RuneScape Forum Archive | A Disaster Quest

Rondstat

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START HERE

Hi all. This isn't exactly a story, but I don't regard it as a suggestion either, as Mod Stu has created some of the very best quest content in the last few years, and I know he can come up with something far better than any of our dumb ideas. Still, when quest 200 was announced, I started thinking of all the directions it could go, and ended up getting pretty carried away.

Perhaps there's someone who's a big enough weirdo to take an interest in this. And if not, it's here for posterity.

A brief rant: I know the ideas in here, and most player ideas floating around, are far too big to have a hope of being implemented. Jagex management seems to have set quest 200 up for disappointment.

Mod Stu is a fantastic developer. However, while Recipe for Disaster had an army of developers and a development time close to a year back in 2006, in 2014 when the sound, graphics, and gameplay standards are so much higher, when every piece of content has to be balanced for two different modes, they give this project to one person with an insanely tight schedule of a few months. A person who is already busy as one of the chief developers of Prifddinas, the largest piece of content this year.

And, even if Stu wanted to develop quest 200 in his own time (which he absolutely should not have to do), he wouldn't be able to, because he has to wait for the results of a series of absurd player polls to come through.

20-Oct-2014 01:25:12 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 15:16:09 by Rondstat

Rondstat

Posts: 2,770 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I don't know if this originates with IVP or if it's poor resource management on the part of Mod Pips, but every time I get a developer insight into their scheduling, it seems like they're being pushed to the limit to put out updates on short notice with few resources, especially when it comes to quests. Runescape's biggest asset is its storytelling, and Jagex's biggest assets are its storytellers. When folks like Stu, Ana, and (until recently) John A are forced to work on austerity budgets, cater to popularity contests, and are pushed away from the projects they love most, Jagex shoots itself in the foot.

Anyways, enough ranting. On to the quest!

Part 1: Starting Out
Part 2: Delrith's Circus
Part 3: Dwarves and Fremennik
Part 4: Turning the Chosen Commander
Part 5: Chasing out the Werewolves
Part 6: Varrock Museum Prison Break
Part 7: The Final Battle
Part 8: Defeating Demigod Nomad

20-Oct-2014 01:25:58 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 15:15:16 by Rondstat

Rondstat

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PART 1: AVERTING DISASTER

Requirements:

Another Cook's Quest

Skills:

cooking

Items:

none

Summary

Our last misadventure with time dilation seriously rattled the space-time continuum, and now Gypsy Aris needs us to unbake a cake in order to set things right. However, we are too late, and inadvertently end up creating an alternate reality where we never existed and Varrock is overrun by zombies, demons, and werewolves, all under the domain of their mysterious necromancer king. Now we must set right the wrongs of this alternate dimension that have occurred in our absence, or risk both timelines colliding.

20-Oct-2014 01:26:55 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 14:00:30 by Rondstat

Rondstat

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Gypsy Aris ushers us into her tent, warning us that, as a side effect of the time dilation from when we defeated the Culinaromancer , the space-time continuum has become unstable, and we are in danger of falling into another reality that could supplant Runescape! If you have not yet completed Recipe for Disaster, there's an additional dialogue~

But I never defeated the Culinaromancer.

Yes you did! Well, not 'you' you, but you will have defeated him. In the past.

Will? In the past? Am I going to have to go back in time?

It's already happened! I've explained this to you a hundred times!

No you haven't!

Look, we don't have time for this, all of Runescape is at risk.

Aris explains that some article that should have been destroyed with the Culinaromancer and never left the banquet hall still exists, and needs to be disassembled to restore equilibrium.

The adventurer talks to the Lumbridge cook who, after a heavy line of questioning, sheepishly admits that he saved a slice of cake from the banquet as a souvenir, just because he'd never seen a battle like it and was amazed that his own food could fuel such powerful magic. He reluctantly hands over a

moldy slice of cake

, which we bring back to Aris .

After her initial revulsion, Aris explains that we must 'un-bake' the cake and restore the components to their original sources – eggs to chickens, milk to cows, flour to wheat fields – while we, all the while keep trying to interrupt to ask how to unbake something. She finally, exasperated, gives us a

slip of paper

, saying it should have all we need to unbake, and tells us that it also has a teleport phrase to return to her.

