Palette Quest

A place for me to share my world building before I lose my mind ヽ⁠(⁠*ﾟ⁠ｰﾟ⁠*⁠)⁠ﾉ

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Welcome to the colorful world of Palette Quest!

Palette Quest is an online multiplayer game that utilizes the WakingDream FDVR headset, compatible with v2 and newer. The fifth game of its kind to be released since the tech's invention in 2025, it's been in production for the past 30 years and boasts the most detailed sensory feedback, NPCs, and world interaction we've ever seen. Gone are the days of invisible walls and forbidden items! Gone are the days of repeating bland dialogue! Palette Quest allows players to do anything they can in real life, plus a little extra.

Though the process of creating an account is lengthy, it allows players to be matched with an ideal class that incorporates aspects of their real lives - be that their pets or their tattoos! While classes do impart abilities, the vast majority of a player's skillset is up to them and any training they pursue. As stated by 5Painters, "The goal of Palette Quest is to give people a way to live the dreams that can't be reality. Any player can be any thing if they set their mind to it."

The world of Palette Quest, called "Thisland" by the local NPCs, is a bright and colorful place made of designated "zones" with their own unique color palettes and biomes. Now that we're five months into the game's release, a total of 13 zones have been discovered by the general public with as many as 23 rumored by individuals. Players are really testing 5Painters's claim of an infinite world! I guess we'll see how long that holds up...

Hey there! My name is Sarah, and I'm the creator of Palette Quest - a full-dive virtual reality video game and ttrpg setting that runs on a system written by me with the same name, which was inspired by .dungeon - created by Batts! I started by building on mechanics to suit my party (like HP, and crafting) and eventually it became so different I realized I should just write my own. It's something I'm publishing through Forever Marsh Tabletop - a company I run with my friends. Check out our website if you want more information about the game or want to download the rules!

I've had so much fun creating the world and the people who live there, and I want to talk about it and share things without spoiling the exploration for the people that play with me. Some of them might find this anyway, so I'll be keeping most of the content to things their characters could reasonably find on the internet + their own adventures for your amusement, so sorry, no super secrets!

For the most part I'll be taking up the persona of a Palette Quest fan blog compiling all the information she can find about her favorite game. For anyone who struggles with unreality: Everything below the divider is always real (at least, it will be my real perspective) and everything above it is always in character. For now, I'll call it the "reality line" but that might be a touch dramatic... It might change appearance, but that's always what it will mean.

I hope you all can get some joy out of Palette Quest like I do, and please ask me questions!

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Starting Zones

I figure a good place to begin is with the three Starter Zones, since that's one of the first big decisions a new player has to make!

After your account has been approved and you've selected a class from the offered list, you'll be asked to choose which of Palette Quest's three Starter Zones you'd like to begin your adventure in:

From left to right, they're called the Dahlia Fields, the Emerald Marsh, and the Vermilion Jungle. Each zone has a set Starter Town where you'll spawn the first time you log into the game. They all have distinct environments with unique benefits and drawbacks, and the "best" choice will depend entirely on what you're wanting to get out of your time in Thisland.

Here's a little three-part guide so you can choose the best Starter Zone for your goals:

Dahlia Fields

Emerald Marsh

Vermilion Jungle

The first set of Zones I'll be talking about! The posts reference other Zones vaguely - don't worry, I'll make posts about the other Zones and link them appropriately.

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The Vermillion Jungle

The tees in this temperate jungle are ancient, stretching high into the sky. Their leaves vary between deep green and vibrant orange and coat the ground in their brilliance. There are villages built between the trunks, but the most interesting inhabitants of the Vermillion Jungle live above that.

Metropoles span many of the trees, boxy houses wrapping around the trunks and across the branches. Big birdhouses for big birds - collectively called the Vermillion Avians. They come in all kinds; most resemble songbirds like robins or sparrows. Most of the “villages” house only one or two types of birds - those that get along in real life. Beast Adventurers have tried to speak with them, and they seem very similar to the normal birds of the game. The avians don’t seem to remember who built the houses, which has provided fuel for many theorists and investigations. They do occasionally give quests to Adventurers they can speak with, usually asking for seeds or the removal of a predator in exchange for feathers.

The birds are not usually big enough to carry a player, being about the size of a large dog or small deer. Some of the few who are big enough to give rides might offer one as a quest reward.

The human inhabitants of the Jungle sometimes come into conflict with the birds - especially the corvids. Players might be asked to help with disputes or retrieve stolen shiny things.

Why start here?

The Vermillion Jungle's greatest strength is its position on the frontier. If you want to discover brand-new Zones as quickly as possible: start from Mandarko in the Vermillion Jungle and walk East. It will be a bit since you won't be the first person to choose that path, but it's by far the closest place to the edge of current discovery.

The Jungle is also a key part of the second major trade circuit this side of Thisland, and the Starter Town of Mandarko is one of the big trade hubs. They partner with the Forest and a yet unmapped Zone called the Viridian Tropics (allegedly to the Northeast of the Jungle). This can be a more practical entry to trade for those who can't handle traveling to the Desert across the high-level Periwinkle Mountains, and might be the best Starter Zone if becoming a merchant is your ultimate goal.

