I have everything planned out. Our Descent into Avernus party hasn't made it to Avernus yet, they're still in Baldur's Gate killing cultists, but they're on the right track, they'll be there in probably close to 5 sessions. 

Long story short, Bel is a master of making weapons and machines to use in the blood war. In the Descent into Avernus book it describe an infernal machine that Bel is developing to overthrow Zariel, but gives no information on it. I decided that since souls can be used to fuel flying fortresses, infernal war machines, and as food for certain creatures, if you compress enough of them in a small enough space, and ignite them all at once (with some extra components just to increase the difficulty and make more sense out of the process) then there will be a giant explosion that is a 2000 ft diameter sphere of absolute destruction as you hear the souls screeching as they are being obliterated by the fire and demon ichor, and other ingredients. 

So, Bel is trying to make a weapon that can do that, and I currently have a one man party that started in Avernus who is working for Bel to develop the weapon, (he is mainly just getting Bel more souls, but is promised to be second in command if Bel succeeds in becoming the ruler of Avernus). The party will meet up with Bel in Avernus at one point, and possibly be dragged into this side plot.

Ah. That's interesting  

I do go overboard with all of my campaigns. All this information floating around in my head just waiting to come out hurts.

I here ya

That's a good one Levi.  They can help create an ultimate weapon or hinder it.  And it adds some time "goings on" in the Nine Hells while they are there.

I'm currently running Tyranny of Dragons, we just finished Hoard of the Dragon Queen and after a brief "stub adventure" that is all for character developement and setting up my future plot line, we'll start Rise of Tiamat.  My idea after that is to tweak Decent to Avernus and run it as a high level adventure to get the players from 16ish to 20.  The idea being that Zariel has been taking more of a hand in freeing Tiamat than it says in the campaign.  Also, the giants are the key to Tiamat's imprisonment.

With the dragons on the verge of winning their war with the giants.  Annam cut a deal with Asmodeus.  Asmodeus would imprison Tiamat in return for the soul of every giant that died from then on.  Since the Ordning allowed for him to make that decision, it stuck.  Now, the giant souls feed the Blood Wars, but only Asmodeus knows why.  If Tiamat is freed, the Blood War will need a boost, and even though Zariel is working on that with Baldur's Gate and Elturel, it may not be enough.  

So long story left long, Asmodeus has been behind the stopping for Dragon Cult in order to keep the Blood War under control.  If the characters never learn it, so be it, but it is starting to tie onto the players histories.  Should be a good end....eventually.

I have a lot of deity involvement in my campaign atm. I’m trying to keep it all balanced, give all my players an equal amount of spotlight. 

So I’m running a combo of Dragon of Icespire Peak -> Storm Lord’s Wrath -> Sleeping Dragon’s Wake -> Divine Contention -> Dragon Heist. I designed it to take the players from lvl 1 to 15, so Dragon Heist is heavily modified as a high level campaign. I’ve also blended in elements from the DM Guild’s Forgotten Tales module, as I’m going Jarlaxle as the villain and that module uses the drow more often. I also liked the actually Heist element. 

So the twists. I have a Fallen Aasimar Cleric who served Helm as a commander of his Celestial armies but was goaded into a bloodlust by the god Garagos, which resulted in him killing the woman he loved. Helm is trying to lead him on a path of redemption but Garagos is constantly trying to lead him down a path of bloody destruction. The player actually chose the War domain, so it feels like he’s giving in to Garagos’ influence. I’m trying to find a way to create a consequence for giving in to that call to war.

Another player was a Waterdhavian noble who killed his father under a mysterious trance His father helped build the Vault that they’ll have to break into for Heist, and I was planning on using the idea of Jarlaxle using a mindflayer to manipulate the player to try to get the gold. The mindflayer was trying to stoke the player’s natural jealous and negative feelings of his father to turn him into an agent for Jarlaxle, but instead invoked a murderous rage. The player skipped town and ended up in Phandalin to avoid justice, but will start getting these visions of a deity of greed that will try to influence him to go back to Waterdeep to get the gold. The deity is actually just an illusion planted from the mindflayer. 
I thought it would be fun to play off the player’s excitement of being a chosen champion of this deity, only to end up being tricked and that holy calling just ends up being a shallow ploy from an ambitious drow. 

My last twist is for our Dragonborn sorcerer. He was raised by a village of kobold and was found as a magical red egg by the village leader. The kobold are a rogue sect that worship Bahamut and believe in good and knowledge. The village leader raises the Dragonborn after he hatches, and teaches him the importance of using his magic for good. I thought it’d be an interesting twist that the Dragonborn is actually a spawn of Tiamat, originally being held by the Cult to use as a destructive force when he hatched and to herald Tiamat’s return to the Material Plane. 

Quote from FiveofClubs >>

That's a good one Levi.  They can help create an ultimate weapon or hinder it.  And it adds some time "goings on" in the Nine Hells while they are there.

