Tavern Talks

Adam: Well met,

once again, valiant travelers,
and a hearty welcome back to

the heart of our storytelling
haven, the Tavern Talks podcast.

I'm Adam, and with me
stands the ever short man,

Zac: Here we are again in the midst
of our virtual tavern surrounded

by tells and tankards ready to
embark on another journey Within

the realms of dungeons and dragons

Adam: Today, our tankards are raised
in a high salute to the beginning

of all tales, the first quest.

Zac: That's right.

Picture stepping into our virtual tavern
where the air is thick with excitement and

the echoes of maiden ventures reverberate.

We're about to unfurl the map, dive
into the unknown, and explore the

significance of that first quest.

Adam: pull up a chair, join our
fellowship, and let's set forth

on a quest that will shape the
course of campaigns to come.

Whether you're a dungeon master weaving
narratives, or a player embarking on your

first journey, this is the place to be.

Zac: To the architects of new beginnings
and the sculptors of new quests.

Welcome to another adventure
of Tavern Talks Podcast.

Adam: What a wonderful introduction.

Zac: I try.

I mean, I've tried a lot.

I'm a new DM.

So I'm trying a lot of new things and
felling pretty miserably at half of them.

Hey,

Adam: we will only get
better as time goes on.

We are not experts in this
field of podcasting at all.

We're just two nerds nerding out.

That's just what we are.

Zac: Two nerds nerding out.

Yeah, that Hey, I like it.

I like the sound of it.

Adam: It's better than drugs.

Zac: Laughter Uh, it's

Adam: better than that silverweed.

Yeah,

Zac: Gandalf

said that pipe weed was pretty good.

But, let's talk about
our Let's talk about me.

Let's talk about us and
what we're going to be.

Oh god.

Adam: Solo

Zac: Red Solo cup

and, Faerun.

Red Tankard Cup.

I tried.

I tried.

Speaking of college days, I felt like
a lot of days I didn't have anything

planned, but, some days I had a quest.

Adam: Oh, my God,

Zac: A quest.

Maybe it was to the local liquor store,
or, what bar I could hop to and from, but

Adam: I thought you're going to
say like a quest to the Holy Grail.

Every good story starts
with a first quest.

Zac: We are French

Adam: I fought in your general direction.

Zac: Yeah.

Adam: mother was a hamster.

Zac: And your father
smelled of Elderberries.

Adam: Good old Monty Python.

that kind of brings us into Dungeons
Dragons, because basically Monty Python

was a big Dungeons Dragons campaign.

Zac: Yeah, but more of the comedic tone.

Oh, for a hundred percent.

and funny enough, the
grail was the first place

Adam: place.

Zac: looked at them.

and then they ran out of, a budget,
which is basically when your party

disintegrates and falls apart.

Adam: Pretty much.

So we're going to talk about you guys
and starting off on the first ever quest.

So we did the first session.

We talked about making your BBEG.

And then we talked about
how to build the world.

we'll get into more details on the world
building aspect because each one could

probably take up an episode itself.

there's no point in continuing
to dive deep until we get into

the thick of it, basically.

Zac: That's what she said.

Adam: Sure

Zac: enough.

Adam: so what's happening right now is
the first quest in your DM campaign.

If you're just following along, I kind
of wanted this podcast to go, about

the preparation work behind the scenes.

And then now we kind of get into,
all right, we're playing sessions.

I'm the DM, I'm a new DM.

And we sit, set forth and
where do we go from here?

I put them, I had them speak to an NPC
and I sent them to go fetch an item.

What is the significance of it?

What plays a role in it?

Why do we always need to
define what the first quest is?

How to guide you as the DMs themselves
on introducing quests, how to do that,

different challenges to find in there.

And then.

At the end of the session, you
always want to reflect back on

the players to gain feedback.

we're going to dive
deep into this episode.

hopefully hitting, the reasons why
first quests are important, and

different ideas to tailor yourself
a first quest to start off with.

Zac: and think of this, a first quest,
is a serious undertaking for a new DM.

I mean, I would like to think so.

