RuneScape Wiki
Register
Advertisement
This article is about the main quest. For the miniquest, see Rag and Bone Man/Wish list.
Queen help book
This article has a quick guide found here.
Quick guides provide a brief summary of the steps needed for completion.
[view] [talk]

Rag and Bone Man is a quest during which the adventurer collects bones for the Odd Old Man.

Official description[]

Everybody needs some body, and the Odd Old Man knows exactly which bits of those bodies he needs. Can you help him finish his extensive and extremely creepy collection?

Development team[]

Walkthrough[]

Start pointQuest map icon
Rag and Bone Man icon
Go east of Varrock, past the earth altar, to Silvarea. The Odd Old Man is in a little quarry just north of the path.
Member requirementP2P icon Members only
Official difficultyNovice Novice
Official lengthMedium to Long
RequirementsSkill requirements are not boostable unless marked with a [B] for boostable. The ability to defeat a level 52 monster.
Items requiredItems from the tool belt are not listed unless they do not work or are not automatically added.
Recommended
Enemies to defeat
  • See list below.

Starting out[]

  • Go east of Varrock, past the earth altar as if you were travelling to Canifis (north of Digsite) and half way there, you will find the Odd Old Man in the limestone quarry to the north.
  • Talk to him, and he will tell you that he needs several bones to complete his collection.

Seeking bones[]

Here's a list of the creatures you need to kill to obtain bones, and their locations (Talk to the old man before you begin gathering).

  • Just south of the eastern Varrock mines Giant rats, Unicorns, Rams, Goblins and Bears can all be found within close proximity of each other.
Monster Drops Location
Goblin Goblin skull Near Lumbridge, south of Varrock, west of Al Kharid, and north of Ardougne.
Big frog Big frog leg In Lumbridge Swamp Caves (Giant frog does not work).
Bear Bear rib South of Varrock, above Varrock Sewers, or north of Falador. Bears near Ardougne also work.
Ram Ram skull In the northern end of Lumbridge (in the paddock full of sheep), the Wilderness wall ram north of the Monastery, south of Varrock, or north of the Crafting Guild (by the Makeover Mage)
Unicorn Unicorn bone South of Varrock, west of Catherby, Draynor Village and Lumbridge Swamp, south of Edgeville, or on Entrana, west from the Law altar.
Monkey Monkey paw Just north of Karamja Lodestone, south Karamja, east of Karamja volcano, Ardougne Zoo. (Must have 33 Magic for Telekinetic Grab if you choose to go to Ardougne Zoo. Also bring a staff and/or extra runes to kill a monkey.)
Giant rat Giant rat bone Southeast of Varrock, Varrock Sewers, Lumbridge Swamp, west of Varrock Mine, near Port Sarim Prison and the Barrows Tunnels (not recommended unless going there for other reasons)
Giant bat Giant bat wing Yanille dungeon or south-west of Catherby, Heroes' Guild or Karamja Volcano. Also within the gates near Captain Lawgof south of the coal trucks and north of Ardougne (Dwarf cannon location). Also in the goblin dungeon just outside the east wall of Fishing Guild.

Polishing the bones[]

Once you have collected the bones, go to Draynor Village and talk to Fortunato (found by the market square) there. He will be able to sell you some jugs of vinegar for 1 coin each. Do not steal from the market stall or he will not talk to you unless you use vial of stench (a)). After you buy 8 Jugs of vinegar talk to the Odd Old man for further instructions. You can buy the Jugs of vinegar and add it to the pot without talking.

  • Use a jug of vinegar with a pot to get a pot of vinegar, and then use the bone with the pot of vinegar to get a bone in vinegar. Repeat for all 8 bones.
    • Be careful that you do not accidentally "empty" a bone in vinegar, because if you do, you will lose the bone and have to collect that bone again.
  • Go back to the old man taking the 8 bones-in-vinegar, and 8 logs. Or alternatively, bring a hatchet; there are trees near the Odd Old Man at the bottom of the stairs where logs can be cut. Lighting the logs once will polish the bones.
  • To polish the bones, click the pot boiler located next to the Odd Old Man to add logs, click it again to add a pot with a bone-in-vinegar. (you will not receive XP for lighting logs). It takes 12 seconds for each pot to boil. Repeat this for all 8 bones.

Finishing up[]

Talk to the Odd Old Man and give him the polished bones to complete the quest.

Rewards[]

Rag and Bone Man reward

Required for completing[]

Completion of Rag and Bone Man is required for the following:

Transcript[]

Trivia[]

  • Rag-and-bone man is a British phrase for a junk dealer. Historically, the phrase referred to an individual who would travel the streets of a city with a horsedrawn cart, and would collect old rags for converting into fabric and paper, and bones for making glue, scrap iron and other items. They often traded them for other items of limited value.
  • Even more evidence for another Rag and Bone Man quest was found in Postbag 41. One of the sheets of paper in the Chaos Elemental's suitcase was titled "MENTOR A BANDWAGON." This unscrambles to form "RAG AND BONE MAN TWO." In addition, the bottom of the paper had the words "No 156 in the world." At the time of release, there were 155 quests, and Fur 'n' Seek was released as the 156th quest.
  • Jagex hinted in their weekly Twitter hint from 7-8-09 that the next quest would be Rag and Bone Man 2. It was released as Fur 'n' Seek on 10 August 2009.
  • If the quest is completed, your Adventurer's Log will state "The Odd Old Man wanted some bones. Or was it his bonesack? Will we ever know?"
  • Even when using a Dwarven army axe, the animation used for lighting the logs uses a tinderbox.
  • Upon completion of this quest, the player tells Juna "...I fetched all the bones the Odd Old Man wanted and he gave me a reward!" to which she express puzzlement about the Rag and Bone Man by replying "What could that man have wanted all those bones for? Collecting that many bones cannot be a balanced activity."
Advertisement