So this thread goes hand in hand with another thread I'm working on regarding meaningful dungeons.  Basically, the dungeons I describe are part of "dungeon stamps."  These dungeon stamps are essentially a chain of connected dungeons across the landscape in a particular locality.  For instance, all of the dungeons might have arisen from a nation destroyed during the apocalypse and all of the dungeons in the stamp would have the same monsters and be linked together in a sort of loose confederacy.   

The quests involved in this "complex" wouldn't arise from a random inn that pops up somewhere unexceptadly, either.  It might instead come from a few surviving peasants of the kingdom who were locked in stasis (you might need a certain level of "adventuring" to notice) or it could come from some magical, intelligent, once powerful artifact.  Upon discovering these quest givers, they might fill you in on a little bit of the history of the area and notable dungeon locations that lie deeper in the stamp.  Then, they would send you on a "quest."  These quests wouldn't have to be bland errand-boy quests like "go kill X and I'll give you Y" or "go to square X and I'll give you Y."  Their completion could change the landscape or transform your soldiers or cities rather than just give you a lame pair of boots or a sword.  Your sovereign is a ruler and being of immense might and the magnitude of such quests need to reflect this.

So let's follow one such quest and see where we end up.  Italicized text is "quest text."

So first, you clear out a tower not far from a fallen kingdom's borders (that would be the dungeon stamp).  A few ghouls stood in your way, but they are easily managed. 

As your soldiers wipe their blades clean of the festering ghoul blood, you hear within the tower a strange buzz.  Upon investigating the basement, you find a group of men and women standing in an emtpy room, frozen, as though in a block of ice!  You strike a rune on the wall, and the prisoners come to life, though they are trapped in an invisible field.  Denizens of the once proud nation, they explain that they trapped themselves within the field to protect themselves from the Great Rending.  They implore you to free them and instruct you as to where to find the tools to do so: a lost library, accessible through a secret door in the ruins of a nearby, scorched city.

So you head off to investigate.  From afar, you see that ruined city has a heavy presence of ghouls... so you decide to spend some time at a much smaller, easier "dungeon stamp" along the southern border of your Kingdom.  When you return a bit stronger, you defeat the ghouls.  You get some goodies from the city and even discover a free spell in one of the above ground libraries.  There is even a special resource square that you can build on once you have cleared out the surrounding country side so you don't have to worry about as many pesky raiders.  You would have gotten these goodies regardless of whether you accepted the former quest.  However, you check for the secret door which the trapped prisoners mentioned.  Once inside, you are beset upon by a vast legion of skeletons.  You can either attempt to kill them all (though they are probably stronger than what you expected) or you can try to reach a special gem on the battlemap which will destroy the undead soldiers en-mass.  If you defeat the skeletons without using the gem, you get to keep it as a one time weapon in another engagement with other undead. 

After you rifle through the library, you find the "key" that you were looking for.  The library also qualifies as a resource should you ever clear the land of undead and build a city nearby.  You take the key back to the prisoners.  

Upon arriving again at the tower and entering the basement, a voice speaks out: "No, lord, do not use the key!  Those gentries and ladies behind the field are not what you think!  They are ghasts who meant to send you to your doom!  You encountered a legion of beasts upon their direction, did you not?  Do not heed their pleas!"

"A lie, my lord!" one of the ladies begs.  "The wicked being which speaks is what has kept us trapped against our expectations and will.  Please, use the key and release us!  Then we will help you deal with this imposter!"

At this point, the player is presented with a choice:

A. Free the prisoners with the key... at which point, they turn to Ghasts and, having been empowered by the "key," attack you.  If you are fluent in death magic, you might be able to convince them to join you.  If you don't and are forced to defeat them, you get some loot and, more importantly, you discover the source of the voice that warned you: a once powerful, intelligent artifact.  

B. Do not free the prisoners.  After you select this option, you find the source of the voice (the artifact.)  It then destroys the prisoners whom are in a weakened state and the artifact grows slightly in power.

C. If you kept the gem from the earlier encounter, you can use it.  It converts the prisoners, whom were in fact ghasts, back to their true and prior form.  Out of gratitude, one of the prisoners join you as a champion with the "ancient lore" trait and gives you a special spell that cannot otherwise be researched.  You also have a choice between converting the other prisoners into either special one time soldiers or into permanent citizens.  If you make them into citizens, you gain a special "citizens of the ancient world" bonus at your capital city.  You also find the source of the voice: the artifact.

After you find the artifact, it speaks:

Thank you Sir, for giving me life again!  That key you have in your possession is no key at all, it is an essence crystal!  Such crystals are the source of my once mighty energies, but they have been scattered across this broken nation beneath the feet of rotting legions of undead.  I can help you find these crystals if you allow me to consume them.  As you restore me to my once glory, I will dedicate myself to felling your foes!

At this point, you have another choice.  You can use the artifact against its own will to destroy any essence crystals you find, upon which you gain a small amount of essence for each.  If you do this, the artifact will give you no clues as to where to find said crystals and you must discover them on your own.  However, if you ally with the artifact, it will help you seek out the crystals, consume them, and grow as an item in your inventory.  In doing so, it will lead you directly to another set of quest chains within the dungeon stamp.

So you see, my version of quests would proceed in this fashion.  Ideally, they wouldn't be too "text heavy" but at the same time give the player a sense that they are on a meaningful adventure.  There would be multiple quests throughout the dungeon stamp and there can be all manners of ways to gain quests (simply finding clues or maps in a dungeon or discovering an ancient text which holds prophecies.)  Also, there would be a "final quest" in each stamp, with larger stamps having much harder and more rewarding final quests.  For instance, in the stamp we have been discussing, the once ruler of the kingdom may still be trapped, as a lich, in the capital city.  If you are really, really powerful already, you could engage him outright and destroy him without doing any quests at all and you would immediately get a reward.  However, if you began the special artifact quest, the artifact will eventually grow stronger and give you a special advantage in defeating the lich and his army once and for all.

Once defeated, you would get multiple "super" rewards, most of which are actually just inadvertent.  For instance, you would have cleared the entire area and no longer are your cities threatened by undead raiders.  Also, the area would be safe to build cities of your own upon the notable resources of the area.  Also, you would have greater access to the rest of the world--- to new friends and allies--- now that the region is clear.  But also, you would have a literal "reward" for completing the quest.  Upon killing the Lich and his army, ancient surivivors trapped deep beneath the city in stasis might re-emerge and start a special city in the ruins of their old capital and join your kingdom.  This city would have a whole host of special bonuses.  

However, you might follow a different course.  If you are evil or fluent in death magic, you might instead negotiate with the lich.  He might start another quest line and, upon completion, join you as a vassal kingdom.

Anyway, if the Elemental team wants to get a detailed RPG feel, I think they need to start making quests like these.