I know when I was, it's nerve wracking.

my first campaign that I truly fleshed out
months and months and months on time, I

was wondering should I go your traditional
they're all gonna meet in a tavern or am

I going to have them meet in a capital
city and then them disperse from there.

these are things you've really got
to taking consideration as a, as

not only a player, but, as a DM.

I'm going to use a personal
example, just because it gives

you as a listener a little bit.

better background as to what I'm
doing, how I go about my things.

so I had a land called Azrael and
knowing me as a huge video game

nerd, I made the capital city, named
after, a fallout city named Megaton.

And it's also the name of one
of the archangels in, Christian

theology and theology in general.

So I,

Adam: 3.

Zac: Fallout 3 is great.

Did you kill, did you blow up?

Adam: the Megatonia.

Zac: Yeah, of course you did,

Adam: hate the children of Adam.

Zac: Ten penny lover.

Adam: I like bottle caps.

Zac: Hey, bottle caps are
nice, but ethics are nicer.

Adam: fine, I play unethical in
Fallout because it's just not

what I do in the real world,

Zac: so that's fair.

That's a good point to look
at but going back to it.

I made this city and I had my party
meet under very strange circumstances.

Long story short.

They found out throughout the following
session that children were going missing.

But most importantly the Emperor
of said city and of Azerail

his daughter had gone missing.

It set the foundation of what
the campaign was going to be.

It was a kidnapping.

There's no right off the
bat bbg There's no suspects.

It just gives them As a player and
open canvas, and I like that as a

dm because the more chaos I can let

Adam: give them free will at that point.

as God himself, you gave

Zac: free will and sometimes if
need be I will throw a quantum

ogre in there if you've heard

Adam: What's that?

Zac: it's basically, it's
a gentle way to railroad,

Adam: choo!

Zac: to railroad your players.

Adam: in this general direction for
no obvious reasons other than he

you pushed in that general direction

Zac: but sometimes that might give them
a little push in the right direction.

Adam: Fair enough, so who did you
give the first quest like how did you

Zac: so

Adam: Go about giving
them the first quest.

Yeah, there's a kidnapping,
but that ain't the first

Zac: So the Emperor actually set
a decree and this was a previous

party I founded in a session Zero,
which composed of my brother-in-Law.

My wife and a really good friend
we're currently playing with Madeline.

and they, they met.

In very strange circumstance to begin
with they were already acquainted with

one another that was essentially out
of the way for our session one It was a

very gentle prequel but the they decided
since they were mostly mercenaries and

Pretty much a band of hirelings that they
would take up the Emperor's Decree but

most of the city didn't want anything
to do with it because there was talk of

Gentle whispers of a cult in the
background of everything going on

and people who Went to investigate
this and kind of looked further

into it disappeared and so

Adam: their nose in the wrong place.

Zac: Correct and brown nose to the fullest

Adam: to the full length.

And they

Zac: that's one way of

Adam: In the pig stall.

They mysteriously died.

Zac: And so that kind of set
them on a general direction.

And like I said, I was a Brent,
this was my first campaign.

Adam: I

Zac: started, I didn't have it all
flashed out, but I had a pretty good

overview of what I wanted to do.

And eventually this would lead them on
through all four segments of the land.

I, I made it very generic in terms
of as well as smaller, only expected

a few months in this campaign.

it had four regents, and

Adam: they,

Zac: they, but I also,

Adam: and once you got
enough Pokeballs, No, but

Zac: and once you got
enough pokeballs, you can

Adam: I left it

Zac: no, but I had it, the one thing I
really enjoyed about creating the quest.

Is that I left it open ended and not only
did I give him free will but I Kind of

how we were talking previous episodes.

You have option a b and c.

Yeah

Adam: you always wanna
get mobs in A, B, and C.

Zac: I had it to where if they took
option c It would still lead them in a

general direction of the quest but there
was It did not have to be a linear story.

Okay I had it to where they could discover
everything they needed to and still You

Eventually get to the big bad evil guy

Adam: bad even then.

Zac: it did it just really It was up to
them on how they wanted to approach it.

and They were unbeknownst to how it would
affect the story This was once again.

