Side quests aren’t just for video games or the easily distracted. You can use them to great effect in D&D, too!
If you’ve ever played a video game RPG or struggled (as I do) with being easily distracted by anything that seems novel, you’re probably familiar with the concept of a side quest. These are the fun little excursions that can encourage you to explore an area of the map or the dungeon that you might otherwise race through in your drive to complete the main story.
And as you might imagine, side quests make for a lot of fun in D&D too. The origins of the official “side quest” as we know it are hazy; you could look back at video games like Colossal Cave Adventure, which had its share of optional tasks and hidden rooms back in 1976, or you could look at the optional objectives in the earliest Braunsteins. Certainly, the idea of a side quest is as old as humanity having more than one thing to do – but how do you use them in D&D? Here are some side quest seeds as examples!
Find The Missing NPC In The Dangerous Ruin
One of the things about a good side quest is that it’s something that would happen in a place you were already going to. They’re optional objectives that encourage players to peek in the unexplored corners of the world.
One way to do this is by having someone ask them to in a place they’re going anyway. If it’s known the party is headed for the old crypts in the swamp, it’s not unheard of for an NPC to approach them and ask them to keep an eye out for someone who went missing in that area not long ago. It’s a nice little rescue mission on top of the main objective of thwarting the cultists/finding the magic artifact/whatever the party is actually doing. You can play this out in any number of ways. The NPC could be trapped, taken prisoner, enchanted, frozen in magic, or just busy researching something that they refuse to leave the ruins for until the party helps them solve the puzzle. Either way, side quest right there!
Figure Out The Mysterious Treasure
The best side quests are the ones that have their own reward built in. Maybe while exploring the dungeon, the party discovers a mysterious treasure. Sure, it might be a magic item (thoguh for that you can just cast identify) but it’s better if it’s something that has an obvious other use: “this magic sword has a pommel that resembles a key” or “this amulet of health bears a map beneath its gem” and now you have a mystery to solve.
This is great because it can be a side quest that spans multiple sessions or adventures, continuing in the background while the players pursue whatever their main objective is. An ongoing side quest like this can help convey a sense of progress as they move around in the world.
Rescued An NPC – Now What?
On the other end of the “find the missing NPC” side quest seed is the “you rescued someone, now what” type of side quest. This works even when the NPC is not a regular humanoid creature. You found a talking gem or a magic mirror or a sentient cat who needs to find a home somewhere. Then it becomes a question of what to do with the NPC you’ve just found in the middle of the demonic cultists’ hideout.
Again, another fun side quest to give the party something to think about while they prep to try and stop the demonic ritual or whatever.
Ingredients Abound
Lifted straight from the design document of every video game ever: hide some ingredients in a place, but make it known to the players that they are in there somewhere. This works especially well if you have PCs who want to make their own magic items, you can tell them, “this temple of Lathander was said to house crystallized morning dew before it fell into ruin” and then, boom, side quest to find the magic dew that will let them brew up whatever item.
It works even for non-magic PCs. You can have them look for ingredients for an NPC to enchant their weapons or armor, or whatever else they might need. Finding magic ingredients is a time honored fantasy RPG tradition and even though D&D has little in the way of concrete rules around this, there’s no reason not to play with the idea.
Find The Secret Altar
And if you want the PCs to go looking for secrets? Tell them there is one. Maybe an NPC with a patron deity (or warlock patron) is given a quest to find a secret altar. Again, this is great when you know where the party is headed. You can seed a bunch of these ideas if you know they’re going to a dungeon you’ve crafted, so, use them and add richness and texture to your next adventure.
What are some of your favorite side quests from your campaigns?
Don’t Miss:
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
