One of the best all-around MMO-RPGs of today is still one from yesterday. Old School Runescape has the perfect combination of grinding, combat, nostalgia, and story-driven quests to offer a complete RPG experience, especially now that the game's more tedious tasks (and everything else even) can be completed on mobile.
A huge part of OSRS's appeal is the quests. While many are simple gathering or hunting, there are many that are full of short narratives, with characters, twists, turns, and even some creative problem-solving. Here are ten quests in particular that every free-to-play player should pursue.
10 Restless Ghost
This quest is quick and easy enough that it is easily an afterthought, but it's worth doing for sure. The quest tasks you with helping a ghost transition to the afterlife. It is a light task, only needing you to do some quick running around in the cemetery where the quest starts.
The only difficult part of it is a level thirteen skeleton that guards the alter you interact with to complete the quest, however, all of us pro gamers know that low-level players can just run past him, which will embarrass more than death in battle ever could. The reward is just over a thousand prayer, but hey, that's less bone burying to do.
9 Pirate's Treasure
This quest is a fantastic one for fresh players, as it requires you to traverse a lot of terrains, and doesn't require any tough combats. The premise is simple, bring Redbeard from rum from the neighboring isle of Karamja and he will part with a map to a pirate's treasure.
The fun comes from getting the rum back to the mainland, as there are strict laws against bringing it across waters. It's a fun little brain teaser with a cool solution. After getting the rum, it's as easy as following the map and digging.
8 Doric's Quest
A basic little quest that has a nice payout for completing. Doric the dwarf will only allow you to use his anvils after handling an errand for him. All the player has to do is gather a few basic items that can be bought for cheap, mined, or found.
The quest gives over a thousand mining experience, which is huge for a new player, making this quest the absolute best way to start your mining grind.
7 Ernest The Chicken
This wacky quest is built on the humor that Runescape is often filled with. A wild scientist has accidentally turned his assistant into a chicken and now calls upon you for help. Moving about Draynor Manor and gathering the materials needed is simple enough, with a couple minor threats.
Overall, the quest is pretty fun, with the science lab aesthetic being a nice change of pace, and the actual solving takes a little bit of creative thinking, which is always nice. Plus, the reward comes with three-hundred coins, so this is a great introductory quest.
6 The Knight's Sword
The task of recovering a ceremonial sword seems pretty cut and dry until you start it. Every time it seems like you are coming up on the end of the quest, you are sent to a new character who needs something from you. The whole thing takes a while, but each section trains different skills so the time is overall well-spent.
The real reward, however, is upon completion. The quest pays out over 12,000 in smithing experience, which is a massive boost to the skill.
5 Misthalin Mystery
This quest doesn't take nearly the effort or pay nearly the reward, of many of the others on this list, but it is still one of the best just for being so much fun to do. It is the perfect quest for a new Runescape player, as it takes no skills beyond your brain, and is a great introduction to the out of the box thinking the game will want from you going forward.
The basic premise is that you are in a rundown mansion where a killer sporting a mask based on the Ghostface character from Scream is picking off everyone inside. It's a surprising, but welcome crossover. You simply have to search for clues, then use them to solve the puzzles of the manor, and stop this sadistic killer.
4 Vampire Slayer
This quest is brilliant in its simplicity. The problem is laid out clear as day. There is a vampire that needs to be slain. From there it is on the player to gather the necessary materials to get the job done.
All that is truly necessary is a hammer and a stake, obviously, but the player can make their life a lot easier by bringing garlic or a few other items that have natural effects on weakening the vampire. It's those little nuances that make OSRS's quest system so entertaining.
3 The Stronghold Of Security
Okay, I am going to cheat here, but as we all know, Runescape is all about bending the exact rules to make things work, so just consider me to be doing that. Instead of a quest here, I am going to note a dungeon.
Specifically, The Stronghold of Security. Located near the barbarian village, this dungeon is loaded with monsters of varying levels and clearing the entire thing is quite the feat, but it is worth it just for the high-level gear, and the fact that it is a nice thing to work towards after completing the limited quest collection available to non-members.
2 Demon Slayer
Okay, so this quest can be fairly annoying and doesn't have incredible rewards, but it is still narratively a very satisfying adventure and was one of the very first big quests available in the game, so it's a classic that shouldn't be skipped.
The quest requires you to gather three keys, dispersed far around the world, to then be traded for a magic sword that can be used to kill the almighty demon that evil wizards are in the middle of summoning. Plus, it's the quest I couldn't beat as a kid, so if you won't do it for the good of humanity, go kill that evil monster for me.
1 Dragon Slayer
The original end-quest of Runescape is still the most daunting task a free player can take on. The epic quest requires the player to do a ton preparing, as the quest is not only the hardest for non-members but one of the longest.
After the lengthy gathering section, you will make the actual trek, and go to slay the titular beast of the quest. Right after you kill a series of increasingly challenging lesser bosses. Then, finally, you will face the dragon and likely die, potentially a lot. The quest is hard, but the fights feel grand, and the rewards for completing it are even grander.