When running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, you always need lots of adventures for your party to enjoy. Side quests are a great way to break up the action of the main storyline. If the main campaign is getting a little intense, having a few side quests available will allow your players to take a break from the norm and have some fun without as much at stake.

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Side quests are also helpful when you need some extra time to work on the next big step of your overall narrative. Here are several fun side-quest ideas that will work great as a fun distraction for your party.

Updated on September 5, 2023, By Luke Ackroyd: A mighty group of heroes (or villains, depending on what kind of campaign you are running...) will always need lots of D&D side quests to resolve. These are usually small quests that will just take a session or two but can also be long-running storylines that your players can drop back into occasionally.

Whether your party is eager for a combat-heavy session or a fun bit of roleplay, you can surprise your players with many different types of side quest ideas. This D&D side quest ideas list has been updated with even more D&D quests for you to adapt into your own campaign. No matter what sort of mission ideas you are looking for, this list will have something for you to build upon.

19 Capturing A Monster

D&D artwork of Dr. Viktra experimenting in a lab with a stitched together body
Dr. Viktra By Katerina Ladon

More often than not, D&D side quests involve killing a monster or two along the journey, which can eventually become quite an easy feat for your mighty heroes. But what if they had to keep the monster alive and transport it somewhere? That's not quite as easy. To set what level of challenge you want your players to have, you'll need to decide what type of monster they'll be tasked with tracking down.

A wizard or researcher is keen to learn more about this particular creature and has offered to pay the party a hefty sum of gold to get the beast to their laboratory in one piece. How will the party go about restraining such a deadly creature? Will their spells last long enough for the journey? Will the monster break free near a town?

First, the party will need to plan the initial ambush and then how to transport the monster safely. This task involves a lot of risk, but your party will likely figure out a creative way to keep things under control... hopefully.

18 Reverse Genie

A selection of magical ritual preparations - A fairy casting a shadow spell
Ritual Preparations By Olga Drebas - Ghost Dancer By Sam Keiser

The party stumbles upon a magic lamp and is confident they are about to get themselves a chance to finally use the powerful Wish spell they've heard so much about. Unfortunately, when they awaken the being inside the lamp, it is a dishonest trickster, fairy, or perhaps a terrifying demon. The party has awoken a reverse genie that swiftly curses them to grant its own three wishes instead. The devil will continue tormenting the party until they grant all three obscure desires.

Since the party doesn’t have reality-bending magic themselves, they'll have to get creative with their wish-granting abilities. For example, the fake genie might demand an entire fleet of pirate ships, so the party gets a toy maker to craft a fleet of toy pirate ships instead. You'll have fun coming up with the wishes they need to grant, and your players will have fun coming up with their own twists on how each wish can be interpreted. It's a chance for them to be the tricksters this time.

17 Night At A Haunted House

A tiefling nervous whilst standing in a haunted room full of monsters and artefacts
Haunted Shop By Paul Canavan

On their long journey to a far-off land, the party is caught in a horrific storm. They need to find shelter fast and just so happen to be near a large, seemingly abandoned manor. They'll only need to stay here for the night, but all is not as it seems in this spooky abode. This quest idea can work as a fun filler session to delay reaching the next significant location in the main campaign, as the group has no choice but to wait out the night in this creepy location.

A quest like this lets you have fun setting the scene and crafting a tense, unsettling atmosphere. Will the players wait near the entrance or dare venture further into the haunted house to uncover its mysteries? Perhaps a curse needs lifting or a monster lurking in the walls. Your players must avoid splitting the party if they want to survive the night in this haunted manor.

16 Finding Evidence Of A Secret Society

Van Richten and a ghost studying documents and writing on a board
Van Richten By Zuzanna Wuzyk

This is a long-running side quest idea you must hint towards over time. Throughout the adventure, your players will begin to notice the same symbol hidden in subtle locations. They'll hear rumors that this symbol is linked to a secret society pulling the strings in various places across the realm. It will intrigue the players, and they'll be keen to discover where this secret society is hidden.

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You can add small quests occasionally throughout the campaign, where the players find another clue about the secret society. Perhaps they find puzzle rooms dotted around a city or hidden chests full of encrypted documents. The party must do whatever they can to gain information about the secret society whenever possible.

