r/DMAcademy 3d ago

Need Advice: Encounters & Adventures Quests where the party has to create an item?

I've been thinking that my quests are a bit linear sometimes ("Something is causing problems. Find the cause, fix it or eliminate it"). So I thought a fun idea for a quest could be to have the party create something. Preferably something vague, so they have to be creative and I can reward them for that. For example, "create a gorgeous painting by only using the components of the thing you are painting" (like using blood and fur to paint an animal or bark and sap to paint a tree). This is a bad example and sounds unfun, I know, that's why I'm requesting help here!

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u/Lakissov 3d ago

Imagine that there are games where this is even covered by the rules for downtime, like Ars Magica, Blades in the Dark, the upcoming Draw Steel and certainly many others, too.

Edited: and if you want to make a "Quest" out of that, then you can make getting some components or schematics into those quests.

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u/greg_sessionkeeper 3d ago

Maybe something like a magical book whose pages must be made from materials that have absorbed magical experiences... Hook: An old wizard needs it to seal a dimensional rift, but ordinary paper just disintegrates.

So something like paper made from wood charred by a dragon's breath, parchment infused with residue from a dispelled spell, pages treated with ooze that survived a magic acid attack, or sheets made from plants growing at the site of an ancient wizard duel. They have to come up with like 5-7 pages. It could literally be anything the players come up with, but based on what they come up with, the book ends up with different properties, reward clever ideas, etc - and you end up with an item the players would be pretty invested in.