I didn't have I didn't collect the

Adam: quite Kinda getting like Far

Zac: a little bit go

Adam: where you can but the choices that
you make within the region affects, like

a Far Cry 5 with the cults and stuff.

Yes.

It's you can go travel off
into the Brotherhood area.

That was

Zac: you've done there might have
and then changes the outcome at

Adam: the sisters area.

Zac: But essentially the quest I gave
him is the baseline to the story.

and

Adam: So that was your first, the
first quest is the main quest.

Zac: yeah.

Yeah.

First Quest is essentially the main quest.

It doesn't necessarily have to just
be right in their face about it.

Gotcha.

So

Adam: like Legend of Zelda's Breath
of the Wild, your main quest.

Get off the island.

It's get off the island.

Zac: Correct.

Adam: Go forth and find the

Zac: I'm not going

Adam: Zelda.

Zac: hold, I'm not holding hands when I'm
going to tell them what their quest is.

I'm just going to see how it unfolds,
but I am going to direct them.

Adam: Yeah In and you guys listening out
there and that's a good way if you want

to give them the main quest the first
time around That's a good way to do it

and then have things to affect the future
Outcomes whichever choice that they choose

once you give them the free will I tend
to do things a little differently just

because Every, like in our campaign, I
gave each one of you specific quests,

individual quests and they all kind
of line up, synchronize together

into the fruition of a whole quest.

But at the end of the day, there's
people missing or people getting

killed and, and you're trying to
find out who, who the murderer is.

But really, is that the main quest?

Not really, that's just
your first taste of a quest.

So I always like to start
off not with the main quest.

A lot of mine is figure it out
as you go type of questing.

So you may go into, Rymanford and you have
a quest of, find out about the murders.

But at the same time you end up looking
towards The other avenues the other

trinklings of other things happening
in the foreground and then eventually

you get caught up in that as well where
you're be get you've been given a choice

now to join an organization to fight
against the empire do you take it or do

you not take it and now you're going to
be sent on quests outside of rhyme for to

other cities and things so that it only
expands the quest itself so usually my

first quest is not even a Huge portion,
a huge life altering, shaping idea.

It's usually just to get them
comfortable with going out,

fetching things and coming back.

But along the way I usually have a C and
a D and an E and an F that they can do

a side quest for if they're traveling.

They can go find an old
abandoned, house, fort, something.

They can go discover things in there.

Maybe they discover some underground
rogue network along the way.

there's different things that they
can go ahead and trip over while

they're doing the fetching quests.

And that gets the players comfortable
with going forth and encouraging

them to interact with one another.

Zac: you've got more of a DIY
approach to it where you kinda, it's

similar but also different than how
just allowing them to have total.

Adam: Yeah, you don't want them to
quarterback and you don't want people

making Everybody's own decisions because
everybody has their own opinions about

what they should do So if you almost
railroad them for the first quest But

leave it open while they're traveling or
whatever they discover I did that a lot

with y'all could go down different avenues
and you can end up You know circling

back to something that affects it later
So you out there that are listening?

It's important to take note.

There's different ways to go about
a first quest you either give the

main objective quest And go forth and
find out the literal quests or you

do the little quests first and then
overall Eventually, you're going to

get a main quest, which vice versa.

The main quest for y'all right now is
trying to figure out how to defeat Zala.

Zac: the Empress, yeah.

Adam: you weren't given that as a quest.

You gave that as a, you know,
that's supposed to happen,

Zac: like a general We're

Adam: not ready for that yet.

Zac: knowledge.

Yeah.

Of the, of characters and players.

Adam: You always want to
tailor that to your party.

So depending on what composition
it's made up of, you want to

make sure that you end up.

Tailoring it to their
objectives and their storylines.

And you also need to balance
between how challenging that

first quest is going to be.

You, I also, I oftentimes
include some puzzles in there

and a little bit of combat.

I won't go into full combat on the
first quest because there's a lot to

get through when you go through it.

So I oftentimes end up having
just a tiny bit of combat.

Maybe it's a goblin ambush or a rogue
ambush or something orcs, or they get

attacked by an owl bear or something.

