The D&D Starter Set contains the adventure The Lost Mine of Phandelver, while the D&D Essentials Kit contains the adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. Both are set in the town of Phandalin, a little town north of Waterdeep that is suspiciously close to the events of several D&D Hardcover adventures. (Hoard of the Dragon Queen,
Princes of the Apocalypse, Storm King’s Thunder, and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, to name a few).
I have recently been running both adventures combined. Dragon of Icespire Peak is unusual as it does not have much of a connecting plot. Instead, it uses the idea of a town noticeboard, upon which quests are placed. More become available throughout the adventure, keeping pace with the level of the adventurers, and allowing the players some agency over what their characters do. Lost Mine has a more coherent plot, but during the third chapter, the adventurers can gain quests from the various NPCs in town.
I have run Lost Mine a few times, but this is my first time with Icespire Peak. And here is the thing I have noticed: My players have reacted a lot better to having the quests centrally located. There are quests in Lost Mine I have never run because the players did not talk to the NPC who gives that quest.
Meanwhile, I have had a few fellow DMs say that they dislike the impersonal nature of the notice board. They prefer it when the NPCs grant the quests.
Part of this is a difference in style – both of the Dungeon Master and the group as a whole.
It does make me wonder how to approach it. I think my preference is to use a notice board but keep the quest notices as invitations to meet NPCs. For instance, “Sister Garaele is looking for adventurers for a mission of HIGH IMPORTANCE in the wilderness. Find her at the Shrine of Luck!”
That way, you still get the NPC interaction, but everything is centrally located so the players can find it. A few key details in the mission description so the players can prioritise may be required.
There is more to say about sand boxes, directed questing, and whole-campaign quests, but those are for another time.
I think your combined approach makes a lot of sense.
I’d find the message board only approach to be very impersonal. Running NPCs is fun for me as a DM. As a player, I often feel like our game world is sparsely populated and a message board would only add to that sense.
On the other hand, I completely understand about quests you’ve never run in Lost Mine. After I played it twice (in different groups) I finally cracked open my copy and was stunned to find quests available from NPCs whom I didn’t even know existed.
A central message board that points to some, but not all, of the quest giver NPCs seems like a nice blend. As a DM, I’d keep some quests off the board– “Assassins Guild seeks adventurers to dispose of Mayor” doesn’t seem like the sort of thing players should just read outside of the inn.
I like the concept of the board, but not as a replacement for events linked by a story. Good point on the agency thing, I now see its a way for the player to customize their campaign experience.