These little quests will give the party more information about the society and its motives before they eventually track down their headquarters. Perhaps the organization is impressed by their ability to decipher their clues and offer them one piece of advice or information that will help them with the main quest as a reward for tracking them down.

15 The Championship

Dungeons And Dragons - Yon Arena
Yon By Julian Kok, via Wizards of the Coast

A fun campaign isn't just about racing towards that dramatic ending. There should always be time for extra activities. The party could overhear about an upcoming competition. It is the grand championship, bringing together the best of the best from all over the realm.

With a rather enticing reward for whoever comes first, your players are sure to want to participate. Not only will they have the chance to gain some valuable loot, but they will also earn a lot of respect. Being known as a world champion will likely prove helpful later in the main quest. They could even gain fans they will meet from time to time afterward.

This side quest is something you can adapt to your party. There could be a fighting arena for the barbarian to participate in. The wizard could hear about a magic tournament. The ranger could try their luck at the archery championship.

These fun D&D side quests give your players a chance to show off their particular skills but also provide them with a real challenge. They will be competing against other experts and will need to come up with new tactics to prove their abilities. It will be a tough challenge. Will they overcome this and become the crowned champion, or will they attempt to cheat their way to the top?

14 Monster Of The Lake

Dungeons And Dragons - Ghosts Of Saltmarsh Cover Art of boats being attacked by sea beasts
Ghosts Of Saltmarsh By Greg Rutkowski

This is a classic side quest to slip into any town your players visit. While staying in the town, the party will overhear some locals discussing what to do about the lack of fish. The local anglers are refusing to venture into the lake anymore. It is too dangerous. A monster has taken up residence in the lake or was perhaps awoken from a long slumber. If the party doesn't go out to the nearby lake and defeat the beast, the town will be permanently cut off from its primary food source. It is a straightforward defeat-the-monster side quest.

There are so many possibilities for what could be terrorizing the lake. A giant sea serpent could be grabbing onto fishing lines. Drowned ghosts could be dragging those who dare to swim in the water deep into the depths. A siren could be luring rowboats into a whirlpool.

No matter what monster you choose, you are in for an exciting encounter. Water combat offers a unique experience, and it will take a lot for the party to overcome this to defeat the threat. Once the group manages to do so, they can discover the creature's underwater cavern lair to see what loot it has claimed from its victims.

13 The Flashback

D&D artwork of Couples dancing at the Strixhaven Dance
Strixhaven By Caroline Gariba

A flashback quest is a wonderful opportunity to explore your players' backstories further. The party could be getting to know one another around a campfire, prompting a tale from one of the party member's past.

The session cuts to that moment in the past, and your players can act it out, determining how things really happened all that time ago. The flashback could be about the first quest someone went on. You could explore how the party met one another if you started your campaign long after that point. You could even see how a character handled studying at Strixhaven. Any moment in the past that seems intriguing can be the focus of this side quest.

For those in a high-level campaign, it is a chance to briefly experience those lower levels again without restarting completely. If you only explore the backstory of one player's character, the rest of the party could take on new roles for this story.

This type of side quest will likely not influence the main storyline all that much. It mainly acts as a way to get to know the characters a little better, showing what first ignited their personal motivations. Of course, a moment in the flashback could also be significant to the main plot. For example, it could be revealed that the main villain has met some of the party once before.

12 Alien Abduction

organic spaceship floating through space with planets and galaxy in background
Spelljammer: Astral Adventurer's Guide By Bruce Brenneise
 

If you are eager to try the Spelljammer setting but do not want to switch your campaign into space completely, this side quest will work best. To set it up, have the party begin to hear rumors about disappearances and reportings of strange lights flying through the sky. The party might hide out in the wilderness to see if they can figure out what is going on.

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But, before they can react, a spaceship flies down from the skies and kidnaps the entire party. They are locked away in the brig and are flown out into space. It is now down to the party to break out of their cells, take control of the ship, and figure out how to return home.

There are all sorts of great encounters for the party to experience in Spelljammer, such as aliens, mysterious gadgets, or a sentient spacecraft. This side quest will be quite a change of pace in the middle of an epic fantasy campaign. It is a prison escape quest with a twist that your players will undoubtedly remember, even if no one else believes them when they try to tell anyone about their adventures in space.

