Your best homebrew campaigns

What are all of the best campaigns that you've run? I'm interested in what kinds of plots, settings, and characters my fellow DMs come up with.

I am currently running an absolute Stonker! There is too much to write it all out (though I have kept it mostly up to date in the "how was your last session" thread), but they have slain a dragon and are now about to join a war between Dwarves and Giants to reclaim an ancient kingdom of the Dwarves.

The campaign I would say is largely an "unveiling plot" sort of deal - they are making the world, but the world is also making itself around them. They are finding things out about the world, the NPCs they have befriended, and the history of the world (and in one case of a reincarnating dwarf, himself).

~The opening game, which set the theme quite well, foreshadowed the final fight with a tour of the town, which now features miles of water pipes, many "hashbow" turrets on the roofs, and a all-new slaughterhouse whichis run by Iron Golems, who are instructed to slaughter anything with 4 legs which enters. The final fight was against a Blue Dragon, who followed them back to town - allowing them to use the Hashbows, get shocked by the copper pipes, and ultimately lure it into the slaughterhouse. I have tried to keep the theme of foreshadowing things going from then on!

I just made on called Lavastra, and this is the exact  theme I made on DnDBeyond.com: "For eons, the Blood Races: Men, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halflings, were plagued by The Airlords, monsters of immense powers that claimed the aboveground.  Hopeless under brutalness of The Airlords, they fought each other, trying to find the Pillars of Life hidden in the earth.  The pillars controlled the life of all living things, tended to by the Fatekeeper, Ruler of Lavastra. After centuries of war, The Fatekeeper noticed they were getting close to finding his location, so he banished The Airlords to a Realm of Prison, Zakhav. But the war couldn't go unpunished. He created a punishment for each race: Elves were blind, devoloping incredible ears that could even move. Dwarves power became measured by their beard length. Gnomes became sensitive to the sun. Halflings were obese and slow. As for Human kind, they were left to tend the dead. The each claimed a portion of Lavastra, Gnomes the caverns, where they evaded the sun, Elves the forest, where they could adapt and hunt, Dwarves the grassland, where they could let their beards grow, Halfling the Frostlands, where mountains grow high, and Humans the Catacombs, where they could tend the dead of all races. For millenia, it stayed in peace. But then the inevitable happened. Strange mutations were noticed in beasts and monsters around the globe. The fatekeeper is inresponsive, like he vanished. And most dark of all the secrets is the spotting of Airlords in the Frostlands. All lands get together and have a council they agree to send one person of each race (The adventurers) to put an end to this."

I have scenes already prepared, such as a library fight scene and a battle at The Pillars. It is very open in terms of how the player want to solve the problem. Nobody has played in it yet, but it is going to be a HOOT!

I am currently running a beholder campaign. 100 years ago in the campaign the nightmare beholder had a vision that in 100 years he would be slain by a high elf bard and a black dragon born fighter(the players of course). Since the beholder hade that vision he rigged the coming election in the nearby city of Arivitya. The new ruler Arubose banned all adventurers so that the vision wouldn't come true. In the game the beholder works with a number of goblins and bugbears to take down the players. But that is just scratching the surface of the campaign. There is a dark wizard named blackstaff, dungeons in abandoned dwarf mines in the hacksaw maintains, a tribe of lizard folk in the deadly delta, a small abandoned castle full of goblins and a assassin in the great plains and the beholders layer in the hacksaw mountains full of traps monsters and a giant ravine the beholder hovers over so that the players cant hit him with unclose attacks.                     

I recently started running one in a low magic world that the adventurers have found which is amazed by the adventurers magical powers. I intend to let the adventure expand to them discovering an abandoned castle, which uses the blueprint for Cragmaw Castle from Mines of Phandelver, which they should be able to build their fiefdom around. Villains include: Evil Knights, Dragons blocking armies by settling in mountain paths, wood witches and the occasional bandits that intend to loot the castle.

I am running my first campaign for my players in my homebrew world of Raloth.  The campaign revolves around my five players called the Wolves of Silverlake.  It is an epic heroic style that is a mixture of political, divine, and infernal issues that the players are diving into.  My style is a VERY slow burn build type story that all ties together, and the world moves fully even when the players don't see it.  I would reveal more but in case a player of mine sees this I wouldn't want to spoil anything.  My goal is to fully explore all players backstories as they are woven into the main story skeleton.  It is roughly a large 5 act campaign, and they are only on session 22 and in Act 2 at the moment.  If anyone is curious I will post what has happened thus far without spoilers as to what is REALLY going on...

