This is a thread created for the discussion of Quest threads, as well as sharing of advice and guidance for aspiring or current QMs.
Please do not shitpost, and please report any shit posters attempting to derail discussion or cause strife. In addition, try to keep tripfag drama to a minimum.
Useful links: http://pastebin.com/pV7sdNnv
This link contains numerous writing guides, as well as the addresses of quest related IRC channels.
https://twitter.com/Eisenstern/lists/quest-runner-directory
This is a directory containing the tweets of most current QMs. While a twitter is by no means mandatory, it is a useful tool for both you and your players. If you aren't on the list, post your twitter here and someone will make sure it gets added eventually.
>QM Question:
How do you come up with and write characters for your quest?
>Player Question:
Name your favorite character in a quest and why.
>Bonus Question:
What is the worst thing about your favorite quest? How do you think it could be fixed?
>>43532089
>Name your favorite character in a quest and why.
Orc Warlord. He fucks bitches and doesn't afraid of anything.
>>43532089
>QM question
Mostly coming up with either a gimmick or a pun. It sounds dumb, but hear me out. I keep that idea in mind when I make the character, then flesh out how they became who they are and a logical character progression. Then I come up with what they excel at and what they lack. Finally, I consider dynamics with the rest of the cast and decide if I use them. Everything but that happens as the quest does.
Except random encounters. Those come out of my ass.
So, I've had a really disappointing thing happen recently.
I found out Archelon is still writing PGQ asides, and I was all ready to read it. I started reading it, and then noticed that almost half of it was fellating Monique over that fucking Duel.
I'm serious.
It was maybe 30 paragraphs long and over 13 of those were talking about how handsome and strong Monique is and how he totally won that duel fair and square with no rolling bullshit involved.
Which leads me to one question. Why? Why is he doing this? I just wanted a small aside with a side character without being reminded about the absolute worst fucking part of the quest that killed the entire playerbase. But he revels in it, and then he revels in the character he made that specifically caused it to happen.
Is that like his Sonichu? Am I witnessing a legit mental condition on his part? I wasn't really around for the full brunt of it, but I want to know.
>>43532814
>caring about PGQ
you deserve this
>>43532846
I didn't ask for this. I just wanted a little more fun with a few characters I recognized.
>>43532089
>Player
I haven't decided yet.
>Bonus
The bitchy players. They need to shut up and grow up.
>>43532814
Archelon always resented his players, I think. They were like filthy hobos tracking dirt all over his perfect and lovingly crafted setting by their very presence.
>>43532931
'Fun' and PGQ' became mutually exclusive somewhere around Marconetti.
>>43533025
Why run a quest if you have this attitude? Archelon perplexed me.
>>43533842
Attention.
>>43533025
That would explain a lot. The level of effort he put into actively spiting his players was astonishing, he basically took their waifu concept and NTR'd them by giving her to Monique. That's like the exact opposite of what a good GM should do.
>>43533932
Explain? I know he started running quests because he wanted to make his own VNs, but why was he so specifically antagonistic to the people he was trying to convince to play?
>Want to be talked about
>Don't want to be shitposted about
Oh pain, pain, ever, forever.
Wait, Princess Guard Quest is STILL a thing?
Ye gods.
>>43534195
It's entirely your fault and you know it Archy boy.
>>43534184
He didn't become outright antagonistic until dozens of threads in, when he already had a fan base willing to deal with anything to get a fix.
He still didn't want the players messing with his setting in the beginning, but it was only later that it became evident exactly how little he was willing to let the players do. That's when the players started to get mad, so he got mad and then the double whammy happened.
>>43534221
who
>>43534195
Too bad. Welcome to 4chan. If your thing is well liked and discussed often people will be vocal about their hate of it. You're honestly better off not getting any discussion.
>>43532089
>How do you come up with and write characters for your quest?
I create a character by first imagining an image I want people to see; an anemic with a greatsword and hair completely covering their face, a katamari ball with brass knuckles, an autistic goat. Then they open their mouths and speak in a way that's most suitable for someone of their look. They talk about what they want; it may or may not be obvious they want something else. That's all players immediately need to know about a person that someone can think of in about thirty seconds, the amount of time I give myself to come up with random encounters. I come up with more as they figure out what to do with them.
>>43534254
This will never make sense to me. When I make a setting, it is for the single purpose of being changed by the players. I regularly ponder what it will look like after the players are done with it, and that is something to cherish, not fight. It just doesn't compute for me.
If you don't think your setting can survive contact with players and still be something worth writing about, then that is a failure on your part as QM. It means you need to re-think your setting and your abilities as a QM, not work to marginalize the impact the players can have on the world. This is just one of the reasons why I think that the VN crowd is detrimental to the overall questing community. Terms like "badend" "goodend" "route lock" and other such nonsense is just counter to actual interactivity. It implies choices are limited and their repercussions are pre-determined. It implies that there is always an optimal choice, which implies there is a way to "win" the quest, reducing the entire thing to a game of mother-may-I with a QM who already knows how everything will end regardless of player actions. All this does is make the players into something that needs handling instead of the entire fucking focus of the quest.
In short, anyone with this mindset really needs to just write a book and stop wasting everyone's time here.
Just my 2 cents.
>>43534412
I disagree. If you have thick skin and you're not a pansy, then you can easily gather useful and constructive criticism.
>>43534480
I'm not saying you can't, just pointing out a cycle. Everytime something gets really popular and discussion is brought up a lot for it it begins to get hate.
Soon the questions of 'I don't see why x is so popular' will appear. Then people will call each others shills/shitposters. Perhaps a boogeyman of a sort will manifest so the blame can be shifted on them.
Finally the people who were discussing the quest will just stick to their own threads to discuss, thus killing out any discussion here.
It happens all over 4chan, not just WQTG. When something is popular it soon becomes popular to hate that thing.
>>43534514
Well that's less a 4chan thing and more of a human thing. It happens everywhere.
>>43534539
And it sucks. We're about quest discussion but we can't even discuss quests well without it devolving into shitposting. These threads are dying since the only things left in it are just people talking about ideas for maybe a few posts because all the actual discussion is driven off.
