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[Rainseeker]

You know, if you are an adventurer who joins a "boring" kingdom that is basically at peace with everyone and no major monsters, you could have the populous offer the adventurer more mundane quests, like:

Quest #1
Woman:  That Mrs. Friedapples bought the last rabbit stroodle at the inn last night when she knew I was looking forward to it!  I'll give you this trinket if you dig up her milkrose garden and bring me a bouquet from her precious flowers!

Quest #2
Teenager:  I'm so in love!  Can you find out if Grapevine Whirringvalley likes me too?

Quest #3
Foreign Dignitary:  It is time our kingdoms are united in trade, but the king won't see me because of the hideous wart on my nose!  Will you negotiate a trade agreement between our countries, or find me a wart cure?

What do you guys think?

[Nyan Thousand]

Far too long has our Kingdom, the Stools of Depravity, suffered under the wrath of the eternal menace of unequal land distribution. Workers toil the land and land-owners reap the benefits. This has been the way of life in the Stools of Depravity for as long as beards were on the faces of dwarves, they say. No longer. Urist McAdventurer! You have been chosen! Go to the printing presses and have them publish this manifesto. Here is 15 gold to cover the publishing cost. You may have the change.

It's a thrilling quest, I tell you; the printing press is over three blocks away.

[Shinotsa]

No kingdom is ever completely at peace. If there is peace with foreign countries, then there is sure to be war somewhere within its own bounds. Feudal lords vying for power could conscript you into their army, hire you for espionage, or potentially even hire you as an assassin if you're known to do that sort of thing. Conscription could even be a starting scenario, involving them giving you a weapon of your choice and allowing you to smack a training dummy a few times with it to up your skills a bit.

Perhaps the kingdom is centralized and has no feudal lords, in this case the war is between the nobility. Snoop in houses for dirt and either blackmail that noble family or sell the information to a rival one. Fetch family heirlooms from catacombs crawling with undead to prove legitimacy, honor, or simply to honor the fallen on the anniversary of a battle. Snooping could be pretty fun once we have this sneaking system in, as higher priority manors could have guards or a large number of residents that you can't kill or you fail the quest.

Maybe your not one for politics. In this case the battles are on the streets. With all the different information that is possibly kept about each NPC, they could be divided up into gangs based on anything from race (now that we have multiracial cities), religion, or ancestry. These criminal organizations would offer more of an opportunity to show off the non-lethal combat system - "rough up Vinnie the Thumb and get our money when he's unconscious" - and could possibly have lethal combat when raiding the organization's base in the city. Of course the more mundane parts could be smuggling goods in/out of the city that have mandates against them, dealing in illegal substances when they get added in the game, and collecting protection money and the like. Of course I suppose you could also attempt to reconcile differences between groups like feuding families or religious sects, but true criminal organizations would have to be wiped out completely to get rid of them.


Yeah these aren't completely mundane, but they have mundane parts to them. I feel that it might get a little boring if the mundane aspects aren't building up to combat or at least a conflict of some sort.

[Starver]

Item deliveries.  Take a container (perhaps locked/secured?) of some kind that contains an item from one place to another.  Or just an item itself.  Either because you don't get to examine the item itself or because the item has a history to it that you can't easily derive, your task may be mundane ("This flour needs to be delivered to that settlement, they're running out and need to make more bread", "my Old Auntie wanted me to pass this small ring onto my cousins, as she knew they liked the colour") or something more ("Oh, pish-tush, it is but a mere everyday sample of my gemstone art, within this box, no, of course you won't get any problems, it's not like it's particularly valuable or sought after, or anything... just be aware of the hordes of bandits and brigands that seem to be converging upon the roadway betwixt here and your destination", "Please be careful of the amulet you are taking to my Liege, for he has a particularly.... sentimental attachment to it, and would visit foul murder upon one who happened to... 'lose' it...").

Not to be overused, of course, as a "fetch'n'carry" repetition[1] would be no fun, and I dare say that there might be parties who would approach you (especially if you're of a high-enough level) with a request/entreaty/order/suggestion that you 'complete your quest' by giving the item to them, instead, for the better of (almost) all.


But I'd also like the idea of rendezvousing with someone, who might have a (as yet unknown) further task for you.  (Kill?  Courier?  Communicate?)

[1] "Deliver this rock!  Deliver this egg!  Deliver this rock!  Deliver this tuppence!  Deliver this vest!  Seek the Ostentatious Festoon!  Deliver this axle!  Deliver this anvil! ..."  To quote my Gyrognome Inner Mason's recent quest-list.

[Nyan Thousand]

[1] "Deliver this rock!  Deliver this egg!  Deliver this rock!  Deliver this tuppence!  Deliver this vest!  Seek the Ostentatious Festoon!  Deliver this axle!  Deliver this anvil! ..."  To quote my Gyrognome Inner Mason's recent quest-list.

Hey now, don't go knocking on those delivery quests. The last "deliver this stick!" quest my Demicanadian Robot Monk got made him level up. They're an important part of life. If nobody does that then rocks just won't go anywhere and the whole system will collapse under itself.

