D&D 5E help me choose a type of "dungeon" or other adventure

[Gilladian]

I'm feeling burnt out. I've got an incredibly busy summer ahead of me, so I'll be working 6 days a week. But I don't want to abandon my campaign, or take a 9 week break. My pcs are 5th level. They have a half-ruined castle on the outside edge of a small kingdom, with low mountains and deep forest on 3 sides of them. There are ancient ruins scattered about in abundance, and they've expressed a strong desire to continue to delve into ruins and explore, rather than deal with more political/social issues.

So I'd like to find/create some nice dungeony/ruins exploring adventures (which will eventually culminate, when they're higher level, with exploring a very dangerous city ruins that I have been working on for several months) for them to do.

I'd be happy settling for modules, but I can design my own, if only I can get some good ideas. Recently, they've explored a small dungeon under their own castle, which was mostly traps and collapses, a magically held prisoner, and an old altar chamber. They then rescued prisoners from a barrow-mound, which was dominated by a bunch of undead, a priest, and a "barrow-king" warrior with hellhound companions.

So I don't want to repeat those themes - oh, and their next adventure involves exploring an elemental-themed wizard's castle and rescuing his now-trapped apprentices. So I don't want to hit that theme again for a while, either.

The other things I know about this campaign are that there are several young adult dragons of various colors (siblings) lairing somewhere in the region. I'll be introducing sightings of them soon, and at some point I do want the PCs to encounter them and be able to choose to go dragon-hunting, or not, as they prefer.

So, given a 5-7th level group driven mostly by greed but not evil, essentially an episodic campaign, and a need for straightforward adventures, what would you recommend? You can read my campaign notes here, if it interests you, though they're more for my reference than to be exciting reading: http://vishteercampaign.pbworks.com/w/page/83876470/Campaign Notes: Lost Mines of Phandelver

 

[SigmaOne]

If they've just finished up Phandelver, Princes of the Apocalypse might be the way to go... it will take a huge load off, with adventuring up to level 13, and it takes place just to the east of the Sword Mountains --- Conyberry and the Old Owl Well even show up on the map. This is what I've done. I used the map found in the Wave Echo Cave giving them the location of one of the dungeons in the campaign, along with Gundren asking them to escort a wagon load of ore (in which the PCs now have a stake) to Red Larch (the "home" village for PotA).

If you're feeling burned out and know you'll be busy, this could really help keep things going. I put my own homebrew campaign on hold for just this reason --- I just wasn't able to keep up with it. The reviews for Princes of the Apocalypse have been fantastic. Having read through it, and having started running it yesterday, I know why. It's quite solid.

 

[Gilladian]

I do own PotA, and I tried to guide the PCs in that direction, offering them a hook from Gundren to escort a wagon south to Red Larch. However, they declined, as it would take them well out of their home area, and they were afraid they'd not get back for a while.

I'm keeping the module for a future campaign - it "will" happen, but not right now. Dratted players and their decisions!

 

[SigmaOne]

Interesting. You might tie some foreshadowing or hooks for PotA into your elemental castle adventure, too...

 

[Gilladian]

Yes, I will. I may actually have one or two of the apprentices in this castle leave here to join the cult later; although actually the elemental theme is sort of laid over the wizard castle; it is from an accident of magic that their (now lost) master invoked. Anyway, if we ignore PotA, any other suggestions? Things I could use that I'm overlooking, or cool ideas that spring to mind?

 

[Parmandur]

The tables in the DMG may help.

 

[Gilladian]

Yeah, I'm thinking I'm just going to whip out my old random dungeon creation book and the Ultimate Tools book and go create me a nice 100 room dungeon. No super storyline, just some groups of foes and some bits of lore, and let it be what it is for the summer. I can just barely keep ahead of them, I hope. And if they get sick of it, well, there's always random wilderness encounters...

 

[meomwt]

How about a nearby village requesting the help of "the noble lords in the castle" - their water supply has dried up and their crops are failing.

Backtracking along the course of the river reveals it has been dammed up by a tribe of lizardfolk, the PC's have to either negotiate a fragile peace or wipe out the interlopers.

Arming the tribe with Ambush and Guard Drakes, as well as Lizardfolk Shamans and a King will ensure a worthy challenge.

Negotiating with the lizardfolk could initiate an additional quest, looking for provide a new watercourse for the tribe or the village in a treacherous cavern river. Changing the flow direction could lead to complications in getting out, too.

 

[AriochQ]

Although it takes a bit more planning, I enjoy foreshadowing more than the traditional adventure hook. For example, a local monster might blurt something out about a secret treasure hoard before dying, but no details. That sets up a mystery for the PC's, which will both entice and annoy them since they will basically be at a dead end. An adventure or two later, you have another PC provide another bit of information, maybe an overheard comment in an inn or something. This could be enough info for the PC's to pick up some sort of trail.

Basically, I try to avoid traditional adventure hooks because it puts the PC's in a "Do we do it? Yes/No" situation immediately, and I think players tend to not like that. It is far more fun as a player when 1) There is the illusion of free will and 2) You are solving a mystery.

The downside is that you have to do a bit more long range planning to make it work and the PC's could still decide to do something else instead. If you make the reward sweet enough, the latter shouldn't be a problem. Also remember, rumors are not fact. The pile of 100,000 gp could turn out to be a pile of 10,000 gp that has grown in the telling.