While it's not as bustling as the Fields, the Jungle seems to attract people looking for close-knit communities. It's a great place to make friends and form parties to last a lifetime (or at least the five months the game has been out). A couple of Robinhood-style gangs(?) have formed in the Jungle, so evildoers beware!

As a little context: there's a lot of trade from the Rose Desert that goes through the Periwinkle Mountains. Both of those places are high-level and would be dangerous for a new player to try to navigate, so the Jungle is a better, lower-level place to get into trade.

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The Emerald Marsh

All the abundant vegetation in this Starter Zone shines an emerald green. Very sparkly. A little... too sparkly. The waters are sparkly too, despite their murkiness, and are full of oversized lily pads strong enough for players to stand on.

The Emerald Marsh is well known for an abundance of pale pink Will o’ Wisps, able to lead Adventurers to both treasure and ruin - depending on their luck. Their prevalence speaks to the large Fey and larger Dryad presence in the Marsh, which is home to the (yet unexplored) Great Willow Tree!

Speaking of treasure, the Marsh is full of it! It’s estimated that thousands of items - and perhaps even towns - can be found in the mud. They don’t seem easy to find, requiring wisp guides and hours of work to unearth.

It's worth noting the minor internet discourse over the name of this Zone - apparently the "marsh" in Emerald Marsh is a bit of a misnomer. The ecologist gamers claim it's actually a swamp, and some insist on calling it the "Emerald Swamp" despite the official, in-game name.

Why start here?

The Emerald Marsh is a good place to begin your Palette Quest journey if you're interested in treasure hunting, exploring ruins, or getting a headstart on finding a boat to explore the Sea. It also boasts some of the most diverse and detailed plant life of all the known Zones, making it a fun place for people that enjoy gardening.

The local Starter Town, Verde, is the smallest of the Starter Towns. Most of the reasons people have for visiting the Marsh involve leaving town to go treasure hunting, so Adventurer retention isn't high. This can be good for those who want to settle down somewhere without a lot of players, but also means that Verde doesn't cater to us as much as places like Goldenlock.

The Marsh is also not a great place to go for grand-scale exploration. It's bordered by the Mountains to the West, the Sea to the East, and the River to the South. Basically, the only way to go to any other Zone is to cross the River into the Fields and spread out from there. If discovery is your main goal, you're better off literally anywhere else.

This is where my group of idiots(/pos) decided to start! They liked the idea of lily pads and frog people - which they found on session one. That's why my blog is currently Marsh themed! I'll change it to match the Zone they're in as time goes on.

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The Dahlia Fields

The sun never truly sets on the Dahlia Fields, nor does it ever truly rise. They are stuck forever in the golden hour and set alight by millions of fireflies. Long, golden grasses melt into the rich sky, where the over-abundant fireflies complement the stars. The eternal almost-night makes the opening and closing of shops a bit hectic, which may require some skill to master. It also means cities will sometimes put out mega-quests for lamp oil, or other sources of fuel.

As beautiful as it is, most come to the Fields not for the sky, but for MOTHS!! The Dahlia Wild Moths are by far the most popular MOB in the game, and the player base is dedicated to taming them. Wild moths are large enough to ride, docile, and very fluffy. I got to pet one at the Ranch outside of Goldenlock and rode it for a whole minute before falling to my death. Best minute. Despite their mild-mannered nature, they seem impossible to domesticate. Some Beast players have managed to figure out that they love honey and bright lights, but still are only able to keep their attention for short amounts of time. For now, they’re happy to bumble after fireflies...

Why start here?

The most popular starting area, the Fields are home to a few more towns than usual. Goldenlock is the most popular town for players, partly because it’s the starting town, but mostly because of the rather large Wild Moth population nearby. Many people also find it the most visually interesting of the Starter Zones because of the whole always-dusk thing.

If you want a bustling town scene, this is probably the best place. Quests are abundant and there are lots of fellow players to party up with. Just be aware that you'll have to dedicate lots of time to learning shop schedules because the local NPCs don't follow a 9-5 like we do. Goldenlock is also where you'll find Brink Crosswick, the highest-level player and first Champion. He guards Goldenlock and is pretty much always around. I met him once and he was really nice, so if you plan to stay in Goldenlock it's worth saying hi! (I might make a post about him if people are interested, the internet has lots of thoughts about him)

The Fields are also very central, so they're a decent place to start if you want to travel around Thisland. Having at least one central location locked into your map as a fast-travel point can be essential for questing later on. Its central location and popular status do mean that most people have explored all the big areas nearby. If you want discovery, you're much better off starting in the Jungle.

Biggest downsides? The nighttime gets liminal pretty quick and the fireflies only help so much. There's also a vampire problem. Kind of a big vampire problem.

Full disclosure, this is where I started - I wanted to pet the moths!

Am I a big fan of the moths? Yes I am a big fan of the moths. I will later make pictures of the moths.