Should I address the issue that I am the only player who didn't receive a quest card?

Question

Our campaign started and everyone got a quest card... except for me. Is this my problem?

• One player's objective is to track the foes that wiped out her village. Her village is the same as mine, so it might be a common goal, but she got the card because I stated my objective is to pay off a student loan in the first place. I don't want to barge into other player's goal, although my character does have motive to do so.
• One player's quest is to find an item. It might not be found in this campaign.
• One player's quest is tracking some cult from her past.

I stated that my character's objective was to pay off a student loan, get youth support from the city, and write an impressive student report to get the support. When we went to the city, they offered no sort of support. The GM said it was difficult to make one for me and she didn't seem to think it was an issue. I understood why I had no quest card because there is no support. That's why she couldn't make one.

Hence, my objective just became to get money, which is really no direction and lame.

The other player said cards were great because they give us directions, which means I don't have a direction. So really I'm just tagging along without any direction.

So other players don't seem to think this was an issue or anything. Our campaign is just starting and my mood is a bit sour. Not sure if I should address the issue.

Answer 1

Clearly this is bothering you, so yes, it's something you should discuss with your GM. If the answer is that your character's story and goals don't lend themselves to a quest card, then you and the GM should work to alter your character's story and goals until it does provide some kind of story hook.

It's not strange that the GM wouldn't suggest that themselves. A lot of players can be very protective of their characters and don't like the GM trying to alter things to fit better, which makes a lot of GMs hesitant to suggest any alterations. (Once, I was rebuffed from suggesting a change to a character's backstory to tie it into a plot point with a very annoyed "Why don't you just play my character for me?!") If you are the one to suggest it, the GM may be entirely willing to work with you and just didn't want to be the first one to bring up the idea.

Answer 2

Work with your GM to find out a goal

Perhaps the GM is short on inspiration. It is hard to plan goals for each character in the campaign. Moreover, that is not typically what a GM should do. A player is in a much better position to figure out what they want for their character. The GM would be able to arbitrate and work that into the campaign.

To start the process think of what you might want. Even if it is a very long term goal, like finding out the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Or might even be short-term that will be fulfilled in a couple of sessions. Approach the GM with the suggestions and see what they think. They might be enthusiastic about one or prefer not to deal with another. Discuss and workshop the goal and you should arrive at a goal that both of you like. The GM can then work out the details of what clues you would have to start on the path, as well as integrate this quest into the world.

Here is an example of how that might look: You mentioned that there is a shared background with another player where a village was wiped out. Perhaps you are interested in using this as a jump-off point. Think whether your character would want revenge, or perhaps grieve, or maybe secretly rejoice that the village is not there any more. Given they seem the bookish sort, perhaps the character is also interested in tracking down the attackers of the village but only because for a slightly different reason than the character that already has the goal:

Player: "So, I figure that my character always low-key hated the village. It felt limiting. Going to the city felt like a breath of fresh air. However, I would like to still track down the attackers because they stole a priceless book of knowledge that was in my character's family for generations."

GM: "Interesting. I like you having somewhat shared goal. But the way I planned the brigands, they were not into books. Can this instead be an ornate tapestry that shows history?"

Player: "Yes, that works for me. I think I want the tapestry to be the history of my family. I think my character would be most motivated by this."

Answer 3

Don't make boring quest cards.

Making money is a common goal of most people. Money helps you do things, money moves stuff along. It's not a dramatic and interesting goal that others can support or oppose. People tend to play fantasy games for escapism and excitement, not student loans and book reports.

You shouldn't have as a quest anything that's just common sense- get stronger, get richer, get smarter, level up, get more magical items- those are things everyone is already doing.

Either go for mystical knowledge or wealth

You have two separate goals and either could be made into a more fun goal.

For example, what if rather than trying to turn in a student report, you were trying to discover some lost secret of magic? Learn how to teleport, to heal, to create permanent objects. Any of those could work well in the campaign.

Alternatively, you could focus on the money. Some foe wiped out your village. Perhaps there was some stolen item in the village of great value you could track down? Perhaps there's a dragon horde to liberate.