#sidequest quest

[tahri-nhupuju]

Oh sure people love Holepix, and Firmalbert, and Alaimbert of the Spiked Butt

But where is the love for Dadfort of Knot???

[blorbologist]

Y'know, I think I figured out why the Hells still feel like a new low-level party to me, even though they're level 13 and almost 100 episodes in.

I don't quite think it's the lack of conversations, or the fact half the party's plot hooks are big ties to past campaigns - though that definitely plays a part.

... Bell's Hells still primarily rely on quest givers.

Most of their goals are given to them and do not feel organic to the party, and constantly remind us that the Hells are pretty much never the most powerful people in the room. Which is usually something you see with a low-level party.

NPCs offering jobs is not a bad thing; it's a very common plot hook. Matt has been extremely skilled with using NPC quest givers in those two campaigns. Not only do they provide an obvious plot thread, but they can put the party in the path of others (say, the Nein running into the Iron Shepherds while doing a job for the Gentleman and everything that came of that). And the Hells had a solid start with it too - Eshteross was an excellent quest giver!

The problem is that Bell's Hells have never really not had a quest giver.

Maybe it's a byproduct of the more plot-heavy structure of this campaign? But while prior parties have felt like they decided on their course of action and what they prioritized, Bell's Hells feels less like level 13 (13! Level 13!) experienced adventurers and more like an MMO group clicking on the exclamation point over an NPC's head. Where does the plot demand we go next? Who do we report back to?

They're level 13.

At level 13, Vox Machina had just defeated a necromantic city-state to clear their name and Percy's conscience. And, you know, the Conclave just destroyed Emon. No one was explicitly telling the group to gather Vestiges and save the world (though Matt guided them there), and they were usually among the most powerful people in the room. They chose which Vestiges to prioritize, which dragons to tackle when, even if the over-all plot was pretty clear.

At level 13, the Mighty Nein were celebrating Traveler Con (another PC goal, I'll note) after brokering peace between two nations, accidentally becoming pirates and heroes of the Dynasty. The Nein regularly chose what to do based on personal goals, not grand ones. Though definitely smaller fish than Vox Machina at this level, they were very independent and gaining solid political clout.

While we're at it: level 13 is one level lower than the Ring of Brass, who had a huge amount of sway over Avalir. They ended the world, and also saved it, while in the grand scheme of things being only a smidge more powerful than Bell's Hells are now.

Can you really see the Hells wielding that amount of influence, when they're constantly being told what to do next?

The god-eater might be unleashed, so Bell's Hells have no time to do anything but what is asked of them. No time for therapy unless stolen from Feywild time, no travel on foot and late-night watches. They haven't even had time to grieve FCG. Percy was grieved in the middle of the Conclave arc. Molly was grieved when half the party was still in irons.

Matt is in the very unfortunate spot of not being able to give the Hells the same agency as the other two parties. Not only because of the world-ending plot introduced so early on; they are surrounded by characters they know (and the cast knows) are stronger and wiser than them - the familiarity of the past PCs and NPCs is to their disadvantage.

Why would the party reasonably ignore Keyleth's task that will help save the world and go off on a romp? Why would the cast when they know well Keyleth has to be sensible and with the best intentions in mind? The stakes are just too high.

It means that the Hells still feel like they're running errands instead of pursuing their own destiny. Their accomplishments are diminished as just being parts of a to-do list, and any stakes feel padded by several level 20 PCs/NPCs standing 5 steps away ready to catch them.

This isn't Bell's Hell's fault, nor is it Matt's. It could be amended, I think, if the Hells are really left to their own devices for a long period of time without support and shortcuts (like during the party split)... which would be really tricky to pull off at this point in the campaign.

They're level 13. They're big fish, but they're stuck in a pond full of friendly sharks, so they don't feel big at all.

[a2zillustration]

"Bog goblin" felt like something you'd yell at a fae creature and Croissant took that personally

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[hellspawnmotel]

terranigma, a cool game

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

Hey make sure you finish up side quests in Treviso and Minrathous before going to the Anderfels for the first time to get Davrin.

Alright, thank you for the heads-up!

[moonpaw]

the more i play rejuvenation the more i'm just so. baffled and appreciative at the makers of this game because. there's so much work into it. i have well over 100 hours into this game that's been pure storyline without having to do any grinding and its just? there's so much love into this game and they did it for FREE

[stolas-bgw]

Play the Sidequests You Coward

Final Fantasy XVI is a litmus test for the patience gamers have for a story and worldbuilding.

