Side Quests

[Tinker Gnome]

Hehe, how often do you do side quests? This is more a question for DMs really, but players can chime in too. I find that side quests can help break up long journeys and make them seem more exciting. One thing about side quusets for me is that they are not always there to pick up again. One I plant to do is the following.

The Lost Gnome

The PCs have an NPC Gnome who they like to keep around as their supply guy. He is good for this because he a what is basically a nonmagical bag of holding that never runs out of room. They have seen him pull tons of his weird gadgets and various other things out of it. Well, one day they wake up and find just his pack. If they choose to investiaget further they will find that they can all fit in the pack and when they go in they enter a weird plane full of strange clockwork monsters, animals, plants and Abberations. They will find lots of cool nonmagical inventions that will help them. Where they will eventually rescue the Gnome from his imprisonment by some abberations. If they choose not to investigate then the Gnome will reappear in a week in a grumpy mood.

So, how have YOU used side quests in your game?

 

[Crothian]

Side quests usualyl happen on the way to the big quest. IMC over land travel is always a factor and the PCs pass through places were things are happeneing. ITs up to them to explore some of these and to aid people. Some places the people ask for aid other places the PCs might have to look beneath the surface some.

There is always stuff going on and I've always left it up to the PCs to choose what they want to do.

 

[DragonLancer]

Not since 2nd ed AD&D. I find that with the speed that characters level under 3rd ed, I don't really have the time to do side quests, when the characters are working through the main plot.

 

[der_kluge]

I love side quests. I always try to add side quests into the game. I'm not always successful, but I like to give players options to be able to pursue other things.

 

[philreed]

In my opinion, it's always best to provide the players with more options than they can possibly handle. Side quests are perfect for that and go a long way toward making the players feel like they're in control of the game's direction.

A good way to prepare side quests is to use 3" x 5" cards. Just write them up as you think of them and file the card away. After a few weeks I usually have 100+ cards to choose from.