I have recently started a new campaign with a long time online group and I have a good portion of the main story mapped out but I want to make my players feel like their is more going in this world then their adventure. I figured that the best way to do this is to add in some side quests with little rewards, that dont mean much to the over acring story, but I don't know exactly how to add in these little quests into the story.
What are some ways you would introduce side quests like these?
I would also like some more ideas to make the world more lively
To make the world more lively you just add in random "atmosphere" encounters. You encounter a lady selling painted (with scenery from around your world) umbrellas. Two urchins are quarrelling over a piece of bread. Two scholars are debating a flat world vs heliocentric model. Things that are minor but will add a little depth to what's around them and maybe even spark their interest in other locations. You could also add in a Town Crier or newspaper that keeps track of the player character's adventures. Not necessarily in a good light.
With side quests add them the way it's always been done. Tavern rumors. A seemingly lost person asking guards and adventurers for help. A jobs board at an adventuring guild. While travelling you can have a raven or pack rat steal an item from the party and then disappear into the forest. If they follow they come across... Or even just the simple "While travelling you notice...."
You can design your own small quest or use inspiration from published adventures that contains many, such as Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dragon of Icespire Peak or Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden for example.
A good way to hook them in your campaign is to link them to the player base somehow. If the party start in a small town or village, non-player characters from in and around this place approach them with quest offer, or they hear of problem resulting from them in the countryland.
As they go and adventure in your campaign, when they return home, they can look for hooks and rumors, or these can come to them, sometimes as soon as they reach the vicinity of their place, with resident running to them to tell that something is happening.
Frpm seeking rare spell component in the wild for a caster, to find someone that didn,t return from a trip or activity to go rescuing a villager that has just been kidnapped by gnolls or other creatures etc...
Sometimes a quest-giver is a good way to introduce these side quests, perhaps an employer, a captain of the guard, a spellcaster or other person they know. Like this they also develop a web of contacts to rely on and be called upon, making the campaign ever more organic and vibrant.
Just to add to the other good ideas. A side quest by itself will not make the world feel more lived in. What will is things like people in town remembering the PCs completed the side quest, and treating them appropriately. Also, recurring NPCs are good to keep things more lively. But really, make time matter and keep the world moving. If the players ignore a side quest, then you should decide what happens, and change the world accordingly. They didn’t go rescue the blacksmith’s husband from the goblins. Now the husband is dead, so the blacksmith is in mourning, so no new armor or weapons for a while. So the town is not prepared for the next goblin raid. Do they stay and help the town, or do they need to move on with the main quest? If they leave, do the goblins win? Then what? Maybe the PCs carry on, but the goblins have built a new empire in the region, so there’s fodder for the next campaign.
Make it clear the quest giver isn’t just going to stand there with an exclamation mark over their head until the characters choose to interact with them. Have things move and change independently of what the characters do.
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I have recently started a new campaign with a long time online group and I have a good portion of the main story mapped out but I want to make my players feel like their is more going in this world then their adventure. I figured that the best way to do this is to add in some side quests with little rewards, that dont mean much to the over acring story, but I don't know exactly how to add in these little quests into the story.
What are some ways you would introduce side quests like these?
I would also like some more ideas to make the world more lively
To make the world more lively you just add in random "atmosphere" encounters. You encounter a lady selling painted (with scenery from around your world) umbrellas. Two urchins are quarrelling over a piece of bread. Two scholars are debating a flat world vs heliocentric model. Things that are minor but will add a little depth to what's around them and maybe even spark their interest in other locations. You could also add in a Town Crier or newspaper that keeps track of the player character's adventures. Not necessarily in a good light.
With side quests add them the way it's always been done. Tavern rumors. A seemingly lost person asking guards and adventurers for help. A jobs board at an adventuring guild. While travelling you can have a raven or pack rat steal an item from the party and then disappear into the forest. If they follow they come across... Or even just the simple "While travelling you notice...."
You can design your own small quest or use inspiration from published adventures that contains many, such as Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dragon of Icespire Peak or Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden for example.
A good way to hook them in your campaign is to link them to the player base somehow. If the party start in a small town or village, non-player characters from in and around this place approach them with quest offer, or they hear of problem resulting from them in the countryland.
As they go and adventure in your campaign, when they return home, they can look for hooks and rumors, or these can come to them, sometimes as soon as they reach the vicinity of their place, with resident running to them to tell that something is happening.
Frpm seeking rare spell component in the wild for a caster, to find someone that didn,t return from a trip or activity to go rescuing a villager that has just been kidnapped by gnolls or other creatures etc...
Sometimes a quest-giver is a good way to introduce these side quests, perhaps an employer, a captain of the guard, a spellcaster or other person they know. Like this they also develop a web of contacts to rely on and be called upon, making the campaign ever more organic and vibrant.
Just to add to the other good ideas. A side quest by itself will not make the world feel more lived in. What will is things like people in town remembering the PCs completed the side quest, and treating them appropriately. Also, recurring NPCs are good to keep things more lively.
But really, make time matter and keep the world moving. If the players ignore a side quest, then you should decide what happens, and change the world accordingly. They didn’t go rescue the blacksmith’s husband from the goblins. Now the husband is dead, so the blacksmith is in mourning, so no new armor or weapons for a while. So the town is not prepared for the next goblin raid. Do they stay and help the town, or do they need to move on with the main quest? If they leave, do the goblins win? Then what? Maybe the PCs carry on, but the goblins have built a new empire in the region, so there’s fodder for the next campaign.
Make it clear the quest giver isn’t just going to stand there with an exclamation mark over their head until the characters choose to interact with them. Have things move and change independently of what the characters do.