>>43534514
Which is why I'm prefering to stay anonymous at the moment. I'd rather not be the subject of shitposting; criticism I appreciate, but I will not let my dreams be memes.
>>43534453
Just yesterday, someone told me "i hate being creative" when picking a choice, not sarcastically. That hurt in an indescribable way.
>>43534453
Well, Archelon only started PGQ because he wanted to write a VN, but didn't have a publisher or any other means to make it and get other people to play it.
>>43534616
That just caused me pain by proxy.
I'll add an addendum to my statement. Along with QMs who hate players, the players that want that stuff should fuck off and read a book.
Both parties would be happier that way. I'm not sure why either of them are here to be honest.
>>43534576
Hating popular things is just something that people do. It's natural all across the planet.
And on another note, discussion of what, exactly? There is nothing stopping anyone from asking about their favorite quest. When these threads were filled to the brim with discussion and reached the bump limit in less then a day, all that was ever talked about was waifus and dakis and other such nonsense.
I posit to you that this rate of discussion is, in fact, the natural and healthy amount of discussion we should expect from our community. Any more and I think things would quickly turn into another nonsense spewing hugbox of shitposting and totally irrelevant drivel just like before. People who, at least in my subjective observations, are the same people who seem to be in the same or similar line of thinking to Archelon, confusing the open ended nature of quests and tg at large with the restrictive and railroaded nature of VNs.
>>43534779
His argument isn't that these threads are bad because they're slower than old QTG, he's saying that these threads talk even less about currently running quests than they did before getting booted off.
Personally I think that's because there are way less big quests these days, but everyone's entitled to their opinion.
>People who, at least in my subjective observations, are the same people who seem to be in the same or similar line of thinking to Archelon, confusing the open ended nature of quests and tg at large with the restrictive and railroaded nature of VNs
Now that's pulling shit out of your ass.
>Combat Chain is the best system we have so far for multiple actions a round.
Which quests use the combat chain rules?
>>43534847
>Now that's pulling shit out of your ass.
It likely is, that's why I claimed it was my subjective observations. I didn't do any proper studies about it at the time so I can't exactly claim I have evidence, just a general tone of discussions at the time. As to your other point, I think you are correct. We had a really big round of quests ending not too long ago, massive quests that had been monolithic mainstays for ages.
What is the largest quest currently running? I doubt many can think of a very big one. Of course, that's not a bad thing necessarily. I think it just means there is a space for future quests to fill, and in time, I think that is exactly what will happen.
>How do you come up with and write characters for your quest?
I start with a concept, and work my way back.
This usually begins with a mishmash of traits (glasses, serious, strict), loose idea (THAT GUY troll), or archetype (drunken master).
I take into consideration what role I'd like them to play, think deeply about how they could affect the flow of the story and drive the plot, then I decide if their existence is meaningful to the MC, and determine if there's any sort of personality or twist I'd like to throw in there to make them more fresh.
I then I finally throw that shit out the window, and work on their backstory.
I analyze their family life, like who their parents are, grand parents, and siblings.
Is it a good family life, or is it lacking? This takes into account the people in it, then is applied to the characters in a way to effect their fundamental being.
I then determine a life-dream for the character, and build their relationships.
What drives the characters? Justice? Lulz? Love? Something that gives the character's life meaning, and makes them want to continue their own existenceor end it.
Then I determine how they live their life, and how their family life and aspirations would effect them. This also tends to help refine personality traits, and give whatever traits, positive or negative, some real grounds to stand upon.
I derive their strong points and their flaws from this history, and implant them in a mix of boldly and subtly. There are hidden flaws mixed in with those that pop.
Usually the backstories that result from working backwards still allow for the original concept, or help it grow into something more organic than something -only- simple and plain.
I like throwing twists and liberally sprinkling in misunderstandings.
There's all that, then there's characters who seem to materialize from the bowels of my anus.
I just pillaged old notes from the game the character was based on.
Honestly, the whole thing worked really well until the last session shitstorm. Never offer TG a mystery box, even when you warn them what's in it and what it'll do.
>>43534924
Oddly the biggest ones out there are seldom discussed here. Mostly cause they realized that discussing popular stuff here was pointless and just stick to their own threads.
>>43534924
>What is the largest quest currently running?
KCQ or MGNQ, I think.
>>43535295
MAQ, too. Shocking considering it runs maybe once in a blue moon.
I have been wanting to do a Quest thread about time travel but I am new to this and was wondering if anyone has any ideas for inspiration
>>43535371
I would recommend something like chrono trigger rather than time loops.
>>43535333
I didn't think MAQ was that big, at least nowhere near on par with plenty of other quests currently running. About how many players usually participate in it?
>>43535371
Forward or back? Because a protagonist who ends up randomly thrown into the future is easy, and gives you the chance to work in a lot of different settings.
what are some good quests that actually finished that werent one-shots?
>>43535411
60+ unique IPs every time.
>>43535448
Vampire Quest was nice. The archiving is pretty fucky.
>>43535448
Most of Exabyte's.
"Good" is subjective of course, but a lot of people like his.
>>43535411
It gets about the same amount of players as MGNQ so 60-70.
>>43535448
Librarian was a pretty low fantasy quest that finished
Title is misleading, very few books.
>>43535411
What's considered par for popularity anyway?
>>43535448
Princess Guard Quest.
>>43534779
>Along with QMs who hate players, the players that want that stuff should fuck off and read a book.
I do read books. Frankly I prefer when a quest is more like a visual novel than anything else. Creativity on the reader's part doesn't enter into it.
Notice I didn't say shouldn't enter into it. You can make as many heavily player-driven quests as you want; I'll happily avoid voting in them.
>>43535295
It's KCQ, no doubt about it. MGNQ has really fallen off, and no other quest can boast similar numbers.
>>43535589
What are the numbers?
>How do you come up with and write characters for your quest?
I mix and match personality traits from irl people I know.
>>43535589
KCQ? KCQ doesn't have even close to the number of average readers of MGNQ.
