just a suggestion in the DMG. THere's no rule that says "Make Quest Cards or you suck".

 

[Pbartender]

I think the card idea has potential. I do NOT think cards should have XP rewards written on them, just perhaps promised rewards if any from the quest giver. I don't want a video game, I want D&D, and knowing the rewards to every little quest in explicit detail does not ring to me of something where the story is flexible and the results for completion are not something that can always be scripted. I certainly do not want PCs choosing only the course of action that will get them the most experience, instead of choosing tasks that their characters are most interested in. In a mercenary campaign, sure, spelled out rewards make sense, but not in true heroic fantasy.

The article said nothing about writing the experience reward on the card... only the agreed upon reward offered by the hiring NPC to the PCs, should they complete the job. The card, for example, might cimply read something like:

"Find and destroy the Ruby Tome of Savrith to gain the loyal patronage of the Paladin's mentor."

Or:

"Find the ruby Tome of Savrith and return it the Shady Character at the Cloak & Dagger Tavern in exchange for untraceable gems and jewelry valued at not less than 1,000 gp."

It's simply meant to be a tangible reminder of what the characters have agreed to do in-game.

 

[JoelF]

Overall, I like this idea. However, I do see a few issues. First, the example of the "you find a key, here's the quest card to find the lock it fits" seems a bit heavy handed to me. If they find a key that gives them a quest card, they know it's important, but if they find some keys that have no card, they ignore them and they get forgotten more easily. I'd rather have them find the key, then if they in character talk about how it must unlock something pretty important since it has a ruby on it, and make a big deal of finding that lock, then giving them the quest card. If you already had something specific for it to open, great, if not, you can make it up and insert it later.

The other concern is with the conflicting PC quests. If the paladin wants to destroy the book, but the rouge wants to sell it, and therefore makes a fake, replaces the real book with it, helps the paladin destroy the fake, then sells the real one, the rogue gets XP, the paladin doesn't, and the paladin PC therefore knows something is up - while without the quest cards, the fake-out could be handled through notes, email, etc, and the paladin player would never know (at least until the book was used for some horrible ritual later in the campaign and the rogue squirms.)

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm not sure I understand this "system".

What's the difference between this quest thingy and writing reminder notes to forgetful and/or lazy players?