So far, they met in a tavern (I know so original) in a remote agricultural village named Everwood when it was raided by gnolls and goblins working together.  After driving off the raid, they learned the raids have been going on for a while and they targeted the shrine.  After talking to the shrine keeper (Rivas) and local militia leader (Gunder), they tracked down the raiders and found a war camp in a previously burned down village site.  Three of the PC's were spotted and brought in for some parlay talks with the warcamps leader, a Half Ogre (Mugut) who was acting strange and twitching while talking to them.  He asked them to kill the magistrate of the village they had been raiding but with one request, they MUST leave the local militia leader alive.

Upon returning to the village the party encountered a public speaker addressing the villagers representing the Brotherhood of Oroth and denouncing their goddess they follow.  After a brief battle as the PC's attacked the speakers...just because they didn't like what they were saying, they interrogated the local Magistrate (Kalen Ashenvale) who was clearly a coward and asked them to find his missing daughter (Violet) who had run away and been missing.  He also revealed he had been getting threatening letters.  They also interrogated the speaker after the battle with them and convinced them to lead the party to where they take new recruits, the Ancient Emerald Crypts.  There they encountered an ominous voice that chastised the speaker and rose zombies, ghouls, and skeletons killing the speaker and attacking the party.  They fought their way through the undead, into the crypt, solved the secret entrance behind a waterfall in the crypt build into the mountains, defeated a skeletal bride, and then faced off with this "cult" leader who appeared to be the daughter of the magistrate but was never confirmed.  This tense battle ended with them killing her brutish double pact axe wielding half orc while she opened a secret area and escaped through a portal.

Deducing that the Brotherhood was a cult and had a "false" god the party attempted to return to the village but was ambushed by bounty hunters sent by the Half Orge for not fulfilling their contract of killing the magistrate.  The party was able to fend them off and kill their leader before returning to the starting village.  When they arrived the Viscount of the larger town that the village supports, Whimsmoor, was there visiting after being summoned by a rider sent by the local militia leader the party pleaded him to send before they left for the Crypts.  He was revered by the populace and confronted the magistrate, eventually stripping him of his title and providing the title to the militia leader who proved he was more fit to lead.  Afterwards the Viscount (Sir Roland Silverlake) met the PC's and said the militia leader had told him of their help and exploits.  He asked their name, hence why they are now called the Wolves of Silverlake and invited him to his town so he could properly reward them.  One PC met a woman (Muriel) who mentioned she had her brother (Kilgren) who was injured while attempting to flee the Whispermoon Forest to the north (part of the PC's backstory) and that the brother was in bad shape.  Before the party could follow her to the forest, she mysteriously vanished during the commotion of the Viscount and his knight entourage leaving the Village.  

The party went North to the forest, meeting their fifth party member outside the forest who was blue dragonborn monk.  She was shopping with some passing traders who then attempted to rob her and the party but failed miserably.  They teamed up with some mutual goals into the forest, being attacked by corrupted blights and zombies before a Dryad (Lutea) came through one of the trees and helped them all fend off the blights.  The dryad led the party to a large Dryad colony where they met Wynnavia, the head druid of the Dryad colony who was holding back spreading corruption using druidic magic along with the Dryads backed by a magical Planar Crystal.  She asked the PC's for help, and also said she sensed that stopping the corruption and finding the PC's brother were linked.

After many battles with displacer beasts, shambling mounds, blights, and more, the group found the heart of the corruption.  A Gulthias Tree near the center of the forest was oozing out black ooze and corruption nearby a hut built into a rock wall.  There, on the hill touching the tree was the woman who found the PC who had her brother tied up to a post with a caldron below him.  As tensions kept rising the woman said the PC's could leave as soon as she made the brother see his sister, announcing that their deal was now complete and the brother serves her.  As the PC's would not back down, the woman called for her pet Tiny, a Grey Render who appeared from the side of the hut hidden by the large hill placing itself between the party and the woman holding the brother hostage.  As the stalemate tensed, the woman grew impatient and slit the brothers throat, starting an intense battle.  The brother miraculously survived (with a NAT 20 death saving throw) and the woman was revealed to be a green hag in disguise and once killed melted into a pile of snow.  Mid battle with the Grey Render a bone devil (Lyvistos) appeared on the tree and just watched, and offered the group a contract upon their defeat of the Grey Render as he was impressed by them.  The contract offered them protection if they would steal the Planar Crystal from the Dryad Colony and bring it to him.  The Bone Devil left them to decide as the explored the horrors of the Hags hut, finding her many "trophies" and horrors.  Upon leaving they went to destroy the Gulthias Tree, to which the Bone Devil told them to think carefully about what their next move was.  They attacked the tree and the Bone Devil with two spined devils assisting all out assulted the party.  The tree started shooting out mass amounts of poision and the battle raged.  Early on an eagle swooped down and Wynnavia joined them focused solely on the Gulthias Tree.  When the tree was destroyed, the Bone Devil fell from the air grabbing itself in pain, telling them they had no idea what they have done.  As they finally defeated the Bone Devil, it told them before it went down "Your world is doomed, all mortals shall despair.  The tenth is rising, and it is inevitable now..."

