Looking for campaign arc/adventure path suggestions

[Mercurius]

Quick Background: I've been running a 4e game for about 10 months that has met about once a month; once or twice we've been able to meet after two weeks, but recently--with busy summers--we haven't met in a couple months. I've run them through a couple Dungeon Crawl Classics with varying degrees of success (in terms of enjoyment). I have found the infrequent sessions quite frustrating and pretty much told everyone that if we can't play every other week I'd rather not bother (no offense, and all). There is interest to play more frequently, although some can't commit (yet) to more than once a month.

So I'm looking to revamp the campaign. I see the first couple adventures as "warming up"; the characters are all 4th or 5th level, which I see as a good time to begin a major storyline. What has been lacking for me is momentum, continuity, and an interesting storyline--the infrequent schedule has made it very difficult to accomplish any of that. So what I want to do is develop a campaign arc or use some kind of pre-published adventure path or mega-adventure. So I'm coming to EN World looking for suggestions. My criteria/guidelines are below:

• Pre-published? I could either use a pre-published adventure path (and modify as required) or take inspiration from other sources and weave something together, although the less work the better. I'm up for some prep, but I'd like to spend it mainly on world building, less on the nitty-gritty of adventure design.
• Epic Dungeoncrawling. I'd like to find the line between epic and dungeoncrawling; I want dungeon crawls, wilderness treks, and ruins exploration, but I also want meaning to it. I'm not afraid of cliches (seeking artifacts, stealing magic items from dragons, undead-infested marshes, etc), as long as they are done well. Actually, I'd even go as far as to say that I prefer well-done cliches (which are really archetypes) over clever novelties.
• Edition? The game is 4ed but I don't mind using other material for at least inspiration or a base template. It doesn't seem that hard to take a, say, 3.5ed module and swap in 4ed stats as necessary.
• Absentees. Ideally I would be able to swap in PCs as needed (when players can't make a session). I don't mind "cheating" and coming up with relatively lame excuses for why a given character isn't there, but I'd prefer there to be some reason.
• Levels. I'd like the first campaign arc to take the PCs from 5th to 10-12th level, and then maybe fit into an even larger storyline.
• A Bit of Everything. Preferably there would be a little bit of everything: from city intrigue to wilderness survival to ruin exploration, although with the emphasis being on the Quest and adventure.
• Wonder. More than anything I want it to capture a sense of wonder, of lost civilizations, myths and legends, mystery and magic.

Any suggestions? What fits the bill? As suggestions come in I'll refine and re-explain what I am looking for. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jack99]

Sounds like you need to be running Red Hand of Doom.

 

[Dannager]

Red Hand of Doom is a good suggestion.

You could also try Paizo's Rise of the Runelords adventure path, converted to 4e here. It starts at level 1 but you could begin with the second adventure which assumes the party is at level 4 or 5 without too much difficulty.

 

[Gilladian]

when I was in a similar situation, I used a workaround - the PCs were members of a large traveling caravan - a whole city fleeing from a war. They were scouts, guards, and scavengers. They rounded up lost or straggling members, fought off groups of attackers, searched nearby abandoned villages for food and other consumables, and tried to make contact with potential allies. Since my group were low-level, inexperienced players, the actual interactions are probably not of interest, but it worked quite well.

Each adventure began with them leaving the caravan with a specific assignment, and often with other "needs" to look out for (ie find out if the elves who used to live in these woods are still here; also look for fallen trees to mark for our wood gatherers to collect). Each adventure ends with their return to the caravan.

You could do the same sort of thing if the PCs were part of a large group traveling a distant trade route (silk road?), or explorers going through new terrain.

The base group (caravan, explorers camp) can have hundreds of people in it, and thus PCs can swap out. Assigments mean people can choose the characters best suited to that job. Or you can simply say that anyone who is not there "had other work to do".

As PCs become more powerful, they may end by taking leadership roles in the caravan. And eventually, they may reach their destination...

For this sort of campaign, design adventures modularly. Have a dungeon with 5 rooms, but then if there's time, drop in a secret door that has another 5 rooms. What's in there? What ever is appropriate for the characters who are here this week! If things are going slowly, be ready to chop out excess encounters and bring them straight to the big bad guy. You don't want adventures hanging over from session to session.

Most of your meta-plot should, in a structure like this, stem from the base. Those NPCs recur, the relationships and plots around them build. Adventures "out there" beyond the caravan, are basically one-shots.

Hope this idea helps!