Zac: was the And i'm genuinely asking
this kind of when we did our first

session Was that the same session where
there were the statues that came to life?

Or was that the

Adam: that the following one?

Zac: That's right And
that not the kobolds.

I was a hooked horse Hook horse, if

Adam: you went down an avenue
where you didn't really expect

higher level creatures, but there
were there, so you had to escape.

So it worked out, but that your first
quest was, Hey, I have, it's either

Maya and A Max, Maya being A Max, Needs
to figure out what's happening to the

missing minors or you as poe needs
to figure out why people are getting

killed because there's two separate
They're you don't know if they're

connected or not But you went the maya
route with amax and trying to figure

out what happened to the missing minors
They have yet to figure that out yet.

Zac: And we have still
not figured out a murder.

Adam: you still haven't figured out a
murder because they you've been giving

so many other Quest side quests and other
avenues that they need to go discover That

those first two quests oftentimes aren't
the main objective They just started there

if they figure it out, they will and I
think they'll eventually get around to it

Zac: right?

Yeah, I think we're building into that
a little bit and that's what makes

it fun is there is that fluidity and
freedom where we can just Do our thing

And I think we are getting a little
bit hint We're getting hinted at that.

We're on the right track here and there.

Yeah, just You

Adam: Well, it's also good to create
that NPC, if you're a new DM, to

create the NPC that goes forth and
gives them that first quest, and

tailoring that to the objective.

in your case, it was the empire
for both of y'all to be sent to go

forth and just figure out what's
going on in Rimeford for you two.

Now the, with Maya's character, with
Madeline's character, I didn't give her

a quest, so you just stumbled upon y'all

Zac: in

Adam: in Rimeford.

So you end up Looking forward to
having specific NPC quest givers,

that you can create that will be a
strong foundation for other quests.

So at this moment, Jacqueline that we
have, she's going to be one of my main

quest givers for the group because they've
decided to join the revolution and she's

a part of the underground organization or
you have that, Chuck That ends up being

the other quest giver that I can also
have them run missions from So having

a central point of an npc If you're a
new dm, I would think is vital because

the once they complete that quest for
them They come back and say hey, yeah,

I saved your 11 chickens or whatever
And you discover that maybe he's not

necessarily the best quest giver So you
move on but having a central quest giver.

I I like that idea

Zac: I think it gives a good, like
you were saying, it's just a good

sense of direction for the party.

it really gives them an idea of who
they can rely on in the campaign,

but it also kind of teaches them
because your players are going to

be learning session by session.

It also teaches them that they can
take the road less traveled, on

some of these quests and it might
lead them into an even larger quest.

At hand, how we were talking about
working into The main quest at hand

versus the side quest But I think
having a centralized character like

jackie's phenomenal We've gotten most
of our quests and ideas of where to

go to are from her But she's also
really pushed the story in a very

narrative way To where it's flowing very

Adam: Yeah, and it's a central
point that y'all come back to

because she's the tavern keeper.

Zac: right?

So

Adam: you keep it that way.

it, there's a, you stay in that
one little area of Ryanford.

You're going to come back
to the tavern to sleep.

You're going to eat, you're
going to need to, get supplies.

Jackie's the main place to go.

So having that early on is very helpful
for your players to be comfortable

with getting to know the town itself,
that you have, things happening in.

it also takes into account.

when we split up the party at any time
or when you go down different avenues

of A, B, C, or D quests, when the quest
giver gives that, you also need to

be mindful of the challenges and the
choices that your players are making.

So that kind of gets into
your free will, you push your

characters into a certain way.

I, in my quests themselves, Leave it
very open ended for free will where

y'all can go down different paths And
I do a curse of Strahd where there are

certain areas that are higher level And
if you go down there as a lower level

You're gonna quickly realize that I
shouldn't be in this area and I need to

leave You introduced the hook whores.

They were there.

They're not your level.

You may be close to your level now,
but In the beginning y'all weren't

Zac: Right.

Yeah, it's just, you're an underleveled
character against an overpowered monster.

That's all it is.

And you don't want to get one hit,
one shotted on your second session in.

