So, for the first time in a long time, I get to DM again.

I'll be running a campaign set in Eberron, 20 years after the Last War rather than 2. Which gives me a solid (very solid, I absolutely love Eberron) base to work from, but enough room for some political changes to shake things up and set up the plotlines I want to run.

[By the way, if you're a player in a new campaign and this description sounds familiar, maybe check with your DM before you read on...]

I mention a specific campaign setting above, and I may refer to it in more detail later in the thread, but my main goal in posting this is simply to collect my thoughts about plot threads, and the worldbuilding it would take to make them happen.

The feel I want for the campaign is a very pulpy one (hence Eberron). The time period - 20 years from the Last War - isn't a coincidence either. I aim to take a lot from the real world Interwar era and the media surrounding it, with works like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Casablanca serving as an inspiration.

But this campaign is a 5th Edition campaign. 5E D&D is a game about a small group of people smashing monsters or bad guys in close range combat, or delving into dungeons to retrieve artifacts. How do we make a political plotline work?

I think the answer is simple. The political situation needs to revolve around a series of dungeon delves that the PCs (and their opponents) can go on. The outcome of these dungeon delves should contribute to the outcome of the war.

Raiders is the perfect inspiration here, I think. Multiple groups seek artifacts for various purposes. Depending on which artifacts are retrieved and who they are delivered to, nations will choose sides and gain advantages