Let's see if we can generate quests with simple story cubes!
A while ago, I purchased story cubes from Flying Tigers because they looked nice, but never actually used them. At first glance, it seems hard to link the results with fantasy oriented quests. However, if you extrapolate a bit on the meaning of each symbol, it is possible to get pretty original quests.
1) Expedition accross the snowy forest Here is what I got on my first roll:
|  |
Which gives the following quest: the characters have to escort a group of scholars from a city to another, accross a forest cursed to be ice cold and filled with snow monsters; special equipment is required to succeed this quest.
2) The missing ornithologist Here are the results of the second roll:
|  |
Which I interpreted this way: an explorer with a passion for rare birds went missing after he followed strange prints, which actually belonged to a dangerous predator. He has to be found quickly or he will die from dehydration.
3) The fake magician And finally, here is for my third try:
|  |
The resulting quest is: a con artist promised the village elder that he would stop the drought that threathens the harvests by casting a rain spell in exchange for a lot of money, but they left without doing anything to stop the famine.
I am actually quite happy with these results! It is not easy to come up with an idea right away, just by looking at the dice. Assigning a broad meaning to each symbol definitely makes it easier to shape a short story that includes all elements.
In a future post, I will continue to share my tries at this!