I could see a party abandoning the quest to try and go after the DMPC’s stuff, if it’s cooler/more valuable than the quest reward.
Maybe have it be an old soldier that lives in the town, and the townspeople are trying to get him to stop trying to handle all the problems nearby alone because he’s getting old. So his gear would just be his old military stuff. Good, but not worth diving into a river for. He’s grumbly about having to sheperd some runt adventurers so everyone will stop pestering him, and insists on scouting ahead so the youngins don’t just stumble into an ambush and get their heads cleaved off.
Cue rope bridge.
That also gets you potential hooks with the town not trusting the party since the guy didn’t make it back, or being understanding and throwing a wake/funeral.
Or hell, if the party succeeds some checks and keeps him off the rickety bridge, you don’t need to worry about him hanging around past the first “quest” messing with balance. Him missing the signs of the rickety bridge gets through to him and he decides to retire.