Long since discontinued, but Wildbow ran a quest in the world of Worm.

 

ONP system?

This thread has made me want to read a few quests. I read most of Path to Civilization and Roarian's Iron Man one, and they're both pretty good. I was actually thinking about writing a quest of my own for fun and to get some practice writing however, I'm a bit lost on the mechanics that people use?

Like, what kind of system do people use to run quests? It seems some literally rip-off video games (such as CKII) for some type of quests, while others run D&D or some other RPG system. What's everyone take on this? What are you favourite quests mechanic wise?

 

My favorite quests tend to be the ones that don't bother - narrative quests. Just tell a story, and don't worry too much about mechanics.

 

The ONP system is a purely narrative system that first was used in Maugan Ra's 'We Stand In Awe'. It features 'stats' which represent a character's general skill level in a particular area, and allows players to allocate earned experience points (given out at the end of narrative arcs or for high quality fanworks) to these stats to improve their character. No calculations or dicerolling.


Speaking from experience, I can say that the system used in Paths of Civilisation and Paths of industrialisation (to a lesser extent) is a complete mess and not fun to work with. I believe part of that was by design as well. In any case, PoI is currently on hiatus whilst Academia Nut fixes the system (for reference, we were essentially playing State Capitalists as a command economy in the mechanics, which wasn't fun at all.)

 

I’m following Paths of Industrialization and Rep’s Second Uchiha.

I was a pretty active participant in PoC(Paths of Industrialization’s predecessor) but I just don’t have the time to really participate anymore.

I actually started a Stargate CK2 quest, Just One Step, but I’ve had extremely little free time lately to write. I should get back to it next week. Hopefully.

 

Not really following many quests right now - most of the ones I like are on hiatus or dead and I haven't gotten around to finding new ones yet. That said, I used to read quite a few, even if most were guilty pleasures. So I guess I'll shill for the ones I enjoyed, in the hopes that it might magically revive the QMs in question.


Homeless Mutant Quest has already been recced here, but in case you haven't heard of it, this is my favorite Quest I've read so far. It takes place in the Marvel universe, telling the story of one John James Green, troubled hobo extraordinaire. The writing is great, the characters are distinct and believable, the romance is handled well (seriously, this never happens!) ... and the QM is most likely dead. Still, best quest ever.

Crusty also has a second quest over on akun which you may not have heard of, Star Wars: Errant, which takes place shortly after the rise of the Empire. What's there is good, but sadly there's not all that much. Read if you like his style or SW, I guess.


Banished Quest is interesting in that it deals with the issue of player control by making the MC batshit crazy. It's the fun kind of crazy though, and the fantasy realm it plays in is one of the most engaging pieces of worldbuilding in questing, especially since the author apparently just made everything up as the sessions were taking place.

Soma also started several other, much shorter quests, but I don't think any of them ever finished. Can't say for sure though, the guy liked starting things under different names. I particularly liked Criminal Negligence. Alas, it didn't last more than five threads.


Totemist Quest is the last big quest I read before tg-questing died. It's original fantasy as well, some mixture of Pokemon, shamanistic magic and Monster Hunter. We begin shortly after the death of our master, the one man keeping our remote village alive and flourishing with his powerful bound spirits. Now that he's gone, it is up to the player to ensure the survival of their home. This one might actually not be dead, diarca seems to enjoy his multi-year breaks. But he's never taken this long either, so who knows.


A Song of Blood and Gold: House Malroy Quest is the best of a list of Asoiaf quests; the best by far, as most of them had their MC be just a bit too lucky, a bit too unopposed. Malroy still has that, but there are actually setbacks here, actual problems. This QM isn't afraid to plot against his players, and it's great.


Republic Commando Quest is another SW one, this time set -surprise, surprise- during the Clone Wars. It's not as good as Errant, but if thoughts of Boss and his squad make you nostalgic you might want to check it out. Whiskey also did a few quests on akun, but I don't have all the links.

There's a lot of really good shorter quest (such as Last Companion), or longer ones that are just as established (Hive Queen comes to mind), but these are the ones that stick out to me on tg.




Black Company Quest follows a mercenary as he fights for his skeletal paymaster, slowly losing his humanity in the process. Except when he isn't. It has some of the tensest combat I've seen in questing, and the QM doesn't pull his punches a lot. I've been meaning to catch up on this for a while now, I think it might be finished. Perhaps it's even active still?

Lamplighter Quest's MC is less morally ambiguous. He's a lost soul trying to restore the sun, traveling through a land choked by darkness while doing good deeds. I don't remember that much detail, but I enjoyed it while I was playing. Might be time for a reread.

Northern Beasts Quest is somewhat similar to Totemist, the MC hunts monsters in defense of civilization, but it's not quite sure whether that's actually a good thing. He might be unleashing an unspeakable evil in doing so. But hey, he gets to draw power from his kills, so that's neat.


The Life of a Magister has been mentioned, it's pretty great. One of the best quests on akun.

I'm always saddened when I think about Neon Contra, that quest seemed right up my alley. Strange superheroics in a neon blazing sci-fi metropolis would have been a strong contender for the top spot in any ranking I'd do. Sadly it died, as hamslice moved cities and opened a restaurant. I hope he makes boatloads of money so he can return to this full-time.

Bulletproof is kind of similar (in that it's a dead capequest). I prefer NC, but mention it because orosboru used to be pretty prolific and his writing isn't awful. So if you like this, there's more for you to read. Mostly fanfiction, though.