>>43535422
I was thinking start in future ie 2030 then get shift even farther in to the future
>>43534208
The salt will never subside anon, never
>>43535679
He didn't ask what the most popular quest was, he asked what the biggest was. No quest currently running can compete with the number of posters (and the number of posts) KCQ gets.
Now if MGNQ ran in a non-shit timeslot, we'd probably see competition.
>>43535754
Okay. So the character finds himself chucked forward a few times before the players work out what's going on, or what? Because you'll have to make sure to record all of their choices carefully and extrapolate out what happens in the time skip.
>>43535448
>good quests
>good
>quests
R U trolan bra?
>>43535757
If the reports are anything to go by, that's Arch's principle motivation at this point for continuing it.
>>43535765
We're talking about Kant-o-celle, right? MGNQ quest, just the last chapter, had like 70 unique IPs the last I checked. The only reason it doesn't have as many posts is because decu makes maybe 5 posts per chapter but even then it still goes well above the bump limit.
What numbers does KCQ pull?
>>43535843
Well, looking at >>43531474 (which probably isn't too representative, since it was pretty much a shitstorm from beginning to end), there were 122 unique IPs.
>>43535892
Holy shit that is a lot.
I guess fanfic quests are the way to go.
>>43535912
I doubt it's something that can be replicated. Like trying to make a second MGNQ. It just can't happen.
>>43535938
The amount of shitflinging in that thread makes me wonder if I even do want that.
>>43535777
Maybe i dont know yet how I am going to handle the jump but i was wondering if anyone has any ideas on the type of future to jump in to i was thinking of giving a choice maybe jump in to a future post apocalypse or something
>>43535679
I think KCQ has hit upwards of 135 unique IPs in a thread.
>>43535958
MC picked a fight with god.
MC picked a fight with a wormhole that means his perception and experience of time goes fucky, so a 5 second dalliance becomes a 50 year period on the outside.
MC has a time machine.
MC has a time machine that goes one way, because libyans.
Stat out a timeline for a few thousand years, and just slap in broad periods to describe how it is, and jump them forward randomly when whatever methods you choose come into play. Steal from chrono trigger if you want.
QMs
What do you do when you feel uninspired to write and can't figure out material? I've been having trouble writing this week and its been frustrating.
>>43536221
Listen to music and try to find something that fits the mood or the situation I want or need. Then things just kind of flow from there.
>>43535949
Agreed. I'd much rather have 20-50 moderately well-behaved active posters than 135 shit-flinging chimps.
>>43525788
DASQ was pretty intense tonight.
Space battles and boss fightin
Just finished reading the latest pokemon quest and man was it rough. I don't think I've seen dice that bad even in Hollow Quest Redux.
>>43536705
Also in that Quest our main pokemon gota small scar on his leg, which combined with the quest waifu losing her eye makes me think of permanent wounds in quests. Like it seems like most quests where combat like that will result in scars or worse, the protag either has great regen, or the setting has top tier healing magic/nanomachines that result in perfect recovery.
What are some exceptions to this (I consider the damaged areas being replaced with prosthetics to still count as having happened) and should scars happen more often?
>>43536810
>should scars happen more often?
I don't think this is possible, not without some handwaving.
Quests with combat usually have some sort of healing power/mechanic to avoid combat being followed by a month of bed rest to recover.
Which is at odds with getting scars, losing limbs etc.
If someone gets all cut up, just cast a healing spell/slap on a med-patch/rearrange physical structure to fix it.
>>43536848
That is true. Being hospitalized sucks in reality, it's even worse to have to play through it. Like no one wants to roll for physical therapy.
Time skips could work, but too much of those can be very detrimental.
>>43536932
What a qt
quests
>>43536932
Best Nasuverse character. She has coolest dialogue.
>>43536810
Scars are cute and every MC should have them.
>>43536810
>What are some exceptions to this (I consider the damaged areas being replaced with prosthetics to still count as having happened) and should scars happen more often?
Honestly, the only Quests I remember having permanent scars are And I Will Fear No Evil and A Certain Academy City Quest. In the former the MC got several scars and lost an eye in his first fight against a vampire and in the latter the MC has scars from taking five fingers through the chest, lost both arms and a leg and took some brain damage.
>>43536848
You could always the kind of imperfect accelerated healing that leaves scars.
So which QMs do you reckon are good at cooking?
I'm getting ready for a family get-together, and cooking is literally all I can think about right now.
>>43532089
>>QM Question:
>How do you come up with and write characters for your quest?
Take a person i know, an archetype/stereotype, or a character from a different series/media, file the names off and plonk them in. Over the course of writing, they grow their own idiosyncrasies and personalities distinct from the source, and i've only been called on one, who i just passed off as a reference because they were a minor character with little enough deviation so as to be recognizable
>>Player Question:
>Name your favorite character in a quest and why.
I genuinely like Oyski, and think that he's one of the few instances of /tg/ playing a character well-he's a remote village boy who had a shitty upbringing from the asian dad from hell, but mans up and punches the shit out of any monster who threatens his home. Simplistic, maybe, but all the more real because of it.
>>Bonus Question:
>What is the worst thing about your favorite quest? How do you think it could be fixed?
Predquest being dead.PredquestOP being returned from the Wey-U labs where he is imprisoned as a lab rat for new serums to improve writing.
>>43535949
Never go for the planefag fanbase. Not even to see what it's like.
>>43537152
Ivan has a scar that he turned into a bitchin bear tattoo that froths when he flexes.
>>43536932
shit
>>43537152
>>43536810
There was that Blacksmith from Death Wish Quest that lost his arm through some magical consequence of carving a goddess's rune into it to fight a lich (which had a side effect of driving said goddess insane somehow), and had to make a new arm out of like dragon scales or something.
It also ties to >>43536705 because bad dice (and vampires) literally killed the protag.
What a ride that was.
>>43537245
Has there ever been a good quest about cooking?
>>43538007
Cooking is boring.
>>43538075
you shut your mouth
>>43538007
No, because that would require a certain standard of cooking knowledge that anons don't have, not to mention how diverse and incompatible each anon's knowledge could be.
