Ye Olde Inn

How creative do you guys get with a quest pack with a storyline? Is it fairly linear where it's simply quest after quest? How many of you create a series of quests that branch out based on where the heroes are headed so they don't play all the quests? Do you limit the consequence to actions made on the game board? Has anyone built a series where decisions can be made between quests (i.e. in the court of some lord / king) based on what the characters experience in a quest?

I have made quests that could turn out differently based on decisions - this was all confined into the single quest itself. I wouldn't ever consider making a branching quest pack story arc though.
I come up with this new questbook I've made, and the players wan't to go through it. Cool!
But would they REALLY want to go through it again just to see new content (And having to go through some old content)?

This is not a computer game you can run through in a few hours. Each QUEST takes a few hours!
While the idea is nice I honestly think it's a waste of energy to create a "double layer" of quests.

I assume you mean:
Kill the corrupted king - Quest 3A: Escape to the Woods
Obey the king: Quest 3B: The Holy Goblet

Kellars Keep had that: go through this door and get to this quest, go through that and get that quest.

But there's only one quest to be skipped in that instance. And everything stays linear as a plot in its entirety between first and last quest.
ghan's Champion of the Empire goes all kinds of places with two possible outcomes after three or four decisions the heroes have to make.

Goblin-King wrote:But would they REALLY want to go through it again just to see new content (And having to go through some old content)?

This is not a computer game you can run through in a few hours. Each QUEST takes a few hours!
While the idea is nice I honestly think it's a waste of energy to create a "double layer" of quests.

Probably not however they could go back and start at the other branching quest. I know my first group would want to play everything. But yes, it's a lot of effort for stuff that might not be played. One thought I had was in some instances maybe the next alternate quests use the same map but the content (monsters) varies depending on what's been decided between quests.

Goblin-King wrote:I assume you mean:
Kill the corrupted king - Quest 3A: Escape to the Woods
Obey the king: Quest 3B: The Holy Goblet

Yes and no. That's an obvious option but I was thinking a quest pack which was split into thirds;
First third - you're simply a bunch of mercenaries working for someone trying to find out what's going on in a particular area
Middle third - you start working out that there's things afoot (say two factions against each other even featuring NPC combat)
Final third - requires you to make decisions both between and during quests based on what you've experienced

Schmidt wrote:Kellars Keep had that: go through this door and get to this quest, go through that and get that quest.

That rings a bell. I've had it for 20 years and I would have read the quests when I bought them but never played them but I think I can recall alternate doors. My EU rules group only have The Trial left (making them play that last) so we'll move onto KK pretty soon.

I like to see quest packs where the outcome of the story depends on how the Heroes perform in each quest. I think it gives them more of a chance to prove that they are worthy of the title 'Hero'.

Goblin-King wrote:While the idea is nice I honestly think it's a waste of energy to create a "double layer" of quests.

Although I do agree with GK here that it could be a waste of energy to create a quest pack with multiple routes through it, and so may not be something everyone wants to do, I personally am happy to put that amount of effort in. I just like the idea that the players can potentially do something wrong, mess up on a quest or two, and still continue the story without having to replay the quest.

Redav wrote:Do you limit the consequence to actions made on the game board?

Yes, but I think that 'decisions made between quests' is also a very good way of creating branches. You can see how I handled creating branches by taking a look at Dealing with Death. (I never miss an opportunity to plug this )

knightkrawler wrote:ghan's Champion of the Empire goes all kinds of places with two possible outcomes after three or four decisions the heroes have to make.

I'm really hoping to see a translation of this one day.

knightkrawler wrote:ghan's Champion of the Empire goes all kinds of places with two possible outcomes after three or four decisions the heroes have to make.

Sjeng wrote:I'm really hoping to see a translation of this one day.

Oh, the translation is completely finished. Just waiting for ghan to compile a UK style pdf.
If all else fails, someone else can do that. I'd give him until summer.

Answered you in another thread about this

The Road Warrior wrote:You can see how I handled creating branches by taking a look at Dealing with Death. (I never miss an opportunity to plug this )

That's quite alright. Whilst I've not looked too closely at it, when time permits I've been keen on having a proper look at it for a while. It looks like a cracking project. How does one choose what quest line to go with after Rescue if Ragnar survives (assuming I've worked out the gist of the quest pack)? I'm assuming if he's dead, you're off to dealing with death but what about the other two alternatives?