[suggestion]Random event quests

Hmm. Fountain, yes. Knowing the location of the estate makes sense (the person being escorted knows their way home). And knowing the location of the caves generally makes sense, because someone is recruiting you to check out THAT cave (and should thus know where it is).

Now, that said, I think that having to search for the destination would be a cool element if included in quests where it fit the story ('There are bandits laired in the wilderness, somewhere in this general area').

Hmm.. I agree with the observation of "Go exactly here and kill stuff" quests become dull if they are the only type encountered.

You mentioned wider area searches?  I would like to make some further suggestions.

If players can be given quests that do not limit the completion location to a single non-movable location, I would suggest locating the goal thus:

1 - Bound a given area by lines, tile types or enemy types and randomly choose one tile to complete the goal.

*** Go to the Keral Forest (region of forest named on the map overview) and kill the Jabberwocky

*** Go through the Ulian Planes (a large plane) to the hills of Bilgor ( a small set of hills in the Ulian Planes) and find the hidden treasure.

*** Enter the Worgan Deeps (deep forest occupied by lots of Worgan) and kill the Worgan Den Mother

2 - Describe the area to the player as a location with a certain tile type

*** Find the cave occupied by the Dyrzat and bring back its eggs.

*** Search the shores of the Broade Sea and discover the whereabouts of the Dandy Maiden

3 - Create an NPC unit that flees from the questing player's units and flees from the players territory

*** A thief has made off with the secrets of our Library, find him before he sells that information

*** The assassin has escaped the Royal Guard, pursue him, find out his master, and then dispose of the body.

4 - Create an extremely strong NPC unit that attacks the questing player's units on sight and slowly approaches and attacks their villages.

*** The chant of Qizso has awaken an ancient mountain god.  Slay the beast before he destroys us all.

*** Your financial dealings have not gone unnoticed.  Droknan has sent his best assassin to reclaim his debt.

5- Create a landmass that is invisible unless a unit is less than a certain distance from its shoreline (regardless of sight distance)

*** Stories tell of a forsaken land far to the southwest that no mapmaker has ever drawn.

6- Designate one player unit as the target of the quest. Quest is complete when the unit is under command of the sovereign.

*** Rumors tell of a hero amongst the soldiers, one who acts in secret, serving the empire well.  Only under command of your sovereign will you discover this soldier's identity.

7- Designate a random traveling NPC as the target.  Quest is complete when the player recruits the NPC.

*** Legend tells of a wise old sage, traveling the world with his dog.  Surely his wisdom might aid our cause.

*** After the fall of Uqipwe, the Earl of Bastuen lost everything.  Now he roams the world as an adventurer avoiding politics and the fate of nations.  Find this man and you will find the answers you seek.

A lot of cool ideas here.  I'd like having new quests become available beyond those at the inns at map creation, and it'd certainly be nice if there were more than just FedEx and "Go to location x and kill the baddie" quests.

A few ideas of my own:

An NPC appears at a town and offers the player a major quest - something with a major reward but that will possibly require a big change in the player's plans in order to achieve it, or maybe something with some element of risk or cost - ie:

• The fabled Hidden City of Gold has been struck by a terrble plague or curse and one of its citizens has come to beseech you to help them.  You must redirect your research to find the cure and then bring your sovereign to a special location to cast it, all within a certain number of turns.  Reward: a higher level city appears and is given to your control.
• A legendary master artist has offered to build a great monument in your city, but requires lots and lots of gold and materials and metal to do it, which the player will likely have to save up for, over many many turns. Once built, the monument will provide a large boost to the city's economics and prestige.  Possibly even let the player choose to pay more for a larger monument with bigger benefits, or choose the type of monument (ie: war monument gives unit training benefit, etc).
• A suspicious wanderer has arrived at your town and is offering to sell a map to a "great treasure".  If purchased, a new location appears on the map that must be explored.  It may have a great treasure perhaps guarded by a powerful beast, or a minor treasure, or perhaps be a trap with an enemy but no treasure at all.
• A mysterious wizard appears and offers a powerful boon in exchange for some of your sovereign's essence.  The player may select from a few options for the boon such as maybe a huge research boost ("Knowledge"), a mana boost ("Power"), a bonus sovereign talent ("Skill"), etc.

I do like this.