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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8626291" data-attributes="member: 42582">From the 4e PHB, p 258:Most adventures have a goal, something you have to do to complete the adventure successfully. The goal might be a personal one, a cause shared by you and your allies, or a task you have been hired to perform. A goal in an adventure is called a quest. Quests connect a series of encounters into a meaningful story. . . . Sometimes a quest is spelled out for you at the start of an adventure. . . . Other times, you figure out your quests while adventuring. . . . You can also, with your DM’s approval, create a quest for your character. Such a quest can tie into your character’s background. For instance, perhaps your mother is the person whose remains lie in the Fortress of the Iron Ring. Quests can also relate to individual goals, such as a ranger searching for a magic bow to wield. Individual quests give you a stake in a campaign’s unfolding story and give your DM ingredients to help develop that story.And from the 4e DMG, pp 102-3Quests are the fundamental story framework of an adventure - the reason the characters want to participate in it. They’re the reason an adventure exists, and they indicate what the characters need to do to solve the situation the adventure presents. . . . Thinking in terms of quests helps focus the adventure solidly where it belongs: on the player characters. An adventure isn’t something that can unfold without their involvement. . . . Quests should focus on the story reasons for adventuring, not on the underlying basic actions of the game - killing monsters and acquiring treasure. “Defeat ten encounters of your level” isn’t a quest. It’s a recipe for advancing a level. Completing it is its own reward. “Make Harrows Pass safe for travelers” is a quest, even if the easiest way to accomplish it happens to be defeating ten encounters of the characters’ level. This quest is a story-based goal, and one that has at least the possibility of solution by other means. You should allow and even encourage players to come up with their own quests that are tied to their individual goals or specific circumstances in the adventure. Evaluate the proposed quest and assign it a level. Remember to say yes as often as possible!A player-authored quest doesn't give the player authority over scene-framing - in 4e D&D, that remains squarely with the GM. But it obliges the GM to frame scenes with a certain goal, or dramatic possibility, in mind, namely, the one the player has put forward via their quest.As far as I'm aware, 4e D&D is the only version of D&D to suggest that the players, and not the GM, might be the ones who establish the dramatic framework for the PCs' adventures. And to then provide support for that - because of the way it so strongly supports scene-framed play. This is one of the reasons it is regarded as the closest D&D has come to embracing "story now" RPGing.</blockquote>

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