[hermes]

Tribute/Tax collection - a local leader (or strongman) tasks you to collect money/goods from traders.

Child police - parents ask you to track down and discipline unruly sprogs who no longer listen to their mom and pop.

Child rescue! - Track down petty kobold thieves/child snatchers, return goods and children.

Lost pets - Track down cats that haven't returned home.

[Shinotsa]

Hmm, what about some unmarked quests? Things such as information about a city that might bring some profit if you choose to pursue them.

Woman: "Urist McAdventurer moved to town. Word has it that if you're ever lucky enough to be invited to his home that he might show you his sword "Abbeypacked" that was used to kill the demon Odo Lashedpants.
----------
Elf: "In my home town of Whimsyleaves there was no crime. But here, just the other day, I watched a thief pickpocket a noble in the middle of the day! He jumped into the sewers to get away and when they caught him later he had nothing on him! A friend of mine was boasting about going to find the pouch before his wife beat him senseless. I know my woman wouldn't want me coming home after a day in the sewers."
----------
Urist McAdventurer: "On my travels I went to the Mire of Sorrow, the site of an old battle between [kingdom] and [kingdom]. While the dead from that battle still roam the lands, and rain made of their cursed blood stings at your skin, I saw a great chest in the tattered ruins of the commander's tent. The undead commander himself drove me off when I tried to open it, but someday I'll head back and try my luck again."


While these are a little more elaborate than what would be found in game, a mundane "unmarked quest" type of set up could be a way to give an adventurer things to do without actually requiring a commitment.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Dwarf: Oh, hello there, hale and hearty adventurer!
Adventurer: Do you have any quests I could do?
Dwarf: Oh, aye! For years, there has been a plague that has been afflicting our nation! It has leveled armies and slain kings!
Adventurer: (leans in expectantly)
Dwarf: I need ye to farm these plump helmet spawn for me!
Adventurer: (pauses) Goodbye.
Dwarf: Oh, aye, have a good day! May we meet again! (gets stabbed in head by adventurer)

[DG]

Hmm, what about some unmarked quests? Things such as information about a city that might bring some profit if you choose to pursue them.

Woman: "Urist McAdventurer moved to town. Word has it that if you're ever lucky enough to be invited to his home that he might show you his sword "Abbeypacked" that was used to kill the demon Odo Lashedpants.
----------
Elf: "In my home town of Whimsyleaves there was no crime. But here, just the other day, I watched a thief pickpocket a noble in the middle of the day! He jumped into the sewers to get away and when they caught him later he had nothing on him! A friend of mine was boasting about going to find the pouch before his wife beat him senseless. I know my woman wouldn't want me coming home after a day in the sewers."
----------
Urist McAdventurer: "On my travels I went to the Mire of Sorrow, the site of an old battle between [kingdom] and [kingdom]. While the dead from that battle still roam the lands, and rain made of their cursed blood stings at your skin, I saw a great chest in the tattered ruins of the commander's tent. The undead commander himself drove me off when I tried to open it, but someday I'll head back and try my luck again."


While these are a little more elaborate than what would be found in game, a mundane "unmarked quest" type of set up could be a way to give an adventurer things to do without actually requiring a commitment.

I like your spin on it.

[FearfulJesuit]

What if goblins outsourced child kidnapping? "We'll pay you a hundred gold for every dwarven child you bring to us, no questions asked."

[Joben]

Far too long has our Kingdom, the Stools of Depravity, suffered under the wrath of the eternal menace of unequal land distribution. Workers toil the land and land-owners reap the benefits. This has been the way of life in the Stools of Depravity for as long as beards were on the faces of dwarves, they say. No longer. Urist McAdventurer! You have been chosen! Go to the printing presses and have them publish this manifesto. Here is 15 gold to cover the publishing cost. You may have the change.

It's a thrilling quest, I tell you; the printing press is over three blocks away.

For too long social inequality has plauged our fair town of Moistdoilys. That is why you, an Elf, must go and take a front seat on the cart, and not move even if a human asks you to!

Then we shall go to the keep for a sit in!

[GreatWyrmGold]

The elves are getting uppity! You must...erm, where are you going? What are you doing to that elf? I was just going to ask you to file a formal protest for me...never mind.
Last time I ask a dwarf to run an errand for me.

[Rainseeker]

What if goblins outsourced child kidnapping? "We'll pay you a hundred gold for every dwarven child you bring to us, no questions asked."

Creepy, but should probably be in there somehow.

[Trif]

What if goblins outsourced child kidnapping? "We'll pay you a hundred gold for every dwarven child you bring to us, no questions asked."

That's actually an old power goal.

PowerGoal 62, THE EVIL PLAYER MEETS THE GOBLINS, (Future): You kidnap a child and take it to the goblins. They let you in and seem interested in buying it, but you struggle to speak with them. After a protracted negotiation involving displaying objects and gestures, you seal the deal.

[GreatWyrmGold]

"Displaying objects and gestures..." like what, the severed head of the goblin's beak dog?