This might be the dirtiest sounding title of any trope page or subtrope page...
Basic Trope: A Fetch Quest where one collects a certain number of a particular item that monsters Randomly Drop.
- Straight: Norman asks Hiro to gather thirty wolf pelts for him. In exchange, he'll give Hiro a pass that will let Hiro head to the next village.
- Exaggerated:
- Hiro is constantly being badgered to pick up random items for every NPC with a minor reward for him.
- Norman asks Hiro to gather a million wolf pelts.
- Wolf pelts are a Rare Random Drop.
- Downplayed: Norman needs Hiro to bring him a single wolf pelt, as proof that Hiro killed the lone wolf that's been terrorizing Norman's sheep.
- Justified:
- The pelts Norman needs come from extremely powerful and dangerous wolves that he doesn't have the strength to reliably defeat.
- Before getting the Call to Adventure, Hiro is Norman's apprentice; this kind of gopher work is his job.
- Hiro needs a wolfshair cloak to get through the Bone-Chill Mountains in order to get to the Battle of Long Road; Norman knows how to make one but can't hunt them himself.
- The fresh wolf pelts are proof that Hiro has reached the end of the Path of The Apprentice Adventurer, and thus is skilled enough to be allowed to go through the North Gate.
- Inverted:
- Norman needs to borrow a pass that Hiro carries; Hiro tells him he can only have it if he first brings him a bunch of rabbit feet.
- Hiro wants to gold-farm the Money Spiders, but he needs to find a rare Spider Trap before he can.
- Norman tasks Hiro with giving people a certain number of things (for example, distributing a hundred flyers or delivering fifteen pizzas).
- Subverted:
- Norman is going to send Hiro on the fetch quest for pelts, but Hiro points out he has enough already and Norman just gives him the pass.
- Hiro asks if Norman would accept some of his billions and billions of credits instead. Turns out he will.
- Double Subverted:
- However Norman realises that while he has enough Wolf Pelts he needs Hiro to get him some bear asses, or he won't hand the pass over.
- He'll take the money for the pass, but Hiro's going to need a wolfshair cloak. Norman can make him one, but guess what it requires?
- Parodied:
- Norman is perfectly capable of killing the wolves, which are just wandering around in a glade just twenty yards away. Hiro points this out, but Norman just smirks and says "Go kill some wolves, smart guy."
- Hiro hands over the wolf carcasses and says "you know those wolves are full of jewels... for some reason?" Norman just says "what good are jewels? I'd only use them to buy wolf pelts. Mmm, I love wolf pelts..."
- Norman asks Hiro to find twenty bear asses. Hiro, sick of hunting down normal bears who don't drop the item, sets out to find the legendary Twenty-Assed Bear and deliver 20 Ass Shoves to harvest the item. Squick ensues.
- Fed up with doing a bunch of ridiculous quests for Norman, Hiro decides to bring him his twenty bear asses.
- Zig Zagged: People want all sorts of things from Hiro. Some are happy to help, some just want money, some want specific goods as a favour while others need them for the precise job Hiro is asking them to do. Some of them will refuse to help until he runs their errand, but others will help him on credit.
- Averted: Hiro never has to do a farming quest. And the player rejoiced.
- Enforced:
- This game isn't long enough, lets add some long, repetitive, easy-to-program-in quests that have nothing to do with the story.
- MMORPGs need people to keep playing monthly and can't have them burn through the content too quickly.
- Lampshaded: "Why does everyone I run into require me to kill lots of wildlife for them?"
- Invoked: Norman is secretly working for the villain, doesn't want Hiro to get past, and keeps sending him on fetch quests to slow him down. If you want to get past him, Violence is the Only Option.
- Exploited: Hiro wants something from Norman, so he seizes the opportunity to get all his chores done for him.
- Defied: Norman gives Hiro an inane and stupid fetch quest, and Hiro reminds him he's SAVING THE WORLD and doesn't have time for that nonsense. Norman either gives up the pass or Hiro just punches him out and takes it.
- Discussed:"Let me guess, you won't give it to me unless I fetch you 20 Bear Asses or some equally random crap?"
"Er, no? I'd prefer cash, really..." - Conversed:
- Deconstructed:
- People come to rely so much on Hiro running errands for him that he never gets around to the whole world-saving deal.
- Hiro gets dollar signs in his eyes and decides to set up his own Dungeon Shop instead of continuing on his quest. Seems much more lucrative.
- The giant wolves Hiro has been thoughtlessly massacring in every town he's visited were werewolves, who would have gladly joined him in overthrowing the evil vampire count if Norman hadn't slyly conscripted him to get rid of them.
- Reconstructed: Doing these seemingly pointless errands helps build Hiro's power to take on Emperor Evulz. Also, having to do things for others teaches Hiro the world is not just about him, and when he comes up against the boss his 100% Heroism Rating causes all the people he's helped in the past to come to his aid.
- Played For Drama: It turns out the bears Hiro killed were the pets of someone Norman didn't like. Hiro did Norman's dirty-work!
Want to get back to 20 Bear Asses? I can let you past, but first, I need you to add fifteen relevant Pot Holes to the text on this page...