>>43538007
No, because >>43538075
What plot could there be that would have cooking still be the central focus of the quest? It could be a sidebar, or even represented mechanically, but as plot? How would that even work?
>>43538075
Not if you're good at it.
>>43538160
The amount of arguing about even the most banal subjects on /ck/ also suggest that individual taste might make every dish a nightmare. Things as simple as how heavily you should salt the water before boiling pasta can turn into hundred-post shitstorms.
>>43538187
>>43538160
Cooking is boring.
I mean, I can come up with a plot for a cooking quest, but it always ends up revolving around cooking in only a secondary or tertiary way.
I mean, if it's a fantasy-era quest where you're a chef trying to make delicious foods out of monsters, that's not actually going to revolve around cooking at all- it's going to revolve around finding and killing the monsters (or doing quests for people who have the monster meat).
If it were about you staying in the crowded back room of a restaurant, making meals as people request them, it's going to get boring as fuck.
I mean, if it was a slice-of-life quest where your job was as a chef, then it could be interesting depending on the characters and basic plot... But then it's not about cooking, see. It's about the characters and the MC's entire lifestyle.
The only way you could make cooking actually interesting is if it was done as kind of an alchemy system, where each various ingredient has a certain effect on the meal, and even then, the meal would have to have a certain kind of tangible effect- like an increase in strength or agility or something. But then we're back to 'adventuring to go kill monsters + cooking'.
Which isn't a cooking quest. It's an adventure quest with cooking as a slight focus. It's not about cooking, again.
I suppose I'm just autistic about the genre. Saying 'a quest about cooking' immediately resolves in my head as 'a quest where the PRIMARY reason and drive for playing the quest is to cook.'
>>43538247 (you)
I forgot to say this, too; Even though I say a quest about cooking is boring, I'm a random anon and also an asshat who doesn't know anything about anything. If you think you can do a good quest about it, go ahead! There's always room for good quests.
>>43538256
>(you)
why do you type that? it was obvious you were adding to what you'd already said, why add the (you)?
>>43538279
I, er... wanted to double down on the idea that I was the one who made the previous post?
I'm pretty drunk right now.
>>43538285
go to bed, mister alcohol man
>>43538247
> make cooking actually interesting
Bo3 1d100. Use Blorp's dice table.
>>43538165
You're a young chef looking to start a restaurant, so you work your way up through foodcarts.
You're the cook on a space pirate crew, trying to make your way through a hostile universe while hunting the right alien bird-person eggs for a nice quiche.
You're in love with a food critic, and you're seducing her one dish at a time. There's a bartender at work who used to tease you and egg you on about your infatuation, but ever since the critic noticed you the bartender seems like she's upset about it and you don't know why.
Food killed your family and you're going to cook it for revenge.
>>43538302
But quests!
I want to run an Elder Scrolls one.
Something set before Morrowind blew up, about a mage in the televanni trying to claw his/her way up.
It would involve lots of spell autism and crafting, growing your own mushroom tower, making or purchasing minions, etc.
The twist is thatyou're one of Dyvath Fyr's clones/experiments, and he's keeping his eye on you.
>>43538247
Being the "Mom" of an Adventuring Guild, cooking for them before they set out. Put in orders for what ingredients they should focus on, because they can only carry so much and being too greedy could get them killed.
Cooking doctor, your dishes must balance both nutrition and medicinal effects to cure the sick and ailing. A mysterious plague is sweeping the country that kills people even after the sickness itself is gone.
Your job is to make tributes for gods. Take the offerings, and arrange them into pleasing and thematic gifts. Mix cooking with flower arrangement and symbolism.
>>43534924
H&D
>>43538314
My grandfather ran the restaurant consession at the Hotel Detroiter. The Purple Gang had an open account paid for by Ford Motor Co. They'd come in, order whole plates of food they'd never eat, get drunk, trash the place, Ford would pay for everything, hunky dory.
Not as boring as you thought, eh?
Make a quest about learning to cook and ban people who know how to cook from voting in it.
>>43539291
That would just result in an entire quest of the Undyne cooking scene.
>>43539372
You say that like it's a problem or something.
>>43539434
That really wasn't my intention, though I worry that such a quest would start to lose its novelty after a while.
>>43539047
Mafia Accountant Quest when?
Running around, using bullshit legal tactics to keep the family safe, constantly cleaning up the idiots mooks, bribing the inevitable state and federal authorities.
Sounds like fun to me
>>43539582
Seems a bit esoteric to me.
Not necessarily unfun, but I'm not sure how many people could get into roleplaying the person who does paperwork.
Still thinking about that Crysis quest.
How many gritty sci-fi shooters made it in quest form?
>>43539582
If a QM can make accounting fun and compelling, go for it.
>>43539599
Just roleplay Hermes.
Actually, fuck the mafia theme, just make it Space Accountant Quest.
>>43540529
Space Accountant should exist on the same ship as Space Cook. Each quest souks constantly be causing headaches for the other.
>>43540529
>>43540559
>barely have money to buy those missile pods that the captain is always bitchingvand moaning about
>finally get the money up after three runs, a fucking miracle
>go to buy the pods and find out that the engineer scraped your id codes and has been blowing space coke for two weeks
>engine has never run bettern captain doesn't care
For fucks sake
So...dumb question, but has anyone ever made a straight-up fetish/erp/magical realm quest?
>>43540720
DASQ
>>43540720
Blatant Fetish Quest.
>>43534911
Combat Chain?
>>43540857
Quest combat system Fall Guy came up with.
Every 'round' of combat are write ins where the QM goes
>Plan of Attack?
Once there is somewhat of a consensus the QM divides the plan into actions which are rolled for individually, each with their own individual DC.
Doing well on the upper parts of the action chain will make the lower actions easier.
>Example
Plan
1. Smoke Grenade throw
2. Sprint to cover
3. Shoot Enemy #1
4. Use Special Ability on Enemy #2
Would be 4 rolls of 3d10. Getting a good roll on the smoke grenade will make sprinting to cover easier.
>>43534911
As for your question, almost like 11 hours later, is that since Fall Guy gave up questing the only quest I know that uses his system is Holy Sword Quest that switched to it around the halfway mark of the quest.
