D&D 3E/3.5 Recommend me a war-based campaign (1-3.5e)

[Glabro]

Hey there. I just registered to ask you for some advice.

After successfully completing (your applause here) a Dark Sun campaign based on the Wake of the Ravager PC game, I'm looking for a new war-based campaign.
Me and my players enjoyed the ability to choose where they went and what they did in the "sandbox", and they had meaningful choices along the way. The theme of gathering allies against a great enemy seemed to motivate them.
We had a big end battle using a homebrewed version of Cry Havoc (which was too heavy and took too long to play).

We're probably using 3.5 ed. rules, but I'm willing to do a bit of legwork with conversion if it's worth it.

I have several candidates already, but obviously, feel free to recommend me anything.

War of the Burning Sky - I've run this already for two (powered up) characters. They got to the fourth module, but the game melted down as they started to feel railroaded and forced to play second fiddle in that module, when an NPC diplomat was assigned to do the actual diplomacy, and they were mostly there to provide security - which of course wouldn't have been true further on into the module, but that was enough in that case.
The players have stated that they'd like to give it another shot though, but since I'd have 2-3 new players, I'd probably need to start over, which isn't as fun for me. Plus, I've thought about making this my 4e debut when it's done.


The Drow War Trilogy by Mongoose: I've only heard that it's very sensitive to railroading, does not force players
into situations, and that i has a victory point system for tracking how well the party is doing.


Warlords of the Accordlands campaign: I know little of it, but it sounds good. Has anyone played it here?

Oldschool: 1e: Village of Hommlet, Keep on the Borderlands -> Night's Dark Terror.
After browsing through forums I heard that NDT is one of the best D&D modules, and I got the idea that there is a war theme.


Red Hand of Doom: heard it was very good, though I don't know if there's any actual war in it - I just know there's an orc threat.

So, I'll leave it up to you for today. I haven't made up my mind and that's causing a bit of delay in starting the new campaign. Recommendations?

 

[Empirate]

I'll just say play Red Hand of Doom. It has plenty of war, and contains just what you think would motivate your group.

Way it goes, the PCs are under severe time pressure, but they can choose from a variety of missions to buy their side time and advantages. A Hobgoblin horde of religious fanatics sweeps through the lands, and the PCs have until it arrives at the main city to disrupt the Hobgoblins' alliances and build alliances of their own. Then the main event happens: the human city is sieged, and the PCs must repel the besiegers. After that, it's off to the Hobgoblins' secret base, to destroy their leader and prevent even greater calamity from happening.
The heroes' success is judged by how many Victory Points they collect (each of several missions, as well as many minor things they can do along the way, grants VPs). If they have enough, they can defend the Hobgoblins' onslaught; if not, the humans of the land are doomed, but the PCs can still gain the ultimate victory by destroying the enemies' secret base.

All in all, a recommendable module. Even for me, who'd normally never uses prewritten stuff (I like to come up with my own adventures), Red Hand of Doom is a blast to play.

 

[Jhaelen]

I'll just say play Red Hand of Doom.

Ditto. However, if your players felt War of the Burning Sky was too railroady, they won't like this one either.

If you want a maximum sandbox scenario, you'll pretty much have to do it on your own. Besides borrowing the backstory and maybe a couple of stat blocks of a published module, there isn't a lot you can use.

I'm not a fan of sandbox scenarios, so maybe someone else has better suggestions.

 

[Empirate]

Considering sandbox campaigns, allow me to redirect you to an old thread I had a loooong post in. It concerns Red Hand of Doom and sandbox:

GM Help- Sandbox

 

[Glabro]

Well, if any of you have played the old Dark Sun: Shattered Lands pc game (it wasn't Wake of Ravager - that was the sequel), that's the kind of sandbox I meant.

I don't want a maximum sandbox. There still needs to be a plot and a goal. I know there are modules like that in existence. Even if I write my own, I would still get a pre-written campaign, just a personalized one - I'm not confident about my ability to run plots and quests off the cuff.

We've decided on the Drow Wars - I'll get that one - but I'll get Red Hand of Doom too.