11 Honey, I Shrunk The Players

Dungeons And Dragons - Wild Beyond The Witchlight artwork of two people racing giant snails
Snail Races By Sam Keiser

After annoying a fairy from the Feywild, the party finds themselves suddenly being shrunk down by the creature's powerful magic. Alternatively, perhaps someone replaced their health potions with a shrinking potion, and they do not realize until it is too late.

No matter the reason, the party is now smaller than a fairy. Everything around them is gigantic, and they cannot progress with their other quests until they return to their original size. Perhaps their equipment hasn't shrunk down with them to make this even more challenging for your players. They have just themselves to figure a way out of this mess.

Exploring the world at a new tiny size will allow you to try out your own homebrew rules and encounter ideas. For example, you could create a system for using little feathers as hand gliders for the party to zoom around on. The party will be experiencing their usual world in an entirely different way. Tiny threats they used to ignore are now rather dangerous. The party will have to get creative in how they navigate their surroundings. Can they find a potion to reverse the spell before they are forever stuck in their new tiny size?

10 A Farm In Distress

A farmer picking crops at Hills Of Pride's Call and shadowy monsters lurking in Savalirwood
Hills Of Pride's Call By Linda Lithén / Savalirwood By Jonah Baumann
 

A farm requires help. Something is destroying their crops at night and terrifying the farmers. Perhaps never-before-seen creatures from the Feywild are sneaking onto the farm at night. Maybe a rival farm is trying to sabotage its competitors. No matter the answer to this mystery, it will require the party to venture far out to the farm, stay a few days, and figure out how to help.

This simple quest likely won't impact your main campaign, but it is an excellent way to earn a little extra gold and allies. On top of that, the party, after succeeding, will likely have a new place to stay after long journeys. If you are looking for D&D low-level quest ideas, then a farm in trouble is a great choice.

9 Starting Their Own Tavern

Tales from the Yawning Portal Wallpaper
Tales from the Yawning Portal Wallpaper via Wizards of the Coast

During the main adventure, the party has been gifted a run-down tavern. It works as a great home base but also begins a long-running side quest. They need to save up gold to renovate the building and hire staff, and this is a side quest that the group can get really invested in. It isn't too challenging or time-consuming; instead, it's a peaceful, fun break from their everyday adventures.

Soon enough, they'll have a tavern that will rival the famous Yawning Portal. You'll be able to make future tavern side quests, such as rival taverns causing trouble, supply issues, and mysterious customers, to form a long-running side story for your campaign.

8 Escort Mission

Fleeing escapees running through a city in the dark and a group of adventurers fighting off undead in D&D
Fleeing Escapees In The Night By Brian Valeza / Essentials Kit Playing The Game By Suzanne Helmigh

The Escort Mission is a staple of video games: the party must protect an NPC from point A to point B. It is a lovely side quest to add to long journeys. There will be many obstacles that will put the NPC at risk. But, if the party overcomes these threats, they will likely have a valuable ally. Alternatively, perhaps this NPC will turn out to be the main villain later on instead for a gut-wrenching twist.

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You will want to ensure that this escort mission does not get too frustrating by ensuring the NPC is helpful, even if not in combat. Give them a fun, memorable personality, and maybe the group will want to have them stick around for the main quests.

7 Lost Treasure

D&D artwork of an adventurer using a Portable hole to steal treasure and a Frozen Half-Elf with a coin purse
Portable Hole By Alex Stone - Frozen Half-Elf By Cory Trego-Erdner

No matter how important it is for the party to take down that dangerous dragon at the top of Icespire Peak, a treasure hunt is very tempting. From hearing a rumor in a tavern to finding an ancient map, there are plenty of ways to introduce this side quest. They must follow the clues to find their way to this mysterious treasure. It could contain plenty of gold or perhaps powerful magic items.

This quest doesn't have to be relevant to the main campaign. It can just be an excellent spin-off adventure that will also help them get resupplied for the next stage of the campaign.

6 A Date

D&D Eberron Rising From The Last War Artwork of a busy night at the Boromar Clan Nightclub
Boromar Clan Nightclub By Suzanne Helmigh

Romance can often spring up in a long-term campaign. A PC might fall for another PC or NPC. Alternatively, the party could help an NPC find love on their own. Now it's time to arrange a romantic, candlelit date for them.

