Post/Author/DateTime	Post
constanzza 07-28-07, 07:02 AM	when your players start playing your campaign, do you give them main quest at the very start , or you let them on hard labor for a side quest which will lead to the main one?
Free1983 07-28-07, 07:12 AM	Oh it depends. I try to give my players the opportunity to accomplish their personal goals, like setting up a base of operations, finding a mentor or getting themselves an employer. You could call this side quests, but I think these are quests the players are looking for themselves. You'll have to talk to your players about their motivation, goals, etc., and make sure they can accomplish these by putting an NPC wizard in the city as a mentor or giving them a contact to find a somewhat illuster (sp?) employer. Next, it's up to you. I try to start with the main quest, but there are lots of people who use the shotgun method, which is launching the pc's in an area with lots of possble quests. It's really up to you & your group and your preferences. Cheers
Loftower 07-28-07, 12:35 PM	I may introduce the “main quest,” but I don’t start them out on it, in my mind. I don’t actually care for the idea of a main quest very much. I have events, motives and agendas. Some of these exist from the beginning, some begin later in the campaign, and many are influenced by the PCs’ actions. So, whatever adventures they go on they will very likely influence the big picture. One might say that they are working on the “main quest” at that time, but I don’t think that’s what you meant. I like having the first adventure be relatively low stress. It’s a chance for the PCs to jell into a team. I don’t want to set them up with the opportunity to make the rest of the storyline fall apart. (Since I run an open world, that can still happen, but I don’t want to set it up.)
Infernostrider 07-28-07, 02:30 PM	usually i let them do whatever the hell they want, and when they wanna search out quests (or when it gets redundant) i have them meet certain people, hear certain rumors, and they can go investigate it. Depending on the person they meet with, depending on the character meeting whoever (barbarians dont meet with royalty as easily as clerics or paladins, for instance), they get a sidequest or the main quest. If a paladin, for instance, talks with a duke telling him about an evil baron, or an evil cleric meeting a king wanting to kill his wife, then that usually is the main quest..however, rogues and bards will sooner meet with townsfolk in taverns. also, not all sidequests need to relate to the main one. Best, even, is to set up multiple possible main quests to focus on and a dozen or so sidequests (fetch&carry, kill orcs/wolves whatever standard crap you want for little exp and gold but summin to do) so the characters can choose NOT to take a quest, without leaving you stranded