A quest is something your character wants to do that's outside the standard, day to day vampire needs and politicking. If your character wants to gain control of a Location, they will have to quest to do that. Likewise, if they want to dig into another character's background or try to gain status from a high-ranking NPC, those would take quests.
There's really no difference between a Simple Quest and a Downtime, except for the possibility of risk. In fact, if you put in a NARRATIVE or INVESTIGATION downtime in to do something we decide has some level of risk to it, we'll just treat it like a Quest, do the throws for you, and tell you if you get a consequence. If you put in something that opens the door to a much bigger Quest, we'll just treat it as if you did the first step of that Quest, and then get you back a set of requirements to do the rest of the Complex or Epic Quest.
All Simple Quests can be done either at game or in Downtimes. Location Improvements have to be done in a downtime, though (because narrativly it doesn't make sense to be remodeling your shop at the same time you're at Gather, and also we don't want people to be trying to upgrade from 1-5 in the same night).
Storytellers may utilized simple, non-location, Quests at game for scenes that aren't a combat, or even as a step before arriving at a combat.
Example: You want to take time during game to go patrol a territory and use Animalism to see if the animals are avoiding an area? Sign up on the sheet and we may treat that as a quest at game.
Example: You are trying to sneak up undetected to the Hunter compound and fight a renowned hunter, and the storyteller decides to make it a Quest instead of a static throw. “There are two observation towers, a chain-link fence with barbed wire and patrol dogs”, and the party says they want to proceed sneakily. The storyteller says that to complete the quest to get to the fight, they'll need to pass a Simple 2 test. The requirements are Stealth 3 or Obfuscate 5, Survival or Streetwise 3. Everyone throws, and those that fail or tie take a simple quest consequence. Then the party makes up a narrative explaining what happened during the infiltration that fits the consequences, and they continue to the fight.
For Complex or Epic Quests we will set up the requirements, and then create a channel where we will post the results of throws first thing each month, and then the quest participants will use the channel to craft the narrative of what happened with your questing group.
Use our Quest Request Form and describe what you want to do (it's helpful if you list out Location Quests separately from other Quests). We'll get back to you with what you have to bring to the table in order to be able to succeed. Some quests take more than one session to complete, and you can always bring other characters with you to fill out the skills, Disciplines, and Backgrounds you need. You can read more about Quests starting on page 98 of the Mind's Eye Theatre Vampire the Masquerade Volume 2.
Losses taken as a result of a consequence (including Willpower and Blood) cannot be regained or recovered until the scenario is completed or the questing party concedes failure. Also, see our rules adjustments on quests.