The party was rewarded by the Druid Wynnavia who finally showed emotion and shed a tier, telling the party that corruption can always be fought as long as there are those willing to stand up to it.

The party is now in Whimsmoor, and was gifted an "home" from the Viscount Roland SIlverlake as further thanks for their service to the village they started in.  Per the Viscounts request they are also investigating disappearances from the River Quarter of the town and fire symbols that have been popping up and that people are scared to talk about.  The party has since learned this group is called the "Ember Syndicate."

Sorry for the whole book, hard to explain a campaign in short sentences.  Since this is my first time ever running one or being a DM for that matter I have been having a blast doing it and watching how the story evolves around the five PC's!

Pirate adventure

This isn't a full campaign (although it could be), but a sub-plot on the current campaign I'm running (Tyranny of Dragons).

"Some time ago" a group of arcane researches managed to separate creature's bodies from their souls while keeping both halves functional. With the help of the Shadowfell these souls (Entities) and bodies (Husks) became quite terrifying and they're able to possess others (this is how Shadow Dragons came to being in my game). Now some amount of plot has happened in the original campaign and these Entities have become stronger and possessing more powerful creatures and they're able to create more Entities and Husks. This has caused quite a hassle also in the Feywild and the party will soon realise they actually need to learn how to deal with this situation as well as more and more powerful creatures become possessed by Entities turning good creatures chaotic evil. E.g. a semi-deity creature of a homebrew version of Water Genasi species is one of these victims and the characters will need to free it from the Entity, preferably without killing the creature, but killing the Entity only.

Starting in the Numenera system, we narrated the end of the 9th world. The characters were instrumental in constructing an Omniportal; thus, saving the remnant of a remnant along with a prognostication engine. In 5e we continued with survivalist play as a series of short-lived characters tried to eek out a place on N'earth for ~1600 refugees. Although giants ate some, most were saved in the end--enough to found important factions who provide antagonists through later installments.

Having learned magic from demons, powerful wizard kings rule a continent in strife. Their wars trouble the lands and shape the peoples who inhabit them. Elwyn the Diviner claims strategic initiative and his barbarian armies prepare to overrun the city states Anun, Wawloon, Vyddh, and Nymiir. The characters are embroiled in the conflict through their work as caravan guards. Turns out Elwyn's shipping ioun stones. His rival, Angrael, sends two apprentices to attack. Through many trials, the characters meet Harrowgrim, the leader of Elwyn's armies. He's not doing it for choice but because Elwyn has his daughter prisoner. The characters valiantly rescue Nausicaa and while keeping her safe from Elwyn's golems, they learn that she's more than meets the eye. After visiting with the silver dragon on the moon, they return to end Elwyn's oppression for good.

Only a short time later, the disguised and fallen angel, Muriel, leads a group of adventurers to the utter south in search of the city called Heaven and a tree which grows the apples of immortality. A bitter and wounded woman, she aims to have the characters killed by the challenges she pits them against--the last and greatest of which being that only one apple is left. Her final words after fighting to the death are, "Kallisti, motherf*****s."

The latest is unfinished. We're currently playing. With a beginning in 5e, the characters secure passage on a boat and enmity ashore meaning they have both the means and the motivation to embark on a long journey. Their patron, Äïkaterina Paɫtorak, conceals her true motive of finding Yrenhrâng, a city the angels hid from the world, behind the captain's quest for N'earth's island fish. By the time the character reach Yrenhrâng, they've climbed the tallest mountain, crossed a desert full of magical sandstorms, and braved a canyon where psychoactive fruits grow in the auras of temporal anomalies. In order to emphasize how cyberpunk the city is, we've switched to WoD/CoD (Shadowrun was a non-starter). Ultimately, I aim to have the characters face-off with a world-serpent, after a jaunt through the interior of a black hole. We might be back to 5e by then...or to Numenera with the antagonists playing 5e...