Hello so I wasn't sure if I should put this here or in tips and tactics.  Anyway, I'm extremely new, my cousin wanted me to join him in D&D so I've been familiarizing myself with the basics.  Curently he is set to be the D&M in a campaign coming up because he'd probably be the best but I know he'd really like to play so I'd like to suprise him with a small campaing that I am the DM of.  I have the 5e starter set and my cousin will be using some or all of it for his campaign and so I know I'd like to avoid major similiarities with that.  I know he'd like to make a swashbuckling, rougue, archaeologist type character to play and that in other RPG's hes always loved story telling and charisma builds.  Picturing a Indiana Jones in middle earth sort of deal lol. I'd love to hear some ideas on creating a world in which this charachter would thrive.  I'd like to try and put the party in situations where it'd be betterto take hostages ask questions rather than just kill everything, not have a singularly lineal focus, but ways to get players back on track.  I don't know what the other players charachters will be but I know they'll be on board for this.  

So far what I'm thinking in broad strokes is - the party is (maybe hunting for a long lost treassure or stumbling into town weary from their travles) they make their way to the innkeep who "may or may not" be the person to speek to about rumors.  The in keep (shares a tale of a treassure or points the party in the direction of a person willing to hire explorers) 

For a villian maybe a dwarf with an evil agenda or a peculualry intelligent goblin artificer.  Hopefully gollems are creatures in D&D

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Tales from the yawning portal is a collection of 7 short adventures that could be used as side missions, one shot adventures, or run the first 6 in order (the 7th is a challenge even for high level characters).

These sound like a good match for what you are wanting. For a longer campaign, the lost mine of Phandelver is good for beginners.

Lord, so many ideas bouncing around in the old gray matter.  Are you looking at doing a multi adventure campaign?  A few sessions?  A one-shot?  If he wants to do an Indy-like PC, then through Indy-like stuff at him.  Your party is competing directly against another individual or group of NPCs who always seem to have the upper hand situationally but you end up in a position to come out on top in the end.  Have your temple crawls, chock full of traps and evil priests and snakes (why'd it have to be snakes).  Make it a race against time where the opposing NPCs are close to discovering the location of an ancient artifact and you get ahead of them, only to have it taken by the NPCs.  The temple is run by a cult that seems unassailable and unflinching but provide single situations that peck away at their strength until finally the party is able to lay them bare and come out victorious.  And have a final Challenge chase out of the temple as it comes crumbling and crashing down about our hapless party of PC adventurers.  They don't all have to make it out alive.

If you are familiar with the movies at all, then ideas abound.  And the chance to rewrite The Temple of Dumb and make it worth enjoying, all the better for you and your friends.  And, yes, your DM buddy will love anything you throw at him.

Like the begining of Raiders of the Lost Ark, begin the game not in a tavern but in medias res... start with the party rushing to escape an ancient temple as it collapse around them.

You could introduce a villain at the end of that sequence. Maybe he/she is working with the legitimate authorities in the area, and they confiscate whatever artifact the players just recovered.

You could build the story from there (sneaking and disguises to steal back the treasure), or that could be just an introduction.

You can make exactly what you're asking for. AND you can throw in goblins, orcs, and "Real" magic.