Do you have NPC's giving out Quests in your campaign?

I mean do they approach the PC's at Taverns?
Do they tell them their woes at the Temple when the PC's go to get healing?
Do you have NPC quest-givers distributing "go-fetch" quests?

I never did in my campaigns & I never realized it was a cliche until I heard about it on the internet about 20 years ago.

Additionally, do you have party randomly meet in Taverns?

I never did that either.

So what do the NPCs want in your games?

Quote from: Kyussopeth;1112820Do you have NPC's giving out Quests in your campaign?

Yes, sure, quite often, especially when the Players don't know what to do next.

Quote from: Kyussopeth;1112820I mean do they approach the PC's at Taverns?

Sometime,s not very often, but Taverns can be a good place for such things, if you have a typical Adventuring Party.

Quote from: Kyussopeth;1112820Do they tell them their woes at the Temple when the PC's go to get healing?

Yes, sure, why not? Temples are a good source for Quests or Scenarios. "We can fix your arm for you, if you do us a teensy weensy favour".

Quote from: Kyussopeth;1112820Do you have NPC quest-givers distributing "go-fetch" quests?

Only if they are patrons, or important people. sometimes, you might get a mad old prophet giving out Quests, but that is rare in my games.

Quote from: Kyussopeth;1112820I never did in my campaigns & I never realized it was a cliche until I heard about it on the internet about 20 years ago.

It can be a thing. I don;t use it very often, but have used it in the past. Taverns are a good source of information, so why not get some information in exchange for a Quest?

Quote from: Kyussopeth;1112820Additionally, do you have party randomly meet in Taverns?

Very, very rarely. I have done so once or twice, at the start of a campaign, but not at the moment.

The trouble with starting in a tavern with a random group of strangers, is that they don;t really have a reason to be together. Maybe if they are all framed and are in it together, maybe, or if they are put on a Quest together, or get into a fight and help each other. It's a very shaky start to a campaign, though.

Quote from: Graytung;1112821So what do the NPCs want in your games?

Power, glory, happiness, revenge none of which is gained by hiring complete strangers in tap rooms.

Quote from: soltakss;1112822Very, very rarely. I have done so once or twice, at the start of a campaign, but not at the moment.

The trouble with starting in a tavern with a random group of strangers, is that they don;t really have a reason to be together. Maybe if they are all framed and are in it together, maybe, or if they are put on a Quest together, or get into a fight and help each other. It's a very shaky start to a campaign, though.

This is my view.

Quote from: soltakss;1112822Yes, sure, quite often, especially when the Players don't know what to do next

My players were always very proactive they generated their own plots.
In many ways my players were the antagonists of the campaign always shaking things up & causing problems.
The NPC's mostly reacted to the players when they stumbled into one of their plots.
Often PC's went to NPC's bearing gifts  {bribes} & got themselves involved by making themselves useful especially to Temples.

The OP assumes D&D/fantasy I'm guessing...I don't think it's possible to play an espionage or military game without NPCs giving quests. Unless all the PCs are criminals or something.

That said, for fantasy, it depends. Sometimes sure, it helps move things along. In my sandbox games, there's always a lazy NPC with way too much money and not enough time who needs something done. The players can choose to seek them out or ignore them, though. Taverns are the best trope in swords and sorcery, so I think it's fun to have PCs meet there.

The PCs in my DCC game live in a tavern (The Pig & Whistle, in the City State of the invincible Overlord). One of them is the reigning champion pig wrestler.

I have not done the "random person approaches them in the tavern to ask them to perform a mission". But only because they are not famous enough to garner that kine of attention. When that time comes, it will likely be a false flag or double cross, as my PCs have been accumulating their fair share of enemies.

One PC does have Ningaubule as his patron, so retrieving Mcguffins is going to be a recurring plot theme.

Quote from: Brad;1112827The OP assumes D&D/fantasy I'm guessing...I don't think it's possible to play an espionage or military game without NPCs giving quests. Unless all the PCs are criminals or something.

Not really clear in my OP, but taking orders & doing favors for your superior/boss is not quite what I'm talking about more strangers approaching strangers.
And yes assuming Fantasy.
I didn't have that sort of thing in CoC either & CoC & Fantasy RPG's are about 99% of my gaming experience.

Yes. Quite a bit depending on the setting.

There might be a single NPC hiring people to deal with a problem. Or several. Things might crop up with a new NPC while they are busy with the first. There might even be a job board if the area is a sort of hotspot for trouble or exploration. In such places, especially if the opposition is plentiful. There will tend to be people in need of help for this or that task.

My view is that this is not much different than how it was sometimes run in days of yore where travelling specialists and mercenaries might get hired fro this or that task. They might need reference, or the patrong might be in a hurry or desperate and not care who they are long as the job gets done.

Other times the NPCs are just possible sources of info on the surrounding area. No one is hiring now. That might change later if a problem crops up.The PCs just free roam the area. Successes on their own might get them noticed by someone who has need of adventurers to perform some task.

And tasks do not necessarily mean dungeon delves. They might be asked to deliver a package or letter. Or go pick one up and bring it back. They might just be hired to stand around and look important so the patron isnt bothered. And so on.

As for the "Gather in a tavern" being "cliche"... only to stupid or elitist fucks who cant even bother to grasp the reasons.

I don't know about anyone else, but this whole thread smells like "Look at me, I'm elite, I don't use tropes."

I actually get the impression that the OP is a 20 year old, new to the hobby, never actually played a game type. I'm not saying that's the case, but I'm sure these juvenile points have been discussed an infinite amount of times by now.

Quote from: Kyussopeth;1112830Not really clear in my OP, but taking orders & doing favors for your superior/boss is not quite what I'm talking about more strangers approaching strangers.
And yes assuming Fantasy.
I didn't have that sort of thing in CoC either & CoC & Fantasy RPG's are about 99% of my gaming experience.

Good for you..? If you don't like NPC quests, don't use them. I find them useful and realistic to some degree. If Conan waltzes into town, and people know who he is, you better believe he's gonna get hit up to do some stuff. Any character over 3rd or 4th level is probably notorious enough to be recognized and asked to do some dirty work for someone.

In one particularly silly campaign I had a sacred order of quest givers who wore question mark topped hats.

Quote from: David Johansen;1112838In one particularly silly campaign I had a sacred order of quest givers who wore question mark topped hats.

If it was a setting like Planescape it could be an ! made of pure light or something.

Nah, I like silly hats.  But in an Infinite Worlds game they might be plastic with LEDs in them.