I am getting close to finishing CoS, running 6 new players, and they are having enough fun that they have all agreed they want to continue after we finish this campaign. D&D has been in my blood since I was a child so I am the forever DM but I'm happy to facilitate for the group and just happy to play. However, I am leaning towards doing a homebrew campaign next for a few different reasons...but the main reason is that I want my characters to have meaningful backstories that I can build into different arcs of the campaign. Many of the official campaign modules I would normally run aren't really backstory-friendly given the setting (CoS is in a demiplane in the domain of Dread, DiA is in the hells, RotFM takes place solely in Icewind Dale, OotA is in the underdark, etc). I'm not saying you can't create meaningful backstories in those modules but I don't want to force my players to come up backstories with so many restrictions so that they fit the confines of the module. And I also don't want to have to homebrew the crap out of the modules to allow for expanded character backstories...if I'm going to put in that much work I might as well create a homebrew campaign. So, I have a few ideas but some more suggestions would be nice. I grew up on The Legend of Drizzt and that is my ideal D&D setting and the feel I am going for with my next campaign. Here are my ideas so far:
Classic dragons; a campaign centered around an ancient red dragon seeking to find the lost pieces of the cinder crown and then find an ancient fire giant forge where it can be reforged, granting the dragon power that would make it on-par with a demigod and spell annihilation for the realm. Cultists, orc armies, giants, dragons, etc
An exiled drow house finds a powerful crystal which houses one-part of the essence of an ancient, banished god. The god's spirit, or essence, couldn't be outright destroyed so it was broken into pieces and sealed and spread out in the realm; while her body (dormant while spirit-less) is imprisoned in the Feywild. Total 5 crystals/essences; 1 already with drow, 1 the drow are stealing from the first city and players have a chance at stealing from the drow thieves, and then the last are with progressively more difficult foes (hag, giants,dragon, etc). Learn about the plan and stop it before the deity is resurrected and takes revenge on the gods (the consequences for the realm would be catastrophic)
Use the new primordial elemental as the bbeg. Different aspects of the elements are in chaos for some reason the characters need to look into before it spreads and consumes more of the world.
Obviously these are very high level ideas and would be broken down into minor and major arcs...I just don't think I have fallen in love with a single idea yet so any suggestions would help. Again, I'm looking to create a pretty classic game, not looking to implement too many, if any, big homebrew aspects like time travel or space travel or anything like that.
Spelljammer is sitting in the corner crying over being called homebrew. Anyways, these ideas are great. If you go with the red dragon idea, there is a really cool forge in bigby presents.
Good point; unfortunately I don't know pretty anything about spelljammer. I should repent, I know...my love of D&D has centered pretty much solely around the FR.
I am getting close to finishing CoS, running 6 new players, and they are having enough fun that they have all agreed they want to continue after we finish this campaign. D&D has been in my blood since I was a child so I am the forever DM but I'm happy to facilitate for the group and just happy to play. However, I am leaning towards doing a homebrew campaign next for a few different reasons...but the main reason is that I want my characters to have meaningful backstories that I can build into different arcs of the campaign. Many of the official campaign modules I would normally run aren't really backstory-friendly given the setting (CoS is in a demiplane in the domain of Dread, DiA is in the hells, RotFM takes place solely in Icewind Dale, OotA is in the underdark, etc). I'm not saying you can't create meaningful backstories in those modules but I don't want to force my players to come up backstories with so many restrictions so that they fit the confines of the module. And I also don't want to have to homebrew the crap out of the modules to allow for expanded character backstories...if I'm going to put in that much work I might as well create a homebrew campaign. So, I have a few ideas but some more suggestions would be nice. I grew up on The Legend of Drizzt and that is my ideal D&D setting and the feel I am going for with my next campaign. Here are my ideas so far:
Obviously these are very high level ideas and would be broken down into minor and major arcs...I just don't think I have fallen in love with a single idea yet so any suggestions would help. Again, I'm looking to create a pretty classic game, not looking to implement too many, if any, big homebrew aspects like time travel or space travel or anything like that.
Spelljammer is sitting in the corner crying over being called homebrew. Anyways, these ideas are great. If you go with the red dragon idea, there is a really cool forge in bigby presents.
Good point; unfortunately I don't know pretty anything about spelljammer. I should repent, I know...my love of D&D has centered pretty much solely around the FR.
Are you planning to start from level 1 again?
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Yes, I have found that to be funnest for new D&D players