(Crossposted to google plus
https://plus.google.com/108824308973432 ... eNATeFg5zJ )
I tried to do a vaguely "Quest For It" structure in a B/X campaign I ran a while ago. I don't think I explained it very well, and it didn't end up being heavily used.
In that campaign, I frequently dropped them in a town at the end of sessions, sometimes the big city. I often told them they can do whatever they want in town, and had a few personalities they already knew about and the promise that there were many others to find.
Someone wanted to find a way to detect evil things, and consulted with a palm reader and the local churches, and managed to find a candle that would glow brighter and brighter when closer to evil. We ended up with around 3 more known NPCs, and some detail about the local religion. I failed to introduce much of a quest, just got a very minor magic item. (It ended up exploding into a roman candle when used in a horrible pit, which was the end of that, in epic fashion.)
Someone else looked unwisely into a darkened cracked mirror into a wizard's tower. They ended up losing a point of consistution as part of their soul was broken off and pulled into the mirror. The player wanted it back, and ended up seeing a vision of how their soul fragment was being used to animate a golem in a far off wizard tower, and so the quest began. I think this worked out better.
Another character playing an elf wanted to get some rangery powers. I had no idea how "quest for it" would work here. I just did some homebrewing with her on level up.
How have you handled "Quest For It" at your tables? I can easily tell them the game is open to it, but I'd like them to express these goals as their characters, starting to hunt for what they want using the leads they have available. Maybe I just need to include better information sources. In a longer DCC campaign, probably gods and patrons will be obvious sources. Perhaps non-wizards should seek out patrons also to try to achieve their goals?