20-Oct-2014 01:27:04 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 02:34:35 by Rondstat

Rondstat

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When we select 'read' on the

slip

, a dialogue box opens, and we say aloud “
C – I – S. What's that supposed to mean?
” Suddenly Evil Bob appears before us and teleports us to his island. We

cook

the

moldy slice of cake

on his range to obtain a

rotten egg

,

sour milk

, and

rancid flour

.

When we read the

slip

again, we are transported to a very different Varrock Square . The sky is dark and stormy, piles of rubble and trash fires litter the streets, trees are dead, and most buildings look abandoned. A much more haggard Gypsy Aris rushes out of her tent, exclaiming that we are the hero she saw in her vision, destined to save Varrock. We say we aren't even supposed to be there, we just said a teleport phrase and found ourself in this strange world. When we repeat the teleport phrase, we are sent back to regular Varrock.

We explain what we saw to Aris , who laments that things are worse than she thought, and advises us to proceed with the original plan (which should halt any further distortion in the fabric of reality) while she researches what has happened. We then proceed to Lumbridge, where we hurriedly hide the

egg

in Farmer Fred 's yard, scatter the

flour

in Milly 's field, and try in vain to get a prized dairy cow to drink the

milk

before dumping the bucket over its head and running away.

We return to Aris , who explains that the universe we visited was almost exactly the same except for one big difference – us. Since all reality is linked, we need to return to this alternate dimension and make our mark, restore the good we've done as adventurers in our own reality, or else we risk fading from existence entirely.

20-Oct-2014 01:27:11 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 02:44:04 by Rondstat

Rondstat

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She gives us a

pendant

she's enchanted, and instructs us to obtain an enchantment from her alter ego, which will allow us to freely travel between realities. Finally, she sends us back into bizarro-Varrock.

Back in the alternate reality, Gypsy Aris explains that a powerful necromancer took control of Varrock a year ago, and since then, each human kingdom has fallen, one by one. Currently, the new king is holding a summit, with dignitaries from across the world , and this may be the oppressed people's only chance to take Gielinor back. In her vision, the hero freed Roald and the human court, chased out the demons and werewolves from the city, raised an army, armed them, and took Varrock Castle and the Kingdom of Misthalin. The adventurer promises to be that hero, Aris enchants the

pendant

, and the

quest is completed

.

If the player has completed 'Defender of Varrock' (which they will have to anyways in order to complete all subquests), they will have an additional dialogue option *

What was the name of this necromancer?

” Aris will explain that it is Zemouregal , whose armoured zombies and gargoyles finally conquered the kingdom he'd plagued for a century. When the adventurer asks about the Shield of Arrav and the Fitzharmon family, Aris explains that all three sons died fighting against Zemouregal 's asault, and their father shortly after. As for the shield, Zemouregal 's very first act as king was to locate both halves and have them melted down, so it could never be used against him.

20-Oct-2014 01:27:20 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 02:48:45 by Rondstat

Rondstat

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PART 2: DEMON BANISHER

Requirements:

Demon Slayer
participation in Big Top Bonanza

Skills:

magic
ranged
agility
thieving
firemaking
herblore

Items:

none

Summary

In a world where the demon was never slain, Delrith has become the ringmaster of a twisted circus, putting the residents of Gielinor through fearsome, and often fatal, challenges, for the amusement of his demonic cohort. After saving Draynor's Wise Old Man from such a challenge, we must solve a series of circus based puzzles in order to save Delrith's victims. Under the Wise Old Man's guidance, we assemble the freed performers into a magic circle, and banish Delrith back into the Infernal Dimensions.

20-Oct-2014 01:27:59 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 14:01:01 by Rondstat

Rondstat

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The site of the Grand Exchange has become a demonic circus, patronized by imps and presided over by Delrith with his reluctant lackeys, Balthazar and Sergeant Damien . We approach Balthazar by the southern entrance, who asks us, “

Are you here for the show? This may not be your cup of tea.

” If we say that we want to see what's going on, he begs us to leave before saying “

too late, it's starting!