FFXVI has got it's issues, it's combat is a bit over-reliant on the power of the dominant moves and is a little brain dead. It's crafitng system is... clearly forced in? Like the game did not NEED a crafting system and would probably be exactly the same without it. Late game the combat effects begin to obscure the screen and meld together so it gets to be a little difficult to tell what's going on.

That being said, the one and most common critique of FFXVI as being "objectively bad" are the sidequests. A critique I wholly disagree with and, to be honest, am sick and tired of hearing. When I see a reviewer critique the side quests as being boring and tearing away from the experience of the game, all I hear is "I didn't watch the cutscenes."

These quests are not just "collect 3 nuts, get shitty XP, and move on." These quests are world building and story fleshing out events. Some of the best stories are tucked away in these "fetch quests." These stories make the main quest feel MORE EPIC, MORE IMPACTFUL, not less.

As some have pointed out, CBUIII, the team that made FFXIV, clearly took their design for side quests from XIV and put it inot XVI. Except that's not true. They didn't take the structure for it's side quests, they took the structure from their main quests. FFXIV's main quest is filled with "go fetch 3 things," "go talk to X people," "hold my hand and give me a guided tour of X area." And to some people, these quests are "pointless filler." But to the people who are actually invested in FFXIV's story, you know these quests are ESSENTIAL to making the story as emotionally ressonant as it is.

The same is true for the sidequests in FFXVI. These quests feel as though they SHOULD be mandatory, not optional. But because FFXVI is a more mass-appealing game, CBUIII knew that not everyone would have the patience for dealing with these seemingly mundane issues. It was the correct move to make these sidequests. But they are anything but side content.

The sidequests are not boring fetchquests that give shit xp. They are story quests that flesh out the world of Valisthea, the people of the world, and Clive as a character. They show you why Clive fights for the right to live and die as you choose, they give the message of the game texture and depth. The main quests WORKS on it's own, but the side quests really elevate it, if you give them the time of day.

These are incredibly well written, emotionally resonant, and important missions that I am sick and tired for being compared to "shitty MMO quests." This isn't WoW where you help a random guy kill 40 boars and you never see them again. You getting that food to those people MATTER. Those people needed someone like them to reach out to them, or they may have had a much harder time integrating into a new life. Clive needed to see how horrible the world could be through the eyes of a child raised by a corrupt system. CLIVE would give a shit about the people who work for him and help them out when he can. He would want to LEARN about the people who are risking their lives day in and day out to help make their vision become reality.

Can some of the side quests feel boring? Sure. But that's kind of the point. These quests are grounded in reality and tedioum of life. Not nearly as much as in FFXIV, but still enough that it DOES test your patience and appreciation of the story and world. If you don't like that, that's ok it's why it's side content. But these quests ARE NOT MMO fetch quests. They matter and make the story better for existing.

[alepresser]

Hey hello?

Do you know Side Quested, the webcomic created by me and @kbspangler ?

It's a crazy-bananas Fantasy RomCom with magic, dragons, a pink-goth super strong princess that didn't need rescue, an unfortunate librarian in training, and much more nonsense!

Read for free at https://sidequested.com !

[misspoetree]

The Great KinnPorsche Fashion Showdown: 24 HOURS SIDEQUESTS (II)

The (not so uniform) bodyguard uniform -

[tahri-nhupuju]

What is with the quest names in this game sometimes???

[demento-mori]

Alright im gonna do. Im gonna try and get every possible quack that I can get in one loop.

[smalltimidbean]

I finally finished Bugsnax

[aces-to-apples]

Xenk Yendar doesn't traffic in colloquialisms because he's so old he doesn't know any anymore

[trans-estinien]

WHUH?

HELLO?

[eaglefairy]

Ok this is a question for the xc2 fans who follow me: which sidequests in 2 have the most to offer in terms of worldbuilding? I'm talking about things like the whole Brionac anti-imperialist murder mystery sidequest chain. I want to go back to the game for a bit to see if there are any important worldbuilding things I missed but I'd like to go in with a plan in mind lol

[johnnylandslide]

A New Family

Contains spoilers for the Pictomancer job quests!

The tension that had been twisting at Tataru’s heart for the past few days as she and Johnny had looked into Beruru’s disappearance finally dissipated as her husband stumbled out of the magicked painting, a Lalafell matching the missing girl's description close behind him. Kupopo had been right, and Johnny had saved her.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Tataru said, rushing to Johnny’s side. He looked exhausted, but otherwise none too worse for wear. As she reached him he dropped to one knee, allowing the two to exchange a quick hug.

After they parted, he opted to just sit down on the Gridanian soil, letting out a sigh. Tataru turned her attention to the girl, who was surveying the scenery with a look of heartache in her eyes.