Yeah,

Adam: And you don't wanna, also,
you, you don't want the D as

the DM to be TP kd, you know,

Zac: Not, not that sort of thing.

No,

Adam: and it's no fun to
do that to your players.

And it's no fun to do
that to anyone of that.

you just end up not wanting to play
anymore, to be honest with you.

But make it challenging for them.

Have, maybe it be a dungeon
crawl or a mine crawl or you

go off into the forest type of
situation, but make it challenging.

and you can weave it into either being
puzzles that are challenging or you can

be it that the players are combative.

They need to be, Challenged on
the combat level and introduce

key role play elements in there.

You

Zac: want to

Adam: make sure that your players are
role playing the first quest properly

and having the NPC go along with you
can increase role play attitudes across

the board because you are playing a
character and they get more comfortable

with you acting as a character, therefore
they will become more comfortable

acting as a character as well.

Zac: and not just that, but these
NPC that you have around, like Jackie

doesn't travel with us necessarily,
but you do create other NPC like the

Owl Bear Cubs, the a dubious, you know,
characters of this sort where it does

allow us to get comfortable playing, but
it also, it guides us in a direction of.

Like with Adubius's Tower, and then for
listeners who haven't listened to previous

Adam: can find that on dms Guild.

This is it's 2 99 to purchase and
I'd suggest to go purchase it.

It's called Dubious Tower.

It's a whole one shot simulation
of them exploring a tower and they

seem to have a fun time with it.

I'll let Zach go into detail.

Zac: Yeah.

Adubius, even though we respectfully
borrowed that name for one of

the NPCs Adam and I created a
really fun reoccurring, almost

joke character at this point.

But not only that, it also provided Adam
an opportunity to reward his players.

Like us as a party once we got through,
an owlbear fight, which was really

Adam: They were level two
and they fought the owlbear.

And

Zac: one and this is
genuinely one of the leaders.

I would say she was a leader of our party.

If I had to argue it was one
of our friends, a max AKA Maya.

And AMAX had thrown acid vials on these
guys and killed them and these were acid

vials that we could have easily passed up
in the tower and they weren't standing out

or anything, but a couple of perception
checks and good rolls here and there.

Hey, next thing you know, bada boom,
bada bing, we got some acid, baby.

And not only that, like when we got
to the end of the tower, you want to

tell them what you decided to do for

Adam: so in the tower itself you can
have different treasures that they find

so I made it seem that their treasures
were given to them as they discovered

it, perceived it, and said to them
what they want, what they needed, and

I gave each one of them a helpful tool
or item that will help them personally.

Along their journey going forward so
rewarding your players on the first

quest is a must whether it be for gold
or anything But if they were able to

perceive or discover something in that
first quest give them a magical item Give

them something that can salivate them

Zac: them.

We

Adam: did all of this effort we did
something cool I felt it at that time

because they weren't getting any rewards
before then we had four sessions before

that And they didn't find anything
and I felt at the conclusion of that

they need to be rewarded now the next
session I killed a player so that it

Zac: Now, to be fair, that, our player
and our leader of the party had, she

needed to do some personal things.

So we understand, as a DM, it happens.

I'm not used to that yet.

I'm, I still can't get over that fact.

Adam: It happens.

You gotta be flexible in this world.

But, back to the first quest,
You wanna have the puzzles, you

wanna have the role play aspects.

Having the NPC go along with
that first quest will help a lot

with the role playing attitude.

I don't have that problem in my groups
because they understand and they've

been around long enough to role play and
they feel comfortable around each other.

But you can incorporate a
lot of different challenges.

Smart hooks within the first quest
if you play it your cards, right?

In their case, they had two first
quests finding out what happened to

the missing people or finding out what
happened to the murders They first

started going along the lines of the
murders in questioning the townsfolk and

that really made the town seem alive I
think a lot because they got introduced

to a lot of different characters

Zac: the butcher and his wife.

You got

Adam: you got introduced to the clergyman
you got introduced to the cleric

Zac: damn

Adam: You got introduced
to some of the huntsmen.