>>43540990
It's actually a great system and I don't understand why it hasn't been adopted by other QMs
>>43541221
I think I will for combat at least.
>>43541221
Some quests just don't have the options in combat as FG's did.
Best of 3 d100s are easier and sometimes getting write ins from certain communities is like pulling teeth. Sad but true.
>>43540990
Hmm... does it punish you for trying to do a lot of shit at the same time?
>>43541382
Up to the QM.
>You can have only so many actions this round
or
>Hold those thoughts/actions after we see if you get through this round well.
>>43537272
>>How do you come up with and write characters for your quest?
Depends. I mash up several characters from several other places and add in something I like. Or I start with a parody and tweak here and there to be obvious to players.
Or I start with a ridiculous Tomino-style name and I go wild.
>>43541694
>he runs a weeb quest
Lol
>>43538247
You ever heard of a show called Master Ajikko, or Chuuka Ichiban/Cooking Master Boy?
CMB was hammy and fun.
>>43541752
Are you sure of that?
>Want to run a quest.
>Hear about all the shitposting/flinging that can/will occur.
What's the opinion on new quests popping up? I was thinking of throwing my hat in the ring, but I'm not sure if there are too many quests running as-is.
My basic idea was a mercenary quest, involving a mixture of personal involvement and company management. You'd start with a few basic bits, a handful of combat teams, a ship, and from there do what you can to work your way up the ladder through grunt work and political dabbling in what is essentially the Wild West in space.
Thoughts?
>>43541831
>Company Management
Not even once. Throw that mechanic out.
>>43541797
If it works in a show or movie
That does not guarantee it will work in a quest.
>>43541831
>Hear about all the shitposting/flinging that can/will occur.
To be fair, we are cynical bastards here most of the time. Stuff like that can happen but its not a rule.
As for your pitch.
Might be cool, but maybe focus more on the personal involvement than the company management. I mean if we are starting at the bottom of the ladder most of the quest shouldn't involve that right?
>>43541859
Think JoJo but all-cooking instead.
>>43541882
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wc4AFgTwXE
Over the top madness.
>>43540720
There are dozens of them over on anonkun.
Tips on a decent amnesia secondary plot, without making it the main focus of the quest? Ways to recover memory outside of "Go here, kill X, perform Y ritual, pray to space jesus"?
>>43543152
amnesia is an awful plot device
>>43543152
You have to mirror activities you have done previously to unlock similar memories.
Bonus points if your earlier memories are stupid and dangerous and reconnecting with them means doing them ahain
For those interested, an update on the Paladin of Avalon is up.
http://anonkun.com/stories/the-paladin-of-avalon/-JRvxJl3loGBg9Bo64XE/20-the-calm-before-the-storm/BkwgCmjghB9THNBuD
>>43543183
Well, it's not a driver. It's just a way to expose them to the world and let them do stupid things that the character would know not to do, since teegee always wants to teabag the high priest during services.
>>43543192
Cheers.
Anyone think that DASQ will remain popular even if HQQ comes back?
>>43543458
>>43543458
I don't see why people wouldn't just play both
Whatever happened to Papa Nurgle?
The last thing I remember him doing was the Heretical Love quests.
>>43544218
>heretical love
40K fapfiction is like the lowest tier of questing possible. Hopefully Papa Nurgle had a moment of clarity and no longer writes bizarre erotic fictions for NEETs
>>43544218
>Whatever happened to Papa Nurgle?
Cocaine, apparently.
>>43544218
man, you missed a lot. Go search him on sup/tg/, theres been a bunch of things, zombie& witch is great and finished. Admittedly, he's on a woe is me cocaine binge at the moment, but his ca/tg/irl got fat, caught feminism and broke up with him when he asked her to consider losing weight, so i guess its justified
“Isn’t that cool? Isn’t it neat how all of humanity, all of biological life, is linked in a great chain of being? With each link more and more important until the chain reaches its logical conclusion: me?
But the chain stops here. I am the end of everything you know, and the beginning of something you can’t possibly imagine.
I am Dennis. I am the menace.”
Would people be interested in a Soul Calibur Quest? I've been kicking the idea around, and I'm taking the current Soul Calibur thread as an omen that I should actually give it a shot and try to run it.
>>43543559
Speaking of which, out of curiosity, what would you say is the limit to the number of quests you can follow at one time? I honestly find it difficult to follow more than a few in earnest, even if I just follow some of them in the archives.
Is there a point where you'd say quests of similar styles start competing over instead of sharing players?
Would anyone be interested in a super casual revival of Loser Quest, if you remember it?
>>43547966
Depends on their scheduling above all else
>>43547946
that's really, really vague. How Soul Calibur is it going to be?
>>43547966
I follow 1,2,3....5? The rest I'm not up to date. It's hard since they run when I'm busy, but I vote when I can.
>>43548166
I'm thinking of having it set probably sort of around the time of the events of IV? Players would probably play a character that went on their own quest, probably involving the swords or one of the main characters. I'm still not entirely sure about that many of the details yet.
>>43547966
>Is there a point where you'd say quests of similar styles start competing over instead of sharing players?
I find it the other way around. quests of DIFFERENT styles compete, but similar share. It takes for more effort to give new quests a chance when you're not sure or not used to what they're about.
For similar quests, it's easier to get into, and more importantly the players are more experienced at making write-ins. I still feel they benefit off each other in the long run.
>>43548292
I'm only passingly familiar with Soul Calibur, so you do you. Vader making an appearance?
I guess the important questions are :
>whether fights will get a major focus and how exactly you'll go about it.
>how equipment works. Is it deliberately making fun of bikini armor, do you have to go out of your way to get better quips, will armor break, etc.
>How you'll go about going SOUL CRAZY without losing player agency.
>>43548292
I'd read it if you ran it. Try reading previous fighting game quests to see what works and what doesn't. Personally I'd say set the quest about thirty or forty years after the games so you can come up your own cast and you won't get into powerlevel skub, but I haven't really kept up on Souls continuity past 3.
Is there a comprehensive list of active quests with under 10 threads right now?
