ITT: We build a fictional classifieds section for adventurers
I've always found the idea of quests being from a literal classifieds section in the tavern-run newspaper hilarious and will incorporate it into my next campaign.
What are some good long or short term quest ideas in this form of media?
shameless bump
>Requesting adventurer to clear out large rats in basement. Will provide milk and cookies afterward.
>Seeking translation of old, suspicious-looking book I found in my cellar. Will provide week's supply of food before I lock you in my cellar to block possible eldritch horrors.
>Seeking big, strong adventurer to move some furniture in my bedroom. (Note: Furniture may take exception to being moved--but afterward...)
I love that second one
>new week, new city
>while waiting for your single minded companions you sit on stool at a local bar popular with the adventuring types
>a monthly edition on Adventurer Monthly rests on a couple seats down
>grimy and dog eared it seems to be well read.
>among the interviews, heroic tales, gear tests, spell tips, and obituary's lay the classifieds
>most of it is trash and repostings but every so often you find one that interests you.
Who doesn't love cookies and milk?
Fuck that shit, I ain't rolling to draw straws. I'm just gonna sneak onto the boat when nobody's looking.
>cat found, please help
with pic related
NPC tags along and writes down your journey as it happens offering monetary reward for DARING ADVENTURE while hiding meekly in the back. A couple quests later one of your party is buying supplies when they see a magazine proudly displayed. It is written by the same author who accompanied you. Below the title is a caricature of your party being saved by the author. Turns out one of the writers of such a magazine routinely attaches themselves to parties to steal the glory.
>What are some good long or short term quest ideas in this form of media?
I run a newspaper. The Classifieds pages are divided into several sections that appear in every edition. More sections can be added if something specific arises, but the main ones are:
>Help Wanted (this is always the largest section and the section with the most large and well-made ads, because on average about 90% of the space is being paid for by companies, not individuals)
>For Rent (apartments, houses, commercial spaces, warehouses, or other spaces that can be occupied for as long as the tenant pays their rent)
>For Sale (either one expensive or hard-to-move item like a piano, or a list of 4-8 lesser items or categories like "clothes", "tools", etc.)
>Real Estate (land or buildings available for purchase for permanent ownership)
>Services (individuals or companies that offer a specific service like carpentry or transport)
>Legal Notices (proclamations that someone is due in court, that an official meeting of some kind will take place at a specific date in the near future, or that the government is looking for companies to bid, that is to deliver a sealed envelope with a price offering their service at a lower price than any of the competing companies that are also submitting sealed envelopes with what they hope is the lowest price)
>Personals (people looking for companionship, either romantic or platonic)
>Giveaway (animals, clothing, or anything else that someone wants to get rid of but doesn't want to pay to have removed)
>House ads (advertisements for services that the newspaper offers, information about how many people read the paper, or any type of self-promotion)
So based on these, you could have a lot of fun filling up this list with fantasy stuff.
Oh, and during the warm months there's also a Rummage Sale section.
again, for sure using this
thanks m8
>>Giveaway (animals, clothing, or anything else that someone wants to get rid of but doesn't want to pay to have removed)
Which reminds me-- Generating loot lists for low level quests using the free section of craigslist can be pretty funny.
If you read Sherlock Holmes, you'll know that, long ago, they were called the "agony columns" because random people would submit random stuff, possibly including coded messages. It was just a big pile of shitposting.
>Legal Notices (proclamations that someone is due in court)
Didn't the Supreme Court rule that publishing a notice in a newspaper doesn't count as proper service of process?
>Didn't the Supreme Court rule that publishing a notice in a newspaper doesn't count as proper service of process?
I don't know, but the county courthouses still ask us to publish them and they pay the bills we send after they're published.
I am not sure, if this is what you wanted OP, but I am already using this thing in my Urban Fantasy !WoD game. Information are written in special way, so they can be read only when you have the "gift", "connection" or "curse". Some excepts from my games:
>Looking for: DRUID or Nature related expert
>I have basement of house infested with fungal dryads, need exterminator or reallocator ASAP
>Contact: Ask for James Brown in Stella's Garden Ornaments on King's st.
>Payment: CASH or runic stones
>Looking for: Orient Demonology expert
>I am in DIRE NEED to translate some possibly Iranian arcane texts BEFORE the next new moon! Texts could be only examined during day, preferably on high noon. Also looking for someone who can remove reappearing bloody symbols from walls.
>Contact: Holm st. Bookstore
>Pay: Cash
>Looking for: Enchanted items
>Don't care where you got 'em, I have hard cold cash for all your enchanted items. Daggers, amulets, clothes, jewelry. Good, bad, neutral enchants. I buy them all.
>Contact: XXX-543-543
>Pay: Cash
>Selling: Argentinian Wasp Spider eggs
>Perfect pet for starting a your own strangerarium. Argentinian Wasp Spiders eggs are frozen and will hatch if placed under infrared lamp. HowTo booklet included
>Contact: XXX-225-478
>Pay: 50 eur per egg
>Looking for: Somebody to kill Alchemist
>Old man in our house wants us evicted, because he got mold in his lungs.
>Contact: Stone altar near old house behind Stella's Garden Ornaments shop
>Pay: Magic mushrooms that wont give you lung mold.
>Looking for: Human cadaver
>Human cadaver, preferably fresh (max. 3 days old), mostly intact. DON'T contact me, if you have limbs, heads, or torsos ONLY
>Contact: [email protected]
>Pay: Cash
>Selling: Screaming puppet
>I am selling this enchanted screaming puppet, ideal for practical jokes! Puppet is ENCHANTED, no soul is binded to it and let in unending torment.
>Contact: [email protected]
>Pay: Cash or item exchange
>>Selling: Screaming puppet
>>I am selling this enchanted screaming puppet, ideal for practical jokes! Puppet is ENCHANTED, no soul is binded to it and let in unending torment.
>>Contact: [email protected]
>>Pay: Cash or item exchange
YES
> Rats in a basement. You know the drill. 100 gp. Take it or leave it.
(Devolves into a campaign where every other quest is about lycanthropy, Half-God of the Lycanthropes spreading his childrens in a gambit for power)
> Need help to find and dispose of a doppelganger, and recover sensitive information. If you need my contact info, this is not a job for you.
Take this bumperino, noble thread.
i agree, this thread requires more attention
>Looking for magic-minded individual to remove suspected curse from bedroom. Every day after work I come home and there are mysterious, musky liquids on bed and my wife is passed out in the bathroom looking absolutely ravaged. Often clothes found randomly on floor. Sometimes seems like clothes don't even belong to us? Once found expensive-looking leather dog collar and leash. She always says she couldn't remember anything. I am willing to pay a great reward to anyone capable of removing the mysterious demonic entity responsible from our bedroom.
>Come to 4th residence down from Warbler Inn. You will know the place when you see small shed out front.
Is this from a video game or something