The party needs to ensure the date goes off without a hitch. They will have to prevent many hilarious complications from behind the scenes. If you are playing online, players could suggest romantic music to set the mood. This date works as a lighthearted break from more serious quest lines.

5 Peace Talks

D&D Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything artwork: Kids celebrating at a Festival Gathering - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight artwork: Darkling Elder drinking a cup of tea
Festival Gathering By Julian Kok - Darkling Elder By Brian Valeza

While lost on their way to their next big destination, the party finds themselves caught on a battlefield. The group gets captured by one side and taken back to their base, only for their captors to realize that they are not their enemy. From here, the group could decide not to get involved, or they could try to end the conflict. They are tasked with setting off to find the rival camp and see if they can talk this out peacefully.

With an excellent diplomatic character in the party, perhaps everything will go peacefully. Alternatively, the group might decide to sabotage one side to help the other win. Regardless of the outcome, it can be a fun side quest that could give them an entire army or two to call upon when in trouble.

4 A Wizard's New Spell

D&D Explorer's Guide to Wildemount artwork of a Wizard casting the reality break spell
Reality Break Spell By Brian Valeza

A quirky wizard has not been heard from in a while, and the local villagers are worried. A side quest like this is the perfect chance to incorporate puzzles as the party attempts to navigate the wizard's confusing, elaborate tower. They discover that the wizard was trying to cast an entirely new spell, which has gone horribly wrong. Can the party help them get this haywire spell under control? Perhaps they are taught how to use this unpredictable spell's "fixed" version if they do.

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An alternative scenario could be that an apprentice wizard has cast a spell wrong and trapped their mentor. They need the party's help to solve this mess and perhaps calm down the mentor afterward. This apprentice could become a reoccurring NPC, offering new fun scenarios for the party to distract themselves with as they see the apprentice failing in other roles elsewhere.

3 The Mysterious Portal

D&D The Wild Beyond the Witchlight artwork of the circus arriving through a Portal - Van Richten's Guide To Ravenloft artwork of Ezmerelda d'Avenir in the Mists
The Wild Beyond The Witchlight By Katerina Ladon - Ezmerelda d'Avenir in the Mists By Nikki Dawes

A mysterious portal has opened up in the middle of a village. Some have ventured inside, but none have returned, so the party is asked to investigate and see what is happening. From being transported to faraway places to even landing in an entirely different domain, this side quest offers you a chance to mix things up. They will land in a wholly different place from what they are used to, with new monsters and rules to follow. The portal has closed behind them, and they must find a new one to return home.

Your party can stay in this alternate world for as long as you decide. It is an excellent way to surprise your players if the main campaign gets a little repetitive.

2 Backstory Specific

D&D Tales from the Yawning Portal artwork of Erky Timbers in a cage and a guard trying to get through an Imposing Door
Erky Timbers / Imposing Door By Olga Drebas

Your players usually have a backstory full of characters that they hope might show up. Unfortunately, sometimes these characters don't fit into the main story, but with side quests, there is always a chance for you to explore a PC's arc without it affecting the main narrative. Having an NPC from a player's backstory arrive in need of help is a fantastic option to make your players feel more engaged with your world.

This returning character might have been kidnapped, or perhaps they have important news from a player's hometown. This is a great way to let one character take the spotlight for a quest.​​​​​​​

1 The Stakeout

D&D Essentials Kit artwork of Don-Jon Raskin - Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden artwork of adventurers approaching  Xardoroks Fortress
Don-Jon Raskin By Olga Drebas - Xardoroks Fortress By Brian Valeza

The local sheriff doesn't have enough guards to investigate the strange reports coming from a looming factory on the outskirts of town. They don't know what is going on, but they need the party to watch for any suspicious activity. This side quest will require stealth and subtlety, observing the building from afar and regularly reporting back to the sheriff. Alternatively, they might just infiltrate the facility and discover the truth themselves.

This can be a fun opportunity for your players to get lost in some fun social roleplay as they get to know one another while they wait for the action to begin. As they wait it out, they can form close bonds and hear about their backstories. Perhaps this unrelated side quest will also reveal something shocking related to your main campaign.

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