When I game, I have this revolving set of fun things that players can grab bag when they want to step away from the main story line or enrich it. Effectively, a quest bank of sorts.
Usually, I post this to the website I run for the campaign and its driven by the players actions, location and social connections.
The intent is dual-hatted. As a GM I can provide background, story and flavor to the world. It also provides quests and events the players can choose to use or ignore, depending on their choice.
It goes like this. Build out your table. I use a d12 for variance because it matches my top categories. I put major organizations or factions on the same table, just with a different roll pattern.
Skip the table and right to examples from my current game.
Or, read on and see what the table below shows.
Quest Bank Table
| Roll | Org or Faction | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Fight |
| 2 | 2-4 | Collect |
| 3 | 5 | Explore |
| 4 | 6 | Escort |
| 5 | 7 | Find |
| 6 | 8 | Guard |
| 7 | 9 | Investigate |
| 8 | -- | Race to ... |
| 9 | 10 | Retrieve |
| 10 | -- | Roleplay |
| 11 | 11 | Social |
| 12 | 12 | Organize |
Once done, I take the categories and organize some missions that make sense. I've left place holders for areas like location, names, who, and so on that are filled in by the GM from the campaign.
Category Table
| Category | Mission |
|---|---|
| Fight | Clear out a [camp, mine, hideout, base, gang, group] called [name] at [location] |
| Fight | Raid a warehouse and [burn, retrieve, or destroy, do nothing] to the resources there |
| Fight | Raid a [monster] nest at [location] |
| Fight | Duel a [club, person, family, organization] for [honor, person, request, fame, other] at [location] |
| Fight | Slay [person, monster, entity] at [location] |
| Fight | Slaying [person, monster, entity] [at location, in event, for organization] provides faction fame and compensation. |
| Fight | Hunt [monster, entity, undead] reducing their population |
| Collect | Go to [location, anywhere] and gather [###] of [resource] |
| Collect | Go to [location, anywhere] and gather heaven & earth treasures |
| Collect | Provide [###] units of metal moss |
| Collect | Highly reputable [person, agency] is offering to [reduced price, freely] [craft, convert, handle] [resource, weapon, item, object] if [resources, fame] is brought to them. |
| Collect | Bring the [body part, ornament, weapons, armor, etc.] of [person, monster, organization] to [agency] |
| Collect | Bring [resources, requirements] to [person, agency] and they will provide [pet, resource, craft, fame, enhanced enchantment, alchemy, etc.] in return. |
| Collect | Make a [rubbing, recording] of [runes, formation, sounds, event, etc.] |
| Explore | Got to [location] and use the [provided item, something you collect, etc.] on [location, person, object] |
| Explore | Got to [location] and plant [seeds, devices, formation] |
| Explore | Explore a historical ruin or forgotten location |
| Escort | [Agency] provides [monthly tribute, support, delivery, etc.] to [other agency, location]. Request players to escort it to make a safe and successful delivery. |
| Escort | Take [person, object] to [person, location] reporting to [person, position] |
| Escort | Guide a person (mentoring) for [contest, event, training, battle, cultivation, etc.] |
| Escort | Bring the knowledge of [recipe, current events, knowledge] to [location, agency, person] |
| Find | Find missing [person, object, ] that was [lost, stolen] at [location] |
| Find | Local musician plays a song to prevent/keep at bay something. He goes missing. Players must find a replacement or find the missing musician or else bad things happen. |
| Find | Find the source of the Green mold infesting the [x] part of the [city, village, location] |
| Find | Find the location and information of Crimson Shirt bandits secret base |
| Guard | Guard a shipment of fine goods on a delivery to [location] for [agency] taking [###] days |
| Guard | Guard [person, monster] [nothing, against, in case of] [attack, issues, accidents] |
| Investigate | Need adventurers to help with a [city, wilderness, people, cultivation, etc.] situation. Ability [define ability] recommended or helpful. |
| Investigate | Villain starts a counterfeit business to pay for their villany but someone figures it out and sets the players on their trail. |
| Investigate | Perfect Detoxification of [plant, animal, material] |
| Investigate | Determine if ghosts are infesting [city, village, location] |
| Investigate | Determine truth or lie to an alchemical pill being born with [spirit, intelligence] in [location] |
| Investigate | Get an update on the situation at [location] from [person] |
| Investigate | Figure out how to [cook, find, handle] a [monster] |
| Investigate | Intercept and [understand, bring back] encrypted communications between [agency] and [agency] |
| Investigate | Break a code or cipher belong to [agency] |
| Race to... | Race to get to and mark or pick up a flag/mark from a series of statues in the city |
| Retrieve | Recover lost goods at [location] for [agency]. |
| Retrieve | Rescue [person, slaves, monsters] from [location, event, agency] |
| Roleplay | One or more players are selected to take the role of [entity] for a [festival, event, contest] |
| Roleplay | Dress up as [person, position, entity] and go to [walk around the city, act as a decoy, village, etc.] |
| Social | Participate in [contest, championship, event, holiday, group, etc.] achieve [status, win a specific place, etc.] |
| Social | Negotiate [truce, conflict, trade, barter, contest, social event] with [agency, person] and [agency, person] |
| Social | Call for adventurers to participate in a soft skills [local, city, regional] [contest, event] |
| Social | Looking for [skill, capability] qualified candidates. Speak to [person] to make the introduction. |
| Social | Convince [agency, person] to allow [agency, person] to use their [location] as a venue for [activity] |
| Organize | Organize a [trade, meeting, auction, contest, event] for [trade, conflict, exchange, etc.]. |
| Organize | organize a trade caravan to go to [city, town, area, continent, world] for trade. It would return at [time] to settle the income and expenses of this trade. At the same time, the trade caravan could also be [ordered, requested] to purchase the necessary materials, or be designated to sell certain materials to a certain city. |
I run Faction or Organization specific events as well. These take a bit more investment, but I also add that as a category when rolling if it applies to the gaming group. I've some examples of Faction specific items, though pretty much any of the above events qualify as well.
Faction Examples
- Hunt a number of [monster] to replace the current skins placed on the [location] floor
- Gather [plant, fur, hair] from [monster] to craft a new [rug, tapestry, etc.] for [location, person]
- Sword Washing. Weapons used for cursed or nefarious purposes have to be cleansed by performing mundane or normal actions. A sword to chop wood, an axe to make pasta, etc.
- Unfold the scroll with your experience. Feed it experience and it gives you a chance to earn back what you have given and more. "A scroll unfolded before them. It was a painting of a war scene. You re-fight or play a part in the war scene."
- Song Writer. Help write the immortal song. Requires a courageous band to actual play out the song (re-live it).
- Training time. Need a batch of people to assist in training; basically spending their time battling various folks to help them get better. Provides XP