ToME WikiRavenRed: Just a small idea, that the Quest notes for a princess question could perhaps have a small chance of not telling the character what the Quest monsters are. After all, the char doesn't have to hunt around for them like with the Lost Sword quest, and they could provide (potentially) a nasty surprise if the player isn't careful...
MayLith: Oh, now that's evil..... I like it. 
(I'll probably hate it if it gets implemented, though!)
Christopher: That actually makes a lot of sense. After all, the princess might not know what those strangly pulsating giant rotting blobby things are... (*grins evily and cackles*)
BurbLulls: Yeah, and she shouldn't always be screaming its name out 'just in case anybody wanted to hear it' too.
MayLith: I like that, too.
Perhaps another idea would be for one of the monsters to drop a certain item (Like the {quest} items) that would free the Princess. This would mean that you could rush in, hope to get lucky in finding the right monster, then flee before they can kill you.
MayLith: Hm, I don't see the purpose in making the quests any easier. Part of the challenge of a princess quest is that you have to kill all the quest monsters in order to get the stair down to the next level. (You can cheat that, of course...except in Angband.)
NeilStevens: Just to clarify: it's not really cheating if you use a regular in-game means of getting around a random quest. Those means are prevented when the game developers want them prevented. Heh heh heh.
MayLith: Thanks, I should have clarified it myself. It's just that to me it feels like cheating. (<g> at the evil laughter.)
KhymChanur: Variations on the idea: the princess could be general rather than specific, shouting "Leave me alone, stupid dragons!", so you don't know what kind of dragon it is; after all, if you were shouting in annoyance at your captors, would you bother to mention their size and colour?
MayLith: And you could further leave out detail. E.g. 10 Baby white dragons are an entirely different proposition from 10 Mature White Dragons, or for that matter, 10 Great Storm Wyrms. Heh heh heh. (<--borrowed evil laughter)
Also, if the monsters are invisible, there'd be a chance the princess can't see them, and would shout "Leave me alone, stupid invisible things!"
Simon: the fact it's always a princess and that many players get to save 74 princesses makes it quite repetitive and unrealistic. There are suggestions here GeneralDiscussion/Rather Repetitive Quests on how to make them sound and look different without much effort. Just changing "princess" for something else picked from a short list would help create flavor. Can't we save a rich merchant, a little girl, a kitten, or Galadriel's sister once in a while?
...which brings the (coding-intensive) subject of different rewards from different captive types. An old sage, likely to appear in barrows-down level 1 to 5, might offer your 3 maps instead of 3 weapons. A mage might cast a few very good spells on you. An unbeliever might offer you some magic wands since all he can do otherwise is sell them. Moral dilemma could be part of the choice (do I sacrifice this princess to Melkor and keep all 3 rewards, or do I want to see her again in a few levels? Should I rob this blind old man after saving him, knowing he might be a powerful mage in disguise? Should I assassinate a good helpful unique for 100000 gold from this rogue I just saved or do I bring him to jail? Should I steal the only food ration of a little girl after monsters ate all my food?). These kind of choices would add flavor to the game.
In any case I expect the lazy coder factor to decide; so the name of the captive-monster would be something else than always princesses as the first change.
NeilStevens: A switch statement of "princess" types and rewards would not be coding intensive at all, really.
Hunter : Really evil idea? Don't have the princess shouting at all. I mean, what are the odds that she would be shouting just as you come down the stairs? And she couldn't be shouting constantly. For someone with less than 98 quests, it would provide an element of surprise. FF, of course, would still have to give you a quest, though I see no reason why he has to give it to you immediately upon entering the level...it could take place after a randomized number of turns, thus people who leave too quickly could miss it that time around.