Dungeons and Dragons

Have a few partial ideas, and draw a quick map, draw some locations on it. Create a few npc (say 3) characters that you understand their purpose. Starting location has job postings or all NPCs know where to point you to find the postings. IF you can get the group to travel together to the first location then npc1 know step one of a quest you want to guide them towards with the promise of something interesting that the group may want.

Maybe it's easier to picture it as a game of hidden ball/cups at first. If the locations on the map are vague enough or you NPCs vague enough no matter where the users go you can have said NPC that lived at the large house at the end of the hill, or caught walking from visiting so-and-so at the edge of town, the grocer, the salon. Pointing to whomever you wanted on your story.

Shit I had one quick set up I did where the starting point had 6 pictures of the inn keeper strung around the entrance room. Just for a chuckle I had each character meet the inn keeper to escape the storm where their characters would start off. All 6 inn keepers were actually sixtuplets and never mentioned their brothers also working there, but supplied different answers or bias. By the time they figured out the pictures on the wall matched there being sixtuplets all the members were working together to figure it out/figure out what they needed to do to successfully avoid arrest for 2 of the members killing 4 of the inn keepers because they thought they were continuously being lied to.

Basically just have fun. It'll all work out.

Oh and create a few known to you creatures that plague the roads outside of towns, their numbers unknown, how wide spread they are, whatever.