”

In a cutscene we see the villains from The Blood Pact: Caitlin splashing on a suit of armour, Kayle completely missing a ranging target, Reese attempting a tightrope cartwheel and failing; and each being incinerated in turn by Delrith wearing a very familiar blue partyhat. Balthazar tries to tell him that his punishments are a bit too harsh, but Delrith snaps at him, and warns him to step in line or else Balthazar will be the next one nailed to the bullseye.

A very tired and haggard Dionysius is pushed out of the shadows, holding a fire poi, and Delrith barks at him to perform, but the Wise Old Man is clearly about to collapse. We intervene and

perform the firemaking trick

on his behalf, to which Delrith patronizingly asks if we're some sort of hero.

When we ask what's going on, he obliges. He has made a contract with the king, that in exchange for not destroying Varrock, he gets unfettered access to its citizens. Now he forces innocents to perform tricks for his amusement. We demand he release them, and Delrith makes a deal with us. If we can ensure that every trick in the circus is performed successfully (something that's never been done), he will let them live. However, if we fail, we will have to become performers as well.

20-Oct-2014 01:28:05 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 02:57:40 by Rondstat

Rondstat

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We cannot speak to Delrith while wielding Darklight or Silverlight , otherwise he will perform an unblockable attack that drains all but 1 lifepoint, and warn that he'll incinerate us next time.

We speak with the Wise Old Man , who reveals that, though he's been weakened considerably by his ordeal, he has the key to banish Delrith from this plane. He gives us a

bundle of sigils

and a

demonic incantation

. The various performance stations just so happen to be in the perfect spots to be nodes in a magic circle. If we can have someone at each spot wield a

sigil

and repeat the incantation, “ Carlem, Aber, Camerinthium, Purchai, Gabindo, ” simultaneously, Delrith will be sent back to his dimension. We proceed to the six circus puzzles, which can be done in any order. Each is manned by an npc, either a fairy or a popular existing character (eg Hazelmere, Cyrissus, Hans, etc).

In the juggling puzzle , an npc stands on a tightrope, juggling balls. They have a strength, courage, and concentration meter, all of which slowly replenish over time, and a bar over their heads indicating what they are currently juggling. We have a chest of items *

eggs, cannonballs, chinchompas

, etc. (same as in the circus) – and Delrith will periodically call out which one he wants to see juggled. The items each have different effects – eggs will significantly drain concentration without affecting strength or courage, cannonballs will significantly drain strength, chinchompas will significantly drain courage – and if any of the bars go down to zero, the event is failed . We must select one of the items currently being juggled and replace it with an item from the chest, causing the juggled item that was replaced to be discarded. There are only three of each item in the chest, so if Delrith calls an item that has already been used up, the event is failed .

20-Oct-2014 01:28:10 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 03:02:57 by Rondstat

Rondstat

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If we can keep the npc juggling for a certain length of time, we succeed , and have a short conversation with the npc, giving them a

sigil

and instructing them to recite the incantation on our signal.

In the teleportation puzzle , there is a grid of pedestals, with an npc atop a pedestal at one end, and an empty pedestal at the opposite end. Every pedestal is occupied, most by innocuous items (bowls, books), but a few by hostile monsters (orks, dagannoth). We move the npc by selecting a nearby pedestal, causing them and the object on that pedestal to switch places. However, if they are adjacent to a hostile monster, that monster will do heavy damage to them – sustaining two of these hits will kill the npc and fail the puzzle. We win when the npc occupies the empty pedestal.

The ranging puzzle resembles the fixed booth in the circus . There are five targets, arranged in a row. An npc, tied to a stake, is being shifted from right to left, in front of the targets. We must hit each target from a distance, lining up our dart and timing its release, without hitting the npc.

An npc is bound inside a tank of water , and we must

pick the tank's lock

in order to open it and release them. The lock appears as five tumblers, each of which can be set to one of three positions: low, medium, and high. We set the tumblers and attempt to unlock, at which point we'll see which tumblers were in the right place. After three unsuccessful attempts, the lock resets randomly, and we have to start over . The mechanics resemble those in the God Statues D&D.

20-Oct-2014 01:29:10 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2014 03:13:01 by Rondstat

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A Disaster Quest