>>43549130
Any suggestions? All I've read is the Mortal Kombat one.
>>43548073
Was that the one where we died masturbating?
>>43549168
waaay too difficult to maintain. Too many quests pop up, and die before the 3rd thread. Even then, those same quests pop up again completely unannounced, and you can't be sure if they're there to stay or not.
>>43549264
The ones that come to mind are King of Fighters Quest, the two different iterations of Street Fighter Quest and Fatal Streets, which wasn't openly a fighting game quest but the QM was pretty open about his Tekken influences, along with a number of one-shots through the years (of particular note is Larro's Skullgirls Quest, I'd recommend that one.) I'm probably missing plenty, those are just the first off the top of my head.
>>43533025
It's weird to see the difference in mindset. Hex is usually in tune with his players, Planefag seems to enjoy trolling them, and JQOP loves his players so much he gives them endless suffering. But Arch must fucking loathe them.>>43533025
>>43549755
>JQOP loves his players so much he gives them endless suffering
Say what?
>>43550391
After a certain point players learn to enjoy the pain.
>>43550391
It is an excellent story but it also destroys anything you love in it mercilessly, until you learn to enjoy the suffering.
Rolled 42 (1d100)
>>43534052
Waifu in PGQ and NTR? What happened?
>>43550873
Waifu concept. The sentient sword.
>>43550391
He lets players do anything, literally anything they want. Want to start flirting with the backup girl because the waifu is dead? Sure! Want to be appallingly callous to a yandere? Go right ahead. Throw her a pity-fuck while you're at it, too!
But there are always horrible consequences. JQ had a huge pool of available girls, and now most are dead or turned-off. One girl has stated that she fucking hates the PC's guts. He has NO love interest now.
>>43550993
Didn't planefag give the players suffering last night when one of the potential waifus basically Witched Out and joined The Dark Side(tm)?
Are there any actually decent quests running any more
...a year ago I was following ten or so... now I'm only following two.
Have quests just gone to shit or is it just me?
>>43551057
No, planefag just teases that he will. JQ has real harsh consequences for taking actions without thinking them through.
>>43551057
No, she was just going to kill herself.
Random marine saved the day.
Ever wonder if people hate JQ because JQOP gives players enough rope to hang themselves with?
>>43551092
>Shigure kills herself
>Rises back up as an AA/Destroyer Princess of some kind
Oh lordy
>>43551087
Which two do you follow? Allow us to ridicule your tastes.
>>43551268
Not really. People tend to hate JQ because it starts off really, really bad, or for a few other reasons. I've heard some people bitch about how a few of the consequences don't make sense, but I've never heard someone say they hate the quest because of them.
>>43551309
Pokemon quest and Tuffle quest, I did follow the other dragon ball quests, but they sort of went to shit.
>>43551087
I read Banished, Totemist, Hellborn, Joker and Homeless Mutant.
They're all fairly enjoyable.
>>43551087
I was following a couple, all of them just stopped.RIP EPQ
>>43551370
Blah blah DBZ is shit blah.
But seriously, it's not even Somnius. DBZ just has a bad track record.
>>43551370
You could do better. Branch out.
Try these
>>43551400
>>43551400
>, Totemist, Hellborn, Joker and Homeless Mutant.
Half of those never seem to run...
>>43551370
>Pokemon
>Tuffle
>DBZ
>This nigga asking for "good" quest.
>>43551312
The fight with Kraken was a sore point for a lot of people, because he apparently teleports out.
It turns out he didn't. Another villain saw that he was getting his shit pushed in so hard, he pulled the plug before Joker could beat the truth out of him. I was pissed at first, but the revelation made sense.
>>43551462
Yeah I quit reading dbz human quest once we reached cell..
>>43551462
Those are all I CURRENTLY read, I followed lots of quest The GIrls und panzer ones, peter parker quest, Attack on Pokemon Hunter before it went to shit.
>>43551468
>>43551087
>>43551370
>ellipsis
>shit taste
Confirmed faggot.
>>43551468
>Totemist
Once a week. Get used to Diarca taking year-long breaks.
>Hellborn
Languid is currently busy with school. Usually manages to run fortnightly otherwise.
>Joker
JQOP is really busy with work. One thread a month.
>Homeless Mutant.
Crusty is generally pretty good at sticking to his schedule. One thread a week.
>>43551538
>The GIrls und panzer ones, peter parker quest, Attack on Pokemon Hunter
I hope you're trolling. If not, i am not surprised at the lack of grammatical ability shown by people who follow said quests. Please, just stop posting
>One hour until the Iron and Hate special sidequest, Song of Gold and Glory!
WHOSE BODY IS READY?
>Sorry, going to be like, 15 late. My back just started seizing up for no reason, taking hot shower to fix it. Keep an eye out around 7:45.still cursed
>>43551657
Huh, I could've sworn that I followed page on twitter.
I didn't, but I do now.
>>43551657
>My back just started seizing up for no reason, taking hot shower to fix it.
Is he part of the sick QMs? This happens to me after some all-nighters and bad sleep.
>>43551370
Boruto Quest is actually pretty good. QM only runs very short sessions though.
I don't know anything about Leaf Ninja Quest
>>43551763
>Leaf Ninja Quest
Thoroughly eh. Descriptions are mediocre, pacing feels rushed, dialogue is unsatisfying, and character interaction is usually stilted. It's one of the few cases where I legitimately want there to be MORE waifuing, because that would mean a significant character interaction.
Worst of all, the protagonist is boring. He doesn't have a unique voice at all, his special release is pretty bland, and he generally doesn't leave much of an impression.
I just had an idea that I really think has leverage for the start of a quest.
Open the scene with the MC being shoved into a chair by the armed division of some church/religious institution. Think the Inquisition, that would actually be the main draw I'd take inspiration from. Not the "oh so evil" Inquisition though, these would be men performing a valid and necessary service for their faith/king. I'm thinking I'd probably throw in elements of monster hunters or Witchers as well.
All that aside the MC is told by the Inquisitor that they need a confession, in writing, of the crimes they've committed. The first choice would be to select their station in society: Peasants wouldn't be able to read or write and nobles would be concerned about their family reputation. I'm still debating what I'd use to get across a middle class background. Maybe something about their own fear of corporeal punishment.