“Hello! Beruru, was it? We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she began. She approached the girl and offered a handshake. “My name is Tataru Taru, and I’m so relieved you’re safe.”

���Oh, um. Thank you,” the girl said, turning to face her. “I’m sorry to have put you through all that trouble.”

“Think nothing of it! Saving those in need is something of a specialty of ours,” Tataru said.

Beruru looked to Tataru as if to object that she was in need, but her words died on her lips, the breath she’d taken instead being spent on a sigh. She looked back at the patch of starry sky visible through the gap in the forest’s canopy.

Tataru took a few steps closer. The girl’s enormous hat did a good job obfuscating the fact, but Beruru was a good amount shorter than her. She felt her heart twang as she came face to face with the reality of how much Beruru had been through at such a young age.

“Really,” Johnny said, cracking a smile. “It was no trouble. Now that I know you’re okay, I think I could even call it fun.”

Tataru chuckled as she saw her husband’s comment get a short smile out of the teen. “For sure! It was nice to check back in at Camp Dragonhead, and visiting Kugane is always exciting,” Tataru said. “Your friend was an excellent guide as well. Will he be joining us…?”

The smile Johnny had won from Beruru became twinged with heartache again, and Tataru took another step closer as she looked up and explained.

“Kupopo was a creation of pictomancy. My imaginary friend. When he turned into that light, I felt his memories pass through me, and I saw all the people you helped on your way to me. Th-thank you for being his friend, too,” Beruru said.

Johnny nodded. “It was an honor.”

Tataru pulled Beruru into a hug, hearing a tiny sniffle against her shoulder. Though Tataru would have held onto the girl for as long as she liked, she too-quickly let go and stepped back away from the taller woman. There were tears in her eyes, and a forced smile on her lips.

“And with that,” Beruru said, taking a moment to gather herself after a waver in her voice, “I think I’ll try to take Kupopo’s advice to heart. I’ll start a new journey as a pictomancer, and rather than hiding behind others, I’ll stand on my own. I’ll make new friends, a-and… make Kupopo proud!”

She wiped a tear from her eye, but more quickly replaced it, and Tataru felt a wetness building in her own eyes as well. The sight of a little girl putting on a brave face as she prepared to face the world by herself was one all too familiar to her, and in Tataru’s opinion, something Eorzea could do with less of.

“You can start with us,” Johnny said. He got up, walked over to Beruru, and knelt down in front of her. “Any friend of Kupopo’s is a friend of mine! There’s no reason you need to be alone.”

He’d plucked the thought right from Tataru’s head. She stood next to him, and offered Beruru a hand. “Especially at sixteen! Gods, I couldn’t find the sharp end of a pick when I was your age.”

Beruru looked caught off-guard, the starlight reflecting off the rapidly pooling tears in the corners of her eyes. She awkwardly took Tataru’s hand, and was pulled into a hug.

Tataru had decided: she wanted to protect this girl. She patted her on the head as she felt a hiccup muffled by her shoulder, and thought about how desperately she’d wished someone had done the same for her when her own family had lost everything.

“Now, do you have a place to stay? And don’t you dare mention that very expensive coffin you bought back in the Ossuary! I absolutely forbid you from using that for at least eighty years,” she said, and Beruru’s sniffling was broken up by a giggle.

“She can stay with us, can’t she, Tataru?” Johnny asked, his words meant more for the girl than for his wife. He sat down and gently pulled Tataru into his own hug, sandwiching Beruru between them. “The Rising Stones has plenty of room these days.”

“That it does! And there would be plenty to occupy her time there as well, wouldn’t there?”

“Fashion is just another type of art, right? She could definitely help out with the boutique,” said Johnny.

“What an excellent idea! And if she wanted to hone her magic, I do know of an exceptionally talented wizard who frequents the establishment,” said Tataru.

Beruru let out a sob, and finally reciprocated Tataru’s hug. There was still a smile on her face, but for the first time since Tataru had seen her, it didn’t look forced.

“I don’t know how this can be allowed,” she said. “I’ll never be able to stand on my own at this point.”

“Beruru, as far as standing on your own goes… I don't think anyone does,” said Johnny. “I certainly don’t. I never have, and I don’t ever plan to start.”

“I don’t either! I’m at my best when I have friends at my side, rivals to chase, teachers to show me the way…” Tataru said, looking to Johnny before she finished her sentence. He beamed and nodded. “And family to come home to. You don’t have to call me mother, but won’t you be our family, Beruru?”

It took a few minutes for the girl to regain enough composure to answer, but when it came it was a wholehearted ‘yes’. It took a week for the Rising Stones to feel like home to her, it took a month for her to accidentally call Tataru ‘mother,’ and it took one month more for her to do it on purpose.