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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormborn" data-source="post: 3624298" data-attributes="member: 14041">Right.  I suppose that I should make some further distinctions here.  To me a Quest is almost always external to the PCs, the particulars are subject to the conditions of the campaign and not the specific characters concerned; or they are tied to the particular PCs but in a way that they have little choice in (IOW Destiny). The characters may choose how they go about the quest, but the existance of said quest is seperate from their choice.  On the other hand we have Goals (which may be refered to as quests).  These are influenced by the campaign setting and the particulars there of have bearing upon it but the motivation for the goal is subject to the whims of the characters and their life rather than forces outside the characters. Let us consider two classic "Quests"The Quest for the Grail in the Arthur Mythology is motivated by the conditions of the King and Kingdom (usually), rather than the knights that actually do the questing.  Their personalities and motivations ultimately lead them to various adventures and endings but the Quest itself is larger that they are and would exist if a completly different group of knights (PCs in game terms) were in similar cirumstances.In contrast to this we have the story of Gawain and the Green Knight.  The Green Knight challanges the Round Table to a seemingly insane contest, but none of them need to take it up.  The kingdom doesn't end, no one dies, and given the reaction of most of the knights we get the impression that it wouldnt even be a great slight on anyone's honor to decline.  Gawain, however, is motivated otherwise to trade blows with the Green Knight.  This decision leads him to an Adventure with a Goal (Namely: meet the Green Knight and, if at all possible, survive.)  The Goal arises out of Gawain's character meeting the circumstances of his situation.  We might also consider Luke Skywalker.  Forces, no pun intended, are at work that shape his Destiny.  He doesn't realize it but there are larger powers and stories at work that essentially shape the course of his adventures.  They may seem only vaguely connected but in the end he is compleled by the nature of the setting to follow on a Quest to become a Jedi, defeat the Emperor, and provide the opportunity and motivation for redemption for his father. If, in contrast, Luke had simply decided to leave his boring life and take up with the disreputable Han and Chewie, later coming to realize he had a connection to the Force and sought out a teacher the story would have played out differently.  His adventures would arise out of the goals set by the character, not ones set by the circumstances.Thus to me Quests are motivated by the setting or the campaign while goals are motivated by the character.  The destinction is at times hard to make, but if we allow them to stand as generalities I think my terms of Quest(often tied to Destiny) and Goal, motivated by Choice, work.This leads to some other thought that I do not at the moment have time to develop.  Maybe later.</blockquote>

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