The second choice would relate to what they did, and would be a class selection essentially. A martial character would either be a soldier, officer, or general (depending on status as peasant, landed farmer/merchant/craftsman, or noble) who deserted the army/fled from battle with his men/betrayed another general in battle and allowed allied forces to be crushed by the enemy in the hopes of advancing his own career.
A mage character would be condemned simply for practicing magic, which would be held up as the greatest of sins. Perhaps I'd differentiate based on the accusation of being a hedgewizard, a necromancer, or a demon summoner based on their social strata. That could make sense actually, the more money they had available the more skillful they could logically be based simply on the fact that they could afford more books and spend more time studying. I'd need to get in depth and design the magic system to say with any certainty though.
Thoughts? Interesting/shit way to start a quest, independent of the quality of the setting?
>>43552135
Soma the last thing you need is to start a fifth quest that you never run.
>>43551370
now this HAS to be bait.
>>43552135
I'm starting to realize why there are no new quests that are good. Everything has been done before..
>>43552135
your opening premise is how you'll go about chargen, and you think this has leverage?
>>43551763
I'm actually surprised that Boruto Quest is as good as it is. Mini has done a great job so far on everything from descriptions and fights, to characters and general interaction. Leaf Ninja is pretty much what I expected the quest to turn in to, boring as all shit and sticking to awful shounen tropes, but it's still going strong.
>>43552290
Nah, it's not my premise, it's how I open. How I kick things off.
I'd probably have the MC sentenced to march off on not!Crusade in repentance for his crimes, and the quest would focus on his efforts to establish himself as a powerful lord in what is essentially the holy land. I wouldn't do it in a Levant/Arabia-esque region though. Maybe I could send the MC north into some frozen hellscape. Draw from Viking myth for the natives. I dunno.
I mean, there were holy wars waged against the Romuva in the Baltic. Yeah, I could draw heavy inspiration from the Northern Crusades. I think that's a really under appreciated part of history. Make the MC part of some Teutonic-esque Holy Order, or maybe make the holy order a regional power broker.
I dunno man, I've got only the foggiest idea of setting.
>>43552135
You can probably get 2-3 posts before people start trailing off from prolonged chargen and disenchantment.
But yes, that's one half of doing chargen well. The other half is not leaving everything to player choice and actually having a basic MC coloring the experience.
>>43552444
the only Crusades was composed almost entirely out of volunteers. As in so many people volunteered that they had to be stopped from marching off without food or training. So I guess this is a different sort of crusade?
It sounds okay enough, low fantasy has its place.
>>43552584
*the only Crusades I know were
I had a quest idea where you play a peasant that becomes the new monarch of a fantasy kingdom.
The entire royal extended family was wiped out in a freak castle collapse. All the rival noble families agree to spend what remains of the treasury on a ritual to find the legitimate heir, and it turns out to be you.
You get dragged to the impromptu new castle-shack and crowned. The noble family's hate your guts, but it's still better than any of the other houses getting the throne. Besides, all they need to do is find a way to control you and they'll control the throne by proxy. You're just some country bumpkin commoner, how hard could it be?
You'd have very light kingdom management, and mostly center around avoiding pitfalls, getting the various houses and common people to like/respect/fear you, avoiding being tricked or used, making sure your neighbouring kingdoms don't take advantage of the situation, avoiding magical assassination attempts, etc.
What do you think?
>>43552629
I'd say it's cliche, but we've never actually tried it, and we are SORELY lacking in anything with kingdom management, so sure.
might want to look at the princess quest thing that's a more lighthearted version of Long Live the Queen.
>>43552629
>kingdom management
Stop.
Stop.
Think about what you just said and how many autists on /tg/ want to spend their time managing banal shit.
>>43552584
>>43552605
Yeah, I'd play it up sort of like Vietnam. Really unpopular on the home front and a terrible drag on resources. I think in terms of the culture of the homeland I'd have it in the midst of some sort of "Era of Enlightenment", with religion increasingly the subject of ridicule, and then compound that with a church which is almost inseparable from the state. The state is the church and vice versa. Something like the Church of England maybe, in that the monarch is also the religious head. Except they wouldn't be a nominal religious head as the Queen of England currently is.
The natives would just be entirely intractable. Maybe I'd give them some sort of divine/demonic magic to justify their resistance to an kingdom/empire many orders of magnitude their superior, or maybe I'd have them make extensive use of summoning, if I actually do choose to go the route of demon summoning being a big thing. Although that might cause issues for a mage character. Honestly I might scrap the idea of class selection and just give the options a choice of selecting their social class, but I don't know. Shit needs development.
Maybe I should work it out and toss it up on that idea repository that the Cabal keeps around.
>>43549332
How do you reccomend I find a quest to start following if I cant lurk 24 7 to find each of them?
>>43552629
>avoiding bad things + diplomancing
I'd warn you about anons not being able to account for risk in their excitement for rewards and being socialites.
Trap or bad options are reviled, because every time one takes effect people will cry about it. 1 among 4-5 options? Maybe they'll dodge it. Slow snowballing over many votes? They could notice it and correct course. Over multiple threads? They'll be distracted by new shiny things every session.
>>43552743
search wqdt for QMs pitching their quests
search catalog for Quest
search archive for Quest
in that order, I suppose. I make a casual sweep of the catalog every other day for ANY interesting thread, but I only check a given quest about a third of the time, and stick around even less.
What is the best approach to resource/etc management mechanics/aspect in a quest that's not granular?
>>43552845
Handwave it. If the players spend time and resources building defences, just make sure to mention how it slowed down the invading orc army and gave time to rally.
It should affect things, but avoid numbers and stats at all costs.
>>43552881
What about a civ builder quest with Simcity-tier disasters every other week?
>>43552917
that sounds glorious, but I'm not sure what balance of civ and quest is ideal.
>>43551763
I've been really terrible about this. Been having a small mental block in regards to writing in general.
I'll be picking up a regular pace soon hopefully. I suppose I SHOULD pre-write a few of the Chunin exam fights.
