Step 5: Quest System
Now we have items, characters, and locations - time to connect them with a quest! We’ll create a simple but complete quest that:
- Introduces Master Chen to the player
- Creates a goal - help restore his tea house
- Uses our items - player needs to gather tea leaves
- Rewards progression - unlocks his shop when complete
This demonstrates how quests tie all your mod systems together into a cohesive experience.
Why This Quest Structure Works
The quest we’ll build follows a proven pattern:
Discovery → Goal → Collection → Reward
- Discover Master Chen - Player finds him by his abandoned tea house via quest distribution
- Learn his story - He explains the tea house’s history and asks for help
- Collect tea leaves - Gives purpose to our items and creates gameplay
- Unlock the shop - Creates lasting progression and rewards helping
This structure works because each step naturally leads to the next, and the reward (shop access) makes the effort worthwhile.
Creating the Tea House Quest
Create src/modContent/quests/teaQuests.ts:
import { Quest, EventStep } from 'afnm-types';
import { greenTeaLeaves, brewedGreenTea } from '../items/teaItems';
export const restoreTeaHouseQuest: Quest = {
name: 'The Forgotten Tea House',
description:
'Help Master Chen restore his abandoned tea house to its former glory.',
category: 'side',
steps: [
{
kind: 'speakToCharacter',
hint: 'Find Master Chen in Liang Tiao Village',
character: 'Master Chen',
event: [
{
kind: 'speech',
character: 'Master Chen',
text: 'Greetings, young cultivator. I see wisdom in your eyes - perhaps you could help an old tea master?',
},
{
kind: 'speech',
character: 'Master Chen',
text: 'My tea house has been abandoned for years. If you could bring me 5 Green Tea Leaves, I could brew something special and reopen the establishment.',
},
{
kind: 'text',
text: 'Master Chen looks hopeful as he explains his situation.',
},
],
},
{
kind: 'collect',
hint: 'Gather 5 Green Tea Leaves for Master Chen',
item: greenTeaLeaves.name,
amount: 5,
},
{
kind: 'speakToCharacter',
hint: 'Return the tea leaves to Master Chen',
character: 'Master Chen',
event: [
{
kind: 'choice',
choices: [
{
text: `Give Master Chen the tea leaves (Requires 5 ${greenTeaLeaves.name})`,
condition: {
kind: 'item',
item: { name: greenTeaLeaves.name },
amount: 5,
},
children: [
{
kind: 'removeItem',
item: { name: greenTeaLeaves.name },
amount: '5',
},
{
kind: 'speech',
character: 'Master Chen',
text: 'Perfect! These leaves have excellent qi resonance. Watch as I restore the tea house!',
},
{
kind: 'text',
text: 'With ancient techniques, Master Chen channels qi through the tea leaves, causing the dilapidated building to shimmer and restore itself.',
},
{
kind: 'flag',
flag: 'teaHouseUnlocked',
value: '1',
global: true,
},
{
kind: 'speech',
character: 'Master Chen',
text: 'My shop is now open! Take these brewed teas as thanks for your help.',
},
{
kind: 'addItem',
item: { name: brewedGreenTea.name },
amount: '2',
},
],
},
{
text: 'I need to gather more tea leaves first',
children: [
{
kind: 'speech',
character: 'Master Chen',
text: 'Take your time. The tea house has waited this long - it can wait a little longer.',
},
],
},
],
},
],
completionCondition: 'teaHouseUnlocked == 1',
},
],
rewards: [
{
kind: 'item',
item: { name: brewedGreenTea.name },
amount: 2,
},
{
kind: 'money',
amount: 100,
},
],
};
Why This Design Works
This quest structure follows best practices:
Imported references - We import items from teaItems.ts and use greenTeaLeaves.name instead of hard-coding strings like 'Green Tea Leaves'. This prevents typos, makes refactoring easier, and ensures consistency across your mod.
Clear progression: Each step builds on the previous one
- Step 1: Meet Master Chen and learn the problem
- Step 2: Collect what he needs (creates gameplay)
- Step 3: Deliver and see the result
Proper item checking: Uses choice conditions to verify the player has the required items before allowing the completion.
Meaningful consequences: The quest permanently unlocks Master Chen’s shop through the teaHouseUnlocked flag.
Player agency: Players can choose when to complete the delivery, and there’s a polite exit option if they’re not ready.
Reasonable requirements: Only 5 tea leaves makes the quest feel achievable without being tedious.
Registering the Quest
export function initializeTeaQuests() {
console.log('📜 Adding tea house quest...');
window.modAPI.actions.addQuest(restoreTeaHouseQuest);
console.log('✅ Added The Forgotten Tea House quest');
}
Connect to Your Mod
Update src/modContent/index.ts:
import { initializeTeaItems } from './items/teaItems';
import { initializeTeaCharacters } from './characters/teaMasters';
import { initializeTeaBrewery } from './locations/teaBrewery';
import { initializeTeaQuests } from './quests/teaQuests';
function initializeMysticalTeaGarden() {
console.log('🍵 Initializing Mystical Tea Garden Mod...');
// Dependencies first - items, characters, locations
initializeTeaItems();
initializeTeaCharacters();
initializeTeaBrewery();
// Quests last - they reference everything else
initializeTeaQuests();
console.log('✅ Mystical Tea Garden Mod loaded successfully!');
}
initializeMysticalTeaGarden();
What We’ve Created
Our quest creates a complete gameplay loop:
- Discovery: Player meets Master Chen in the village
- Challenge: Player must gather tea leaves (interaction with our items)
- Resolution: Quest completion unlocks the shop permanently
- Reward: Player receives immediate items plus ongoing shop access
This demonstrates how quests bind all your mod systems together - items become quest objectives, characters provide the story context, and completion unlocks new features.
How Quest Progression Works
Step-by-step advancement: Each quest step must complete before the next becomes available. The first step introduces Master Chen, the second tracks tea leaf collection, and the third handles the delivery.
Conditional choices: The final step uses item conditions to ensure players actually have the required items before allowing completion.
Completion conditions: Only the final delivery step needs a completionCondition because players might visit Master Chen multiple times before they have enough tea leaves.
Next Steps
Now we need to distribute this quest automatically to players, as quests aren’t automatically added to the journal. We’ll create triggered events that give the quest when players visit Liang Tiao Village.