Lore-Writer's Blog: Questing & Rewards (Patreon)

Greetings Patrons! 

This has been a record month for us, thank you for your support! It really helps us.

This month I'd like to talk about the topic of Questing and how it will work in Day of Dragons. So without further ado, let's get started.

Questing in DoD is meant to provide players a means to delve into the lore of Jrakhon interactively by talking to different NPCs. Each species of dragon will have their own ancestral ancient quest giver who will keep track of your quests, dialogue choices, and quest progress. In past Lore blogs we have introduced you to the ancient ancestors/quest givers for most species of dragon, but getting to know them and their stories will happen through quest dialogue. 

When it comes to quest dialogue, your choices will matter for that life/playthrough and may open up new quests or close the door to quests, so choose wisely in how you respond to the ancient quest giver. Species quests are tracked per life of a dragon and not for your server account, so if you want to experience every possible dialogue outcome, you'll need to do that over the coarse of different lives.

So what types of quests do we plan to have in DoD? That's a good question! The first type of quest you'll see come to DoD are the exploration quests that reward mutation points. There are 7 mutation points max in DoD, 4 are growth related, and the other 3 are quest related. For dragons that spawn in the Forgotten Forest, you'll seek out your ancient ancestral quest giver (they are usually hidden in the world in places like secluded caves) and if you are the same species, they will offer you a 3 part quest chain to prove yourself a worthy offspring by visiting certain ancient locations that have significance to your species history in the other 3 biomes. The rewards for each quest will be a mutation point as your character grows in experience and knowledge of your ancestral history.

Other quest rewards may be as simple as extended dialogue options, unlockable progress hints, and even new quest chains with rare item rewards such as dragon pearls. Not all species of quest giver will interact with your species, some may interact with all and others may be rude to any but their own kind. These ancient grudges and temperaments and story arcs will encourage lore-lovers to do quests with each species.

Speaking of pearls, there are a few types of pearls in Day of Dragons, most of which are looted from killing various AI, but the two we will focus on today are slayer worm pearls and dragon pearls. Woah, wait... what are pearls? Ok, so before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's talk about inventory and tradable items. 

In a future update we'll be adding dragon inventory slots. Each dragon will have a few inventory slots in their crops. Crops are a special compartment in a dragon's stomach where things are not digested and can be used to store items such as dragon or slayer pearls. A crop is not fully developed until the Adult stage with Elders having a larger crop than Adults and able to hold more items. It will be a very small number (not more than 10), but having an inventory allows players to collect items and then trade them with other players (or loot them from other players). Only 1 pearl can be active at a time, and each pearl has different bonuses that enhance your dragon. Pearls are also lootable if you die and can be eaten by other players who have space in their crop/inventory. A player who loses their dragon will want to have friends who can loot their dragon and recover their pearls. Of the two types of pearls mentioned, Slayer Worm pearls are the rarest of all pearls, the hardest to obtain, and provide the biggest buffs and obviously are looted from the corpse of a Sand or Snowslayer Worm. So to get them you must kill a Slayer Worm. Dragon pearls are less powerful, but still offer nice stat bonuses. Each pearl will have its own auto-generated stat bonuses so players will seek out the best pearls for the best bonuses.

Your first dragon pearl could come from your ancestral quest giver, after doing the exploration quest chain, a new quest chain will be offered with a dragon pearl as your reward. But be careful how you respond to your ancestor! Certain dialogue options may be considered rude and deem your dragon unworthy. 

---We hope you enjoyed this months lore-writers blog. We look forward to adding quests and player inventory in a future update, but for now, baby steps. Slow and steady makes the game ready. ;)