So they all went around
investigating just like you should

at the same time When you started
going down into the mines themselves,

you had free access to it, but you ran
into some trouble, but you found an

old abandoned wizards mine, or wizards
tunnel that was used during the war.

So there's different things that you
can hook in as a narrative perspective,

that Builds upon the world itself and
I think that's something that goes

unnoticed a lot when you're doing quests
is you're so focused on what is at hand

rather than looking around you So you
as a DM need to be careful and build

the world around itself you want to
make sure that the world seems alive

that the world It moves and changes as
much as the players move and change.

So while the players are away,
something can happen in town.

I made that happen and it
was a mad dash back to town.

So things of that nature will help
a lot when it comes to urgency, when

it comes to creating some tension and
also making the world seem alive that

you have built up from the ground up.

Zac: And think of it like a
kind of how you're saying you're

building this from the ground up.

Think of it like a well willed machine.

If this first quest isn't truthfully
thought out and fleshed out, you've

got a part of your story that is
not going to work with your party.

This is something you really
need to focus on as a DM.

Essentially I guess what I'm trying
to say is how Adam and I have been

saying, give your players the freedom
to do what they want, but also be

able to drive a narrative at the end.

Don't be scared to challenge your
players or reward them for that fact.

There needs to be a fine balance
of both things happening.

Yeah, risk and reward.

That's common thing in real life as well.

So I think, taking all that in
consideration, you're going to put

together a really well formed first.

Maybe not as comedically hysterical as
Monty Python in Finding a Holy Grail.

Maybe you'll have a killer rabbit.

I don't know.

Polymorphed yeah.

Polymorphed

Adam: wizard.

Zac: Yeah, as a killer rabbit.

That could be a good one.

Adam: Yeah, you want to go into
making sure that you're not going

to TP KO on the first quest.

So make sure you're looking at
some kobold fight clubs online to

make sure that whatever combat that
you're having in there is not over.

Overzealous from that perspective.

I love I love killing players,
but you don't want to kill

them on the first quest.

I almost did that, but it,
they just rolled poorly.

It just

Zac: Yeah, it was the shittiest group of

Adam: Yeah, it was not good

Zac: It was rough.

Adam: so at the end of the first
quest when they complete It's not

gonna happen in your first session.

It's not gonna happen your first second
session It'll probably happen like

four sessions down the line Make sure
you're you reward them on completing the

first quest now if they complete a side
quest You can determine what rewards

to give them, side quests give you some
gold and some non magical Maybe some

healing pots and potions, things of
that nature, you complete a good quest.

You complete a good quest.

They ought to be rewarded in some way.

You don't have to reward each
individual, but you can let them

fight it out over magical weapons.

I chose.

I chose to give them each one.

Helpful item and that seemed to work
out pretty well But then I also included

some other extra items in there that
they could fight over and they have and

that's perfectly fine But at the end
of the first quest make sure that you

always ask your players how they felt
about it if they felt the puzzles Were

too hard or if they felt that they were
too easy or if the combat was too easy

and make notes of that Receive some
constructive criticism on what could have

been better if they just got completely
lost during that quest, ask them what

could have made it better what kind of
guides that they need and what kind of

hand holding they'll need throughout it.

If they're brand new, they'll
need some more hand holding

and that's perfectly okay.

They don't, it doesn't matter.

You're learning in D& D whether you're a
veteran or a newbie and don't be afraid to

receive that criticism and that feedback.

Zac: Or you can just be like Adam and
kill your whole party right then and there

Adam: It just depends on
how evil you wanna be.

Yeah.

Zac: You could be really evil

Adam: for that , you always keep an
open communication with your players.

That's just how it is.

I at the end of every session, I
always ask if everyone's having fun.

'cause that's the main thing.

As long as y'all are having fun
in some way in your playing d

and d, that's all we care about.

Zac: And that's honestly the key to a
healthy relationship is communication.

Yeah.

Adam: and then at the end of the first
quest, it's either going to be more

so a transition quest into a bigger
plot point, or you're going to have

something happen that creates the next
quest in town or something far away

happens that they need to go seek out
and then that becomes a travel companion

quests while they're going to the next
town over different things like that.