I'm currently running Tyranny of Dragons, we just finished Hoard of the Dragon Queen and after a brief "stub adventure" that is all for character developement and setting up my future plot line, we'll start Rise of Tiamat.  My idea after that is to tweak Decent to Avernus and run it as a high level adventure to get the players from 16ish to 20.  The idea being that Zariel has been taking more of a hand in freeing Tiamat than it says in the campaign.  Also, the giants are the key to Tiamat's imprisonment.

With the dragons on the verge of winning their war with the giants.  Annam cut a deal with Asmodeus.  Asmodeus would imprison Tiamat in return for the soul of every giant that died from then on.  Since the Ordning allowed for him to make that decision, it stuck.  Now, the giant souls feed the Blood Wars, but only Asmodeus knows why.  If Tiamat is freed, the Blood War will need a boost, and even though Zariel is working on that with Baldur's Gate and Elturel, it may not be enough.  

So long story left long, Asmodeus has been behind the stopping for Dragon Cult in order to keep the Blood War under control.  If the characters never learn it, so be it, but it is starting to tie onto the players histories.  Should be a good end....eventually.

 What about the Ordning being revoked in Storm King's Thunder?

First, a deal is a deal until someone giant with authority breaks it (or even knows about it because Annan didn't have to make it public).  If/when the players learn about that in Avernus they could inform the giants.  If that happens and the giants break the contract, then Tiamat is freed.  But in that case Avernus will be out the giants souls and Tiamat so that could upset the balance of the Blood War.  Could be an interesting decision for the players?

Second, that is what I'm going to use to setup a new campaign with new characters.  I'll run Storm King's Thunder after all this wraps up.  The Avernus part is a little out of order, but that won't matter much. 

I love campaigns where there is no good option, no easy solution, the impossible problem.

All of my games are that way, I just realized. 

In my Eberron campaign, they are pursuing the reason the Mourning happened, but if they discover it, they'll be hunted down by multiple organizations, they'll restart the Last War, and release a Demon Overlord.

If they don't tell people what caused the Mourning, the person who caused it will continue to kill millions of people and become a God.

One of my greatest pleasures as a DM is when the party is seriously discussing options and enjoying it.

It is even more satisfying when you see your players' faces when they realize the problem they've waltzed right into, calculate their options, and somehow find a way out.

*Continues to serve drinks*

"Sounds like you're a pretty good Dungeon Master, Levi!  Hearing about this releasing of a demon overlord, would it perhaps be Kul Tukesh?  I might be remembering the name wrong, but its a big dragon-human hybrid with a big bunch of demonic knives sticking out of it!  Would that be the one they would release?  Or would it be the devil mage, Sul Katesh?  Both honestly seem to be as powerful, if not more than, Tiamat and the Tarrasque.  Perhaps your players could summon both demon overlords and make them fight each other, and do, as people call it in online video gaming, "clean up" the victor.  Just something to chew on, along with your drink!"

"Good stories all around!  Be sure to call out if you need something!"

The Overlord is Rak Tulkesh, the Rage of War. He is the one with the knife summoning. Almost looks like a dragon and centaur had a baby, and got stabbed 1000000 times.

Basically, the Last War was making him stronger, and he was almost able to break free of his prison and start destroying the world. He is extremely powerful, one of the only CR 28 creatures, and I expect is much more fun to fight against than the Tarrasque, which is just annoying.

In my Eberron Campaign, Sul Khatesh is trapped in the Plane of Shadow, and the players have met both of them. They certainly could release both and try to pit them against each other, but there's no guarantee that they'd fight each other, and just releasing Rak Tulkesh into the world would start a giant war that would likely destroy Khorvaire.

They also will have to deal with Lady Illmarrow, who caused the Mourning, and is trying to become the Maiden of Death, and make the Mark of Death be present again on Eberron.

*takes apple 'tini, sips*

Wow, you can sure taste the apple!

 One of the sweetest things to hear from a player, directed at you, a low measured, "I hate you."

Quote from FiveofClubs >>

 One of the sweetest things to hear from a player, directed at you, a low measured, "I hate you."

 Almost every other session one of my player's says this.

It's magical.

I love that feeling.

Quote from LeviRocks >>

Quote from FiveofClubs >>

 One of the sweetest things to hear from a player, directed at you, a low measured, "I hate you."

 Almost every other session one of my player's says this.

It's magical.

I love that feeling.

 During a court trail prologue session, I told my brother that the one of the two dopplegangers from lost mines of phindelver, was pregnant. He originally was trying to get them acquitted for the bbegs crimes. He did, but ended up telling he hated me. XD

How are there not more Eberron entries here? The campaign setting has so many unanswered questions that all DMs have to rule on their own.

Quote from LeviRocks >>

How are there not more Eberron entries here? The campaign setting has so many unanswered questions that all DMs have to rule on their own.

 Sadly I dont have the money to afford the book. 

Quote from PatrickDees >>

Quote from LeviRocks >>

How are there not more Eberron entries here? The campaign setting has so many unanswered questions that all DMs have to rule on their own.

 Sadly I dont have the money to afford the book. 

 "I don't either, friend.  But I found that my local library had the book available for loaning, and was able to find many amazing things in the tome.  Maybe you could find it at yours!"

"Psst... Would you like a drink?"