Path to Power: A Mage's Story (Fantasy) and Mandate of Victory (Wuxia) are some of the best quests on akun. Many QMs have a tendency to make their problems overly simple, as anons long-terms planning can be questionable. Vedibere does not. It's entirely possible to fuck up here, and this actually killed the former, but if you want quest where choices matter, these are for you. The writing is pretty great as well.

Invincible Swordsman Quest is decent wuxia, and it might even be revived. since the QM is actually still active. Here's hoping.

Lost Earth could be described as Banished Quest in space with less shitposting. I quite like it, but it's been on life support for a while, and I doubt it'll ever run regularly again.

If you like Lovecraft, you should check out The Life Miskatonic. The writing was good, and it's longer than some quests on this list. Of course, it's also dead.

Legacy of Serenity: Imperial Magical Girl Quest is the only magical girl quest I've read so far, and the title is lies. The MC is actually a noble in an empire ruled by magical girls, scheming to gain any advantages he can. For the duration of the quest that meant ensuring the realms continued stability, but who knows what might have happened?

Elf Warlord Quest is another great one. We take the role of an up and coming elf, eager to reach nobility through competent service in the military - too eager, apparently, as we got shipped to a dead-end outpost with the rest of the undesirables. Our superior promptly dies to a dragon, and thus command falls to us.

What Rough Beat was interesting. After killing our childhood friend with spontaneously manifesting superpowers, stumble out of our hometown to explore the wider world.

The last QM I'm gonna mention is prodigum. Well, he really does lean more towards the author side of the spectrum. But his stuff is really interesting, and he's still active. I really hope I didn't just jinx it.
Anyway, probably forgot a bunch of quests, but I guess I can always do another post some time. Don't wanna be a lurker forever.

 

Alright, since I did, in fact, forget about a few quests I planned on mentioning, here's a small update.

This Wretched Sea was one of the first really good quests on qst, telling the tale of a trawler captain. It gets spooky at times, and the post-apocalyptic setting is quite interesting. It has a very unique art style since the QM actually sketches the relevant characters and locations himself. Last thread was early this year, so there's still hope.

Into the Skies is similar in that it also follows a captain, though this one roams the skies. The quest is nothing amazing iirc, but it's decent and I like airships. Last thread was in July, so this one is actually still alive. I'll have to catch up sometimes.

Crusader Quest is memorable for one saltstorm in particular, where the QM introduced us to a plot that we had no real power to actually do anything about, and then more or less punished the players for caring. As much as I disagree with that decision though, it's still a really good quest otherwise.

Fear Nought is about mechas after WW2. I think. There's probably a setting this is based on, but it's fun even without knowing whats going on mechanically. We play as a former Australian ace who's just joined a mercenary company contracted to help defend Poland.

Deniable Assets Quest is one I really should've mentioned in the tg section. We play as Ivan, a mercenary doing dangerous jobs to pay off his body mods. And to buy more mods. And to impress the Shepard expy. Good fun, shame it's dead.

Lastly, another Quest that is still alive: Demonologist Quest started about two months ago, and I've enjoyed what I've read so far. We play as a wandering merchant and demon summoner, trying to stay ahead of the magical inquisition of our homeland. In the last threads, we uncovered a plot to bring about a magical revolution.

That's it for now, I think. Do you guys have any more recommendations from the forums?

 

I'm really enjoying the Xianxia quest Forge of destiny by Yrsillar. It addresses a lot of the problems of any xianxia which make it shit, without losing what makes quantifiable levels and cultivation progress attractive.

Edit: I see it was suggested by Erandil, already, must have missed it. I shall second it therefore.

 

Okay this might not be the place for this and if there's enough appetite for it I can start another thread but from my point of view, quests came out of fucking nowhere.

I was just here happily reading a mixture of great and terrible HP fanfiction and suddenly quests are a thing. I read Hash's and fell in love with the idea. So hard I started my own Pokemon quest on the spur of the moment. I enjoyed every chapter I wrote but as it went on I began to realise I didn't know enough about questing and started to belatedly try to introduce mechanics.

My original idea was to write a fic where the community had opportunities to die if they were stupid but it became a lot in short order.

Long story short, for those of us who are interested... How the fuck do you learn to QM?

 

Yeah, I can empathize. My own take on Pokemon turned into zombie apocalypse war story. When it comes to mechanics, I don't really have good grasp on them either, I tried just stealing a system I enjoyed as a player, but the hassle of keeping that consistent is annoying, so I'm planning to change it in the near future. Honestly, something simple is probably a good start, like 1d100 or something.

If you want something more elaborate, maybe try combining that with basic stats from your favorite RPG? Or you can try to boil down a tabletop system in its entirety, but I know that I couldn't pull that off.

For general advice though, maybe try applying stuff meant for tabletop DMs? The two styles are pretty similar. Or just ask other QMs for advice. Most of them are figuring it out as they go, too.

 

So, I've never written a quest, but I'm in the process of planning and writing one using the mechanisms from Forge of destiny which I linked above. Based on the world of Darkness storytelling/er system. It's explained pretty well and seems like you can get a grasp on it easily enough as there's a lot of resources about how to apply it all on google/WoD wikis. Putting it into practice is another thing but it feels like it'll be easy to keep straight between yourself and the readers.

 

Forge of Destiny is the only redeeming thing about the entire Xianxia genre. It's an excellent read.