>>43552917
>>43552960
So I should handwave resource management, but should I have a "roll dice" for "resource/development dilemma of the day?"
>>43553009
roll dice for 'how well its going'. a low roll doesnt necessarily mean it has failed, but theres been some hiccup that you might need to see to personally. Buying that giant crate of weapons to ship to the front lines? some dickass revolutionary group has taken your factors hostage right after they took possession, and is trying to run off with your ten thousand AK's. Building a wall? maybe theres an ogre thats taken up residence in the quarry. be creative.
>>43553009
Keep it simple. Tentative suggestion:
>Major Benefit
>Reinforced Buildings vs Earthquakes, or self-declogging drains vs Floods
Get an extra roll. Best of 3 becomes Best of 4, etc.
>Minor Benefit
>Sandbags, emergency supplies, etc.
....I dunno, actually.
Petitioning the Twitter Vampire to kick Notapaladin and ValeLachryma from the list
>>43553171
>Notapaladin
Doesn't he still run on /v/?
>>43552844
Do people still refuse to advertise good quests in these threads on grounds that qtg here is a festering pile of cancer? It's been about a year and a half since I've touched quests.
>>43553233
There's one or two, but usually the good quests don't NEED advertising.
>>43553254
I only discovered death among the stars quest cause I saw Questdrone talk about enjoying the first thread of that quest
>>43553233
there's a general feeling that it's bad, and I for one am always afraid of mentioning them.
Nobody minds if someone links to a quest, especially if it's the QM, but actually talking about it is....uncommon, but not rare.
Before anything else, what are you looking for?
>>43553254
Would you mind giving me a rundown of quests with good, non-animu, writing? There's really no point in trolling me with this either, because I fully expect disappointment anyways and at most I'll waste ~10 minutes.
>>43553293
Is there such a thing as a non-/a/ quest, that isn't lolsorandum and isn't so depopulated the QM is going to drop it? Not interested in numbers/charts/stats/grind, looking for a good world with good QMing.
>>43553009
Think of it as levels of success where failure isn't final. The worst they can do is not progress properly. However, they could solve the issue, compensate, sidestep it or just critical the whole thing.
>>43553233
Threads aren't that big anymore, so it can't be as bad. I still think the best way to get players is to play with schedules, runtime and some spot marketing.
>>43553333
Checked
>>43553333
>Is there such a thing as a non-/a/ quest, that isn't lolsorandum and isn't so depopulated the QM is going to drop it? Not interested in numbers/charts/stats/grind, looking for a good world with good QMing.
only 1 of the quests I follow is has any /a/ in it, while 2 just have anons joking around with /a/ memes without it affecting the actual quest.
some reference video games in no small amounts, and around 2 are completely original.
>>43552135
>>43552444
>>43552711
>Went from "What if the inquisition..." to "Unpopular holy war waged by a totalitarian government against demon summoning vikings" in three post
>>43553333
Nice quads.
There's Cyclops Civ (never came back)
Hive Queen Quest (on hiatus but close to returning)
AI Quest (wrapped up)
Death Among the Stars Quest (just starting)
Ghoul Quest (hiatus)
>>43553333
>and isn't so depopulated the QM is going to drop it?
Kudos to those QMs running late but strong with a skeleton crew. Pity I can't help them because my brain functions and temperament wouldn't allow me.
>>43553407
>Death Among the Stars Quest
what's the basis?
And what's the archive everyone's using? Didn't suptg die or something?
>>43553452
I wish that start time was the reason for my skeleton crew.
>>43553475
No, archive.moe died. Sup/tg/ is fine.
>>43553475
suptg's still around.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/
MC is a space lich that escapes centuries after they were defeated and sealed away. Sci-fi undead space drama and conquering.
Basically Destiny Hive with the serial numbers filed off
So is the spooky full on dead?
>>43555239
Yes. Quests are dead, spooky is dead, WQDT is dead, it's all dead. Good riddance.
>>43555292
Fuck you, I'm still here and planning on running something next week.
Are we here just to suffer?
>>43555314
It's about time that you realized that you're actually dead.
>>43553333
There's Valen, but you might not be able to survive that QM's timeslot/thread length. You also might want to avoid it if bad things happening puts you off, because anon just went full retard and probably killed off two named characters and like half our army.
The QM doesn't seem like they plan on dropping it anytime soon though, so I guess we'll see.
>>43555330
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZuzw2TCNSU
I guess it's up to me to save questing... But can I? It's been so long.... And more importantly, do I want to...?
>>43555330
Funny little story on that:
>coming back from girlfriend's bday party in SoCal
>she's driving
>headed south to San Dimas
>she comes out in front of a semi, loses control
>car flips
>cue my arm out the window getting ripped off
>bang head against door jam
>blood all over my side
>look over at her, dead, hanging out the window
>Feel pain of the century and then black out.
Here's where it gets weird.>instantly "wake up" about five miles before accident
>roll window up, she rolls hers up
>cue accident
>flip
>alive, nothing major damaged aside from totaled car
To this day I do no understand what the fuck happened.
>>43555398
We really don't need the other boards.
>>43555502
>>43555398 wasn't even the first time it happened, just the most recent.
And you know, it IS a weird feeling knowing you have died, but you're still here.
>>43555502
We really, really do. /tg/ attempting to be every board BUT BETTER is the cancer that led to its current shitty state. That and being nice to newfags.
>>43534847
>Personally I think that's because there are way less big quests these days, but everyone's entitled to their opinion.
Or its because a certain type of poster gets outraged when quests they don't play get mentioned and they start adamantly shitposting.
>>43555747
this, vocal minorities angry because of someone liking what they dont like are the worst thing about these threads
>>43555398
Undertale-esque quest with the ability to reload from checkpoints when?
>>43555729
You're clearly new.
>>43555729
>everything was better in the old days!
no. stop romanticizing the past, pre-nazimod was awful, nazimod was a fucking anal-retentive asshole with the morals of a baptist and more of a victim complex than RapeApe does, and post-nazimod is just as bad in some ways, and better in others. Fuck off, newfag