And you can end the first quest when you
feel, when they feel comfortable enough.

You can end it when they have,
it's cliche, but when they

completed it on that point.

Zac: Oh, yeah, you definitely can.

And once again Don't be afraid to
do a hook line and sinker and leave

it on a cliffhanger or transition it
or be in the middle of a transition

Just taking away what you said.

I don't think I could have summarized
it better myself Your first quest

is going to be your most important

Adam: first quest is going to
be your most important quest.

Let's say you're transporting goods
and items on a cart into the town

and you get attacked by an owlbear.

And that starts the quest with
talking to the general manager, then

you go find the goblin hideout and

Zac: And yeah and I guess I can
mention this just before we wrap it up.

Don't be afraid to throw your players
right in the heat of it in the

beginning, just to add some intensity.

Adam: Add some dragons
in there, just to see if

Zac: Have them burning down the
village and they have to escape.

Are running from the law.

You did a wonderful job at that
on one of our characters, Adam.

Don't ever feel the
need to not add urgency.

Urgency adds chaos.

Chaos adds fun.

Fun.

Adam: Chaos also

adds poor decisions by players
that you can take advantage of.

Zac: Okay, that's
malicious, but No, it's not.

You as a DM need to be
prepared to players make.

And honestly, he's got,
he is truthful in that.

At the end of the day, we as
DMs are not just storytellers.

We're also players ourselves.

And at the end of the day, it is us
versus the party for versus one, ideally.

Adam: one, ideally

Zac: or, be a,

Adam: inside my head say kill them all.

Zac: You could kill them all.

Adam: just won't have a D& D campaign
if you do that on the first quest.

Zac: Yeah, that's a little

Adam: did you want to
have one in the wings?

Zac: So yeah, you do, you
want a d and d campaign?

Trust me.

Adam: Just remember these, points.

You always want to end up Crafting your
mating adventure you will you're crafting

it You want to make sure that you have
a tailored first quest to the party?

And you want to introduce a memorable
NPC that can give the quest out Maybe

it's a person that they come back to
for more quests, or maybe it's a one

time off thing You want to make sure
that this quest gives them a good

foundation of what dnd is like Such as
has combat has puzzles has an ending

and a beginning You And it's wrapped
up nicely like a bow, almost like a one

shot almost, but it's a greater one shot.

It's just

Zac: a lengthy one.

Adam: yeah, it's a lengthy one

Zac: It's a segmented one shot and

Adam: then make sure your challenges
and balancing of the challenges.

Cobol fight clubs, a good place
to go check challenge ratings.

When you introduce them.

Multiple parties and multiple
creatures into the mix.

So I'd highly suggest using that and then
make sure it's challenging for them, but

not too challenging to kill them all.

Unless you want to do that.

And then, at the end of the quest, you
can see how it can hook into another area

or a different plot line going forward.

That's just all I got there.

Zac: And Recollect, just remember
you're setting the precipice

for the entire campaign.

Adam: Yeah, unless

you want to kill them all.

Zac: them all.

Or you can kill them there you

Adam: have it, fellow storytellers.

The conclusion of another enchanting
tale here at Tavern Talks.

We've explored the realms of the first
quest, danced with anticipation, and set

forth on journeys filled with promise.

Zac: So a sincere thank you
all to all of our listeners

who've joined us on this quest.

Your presence in our virtual tavern
adds depth to our shared adventure.

Adam: As we close the chapter
on the first quest, we want to

hear from you and your tales.

Reach out to us on ex formerly Twitter,
at PodTavernTalks, on Instagram,

at TavernTalksPod, or share your
stories on TikTok, at TavernTalksPod.

Zac: whether you've crashed
crafted epic quests or brave them

as players your stories do matter
and we are eager to hear them

Adam: So, until our tankards meet again,
fellow travelers, may your dice be true,

your quests be legendary, and may your
tales echo through the taverns of time.

Zac: Here's to the architects of
beginnings, the weavers of tales, and

the countless quests that lie ahead.

Until next time, safe travels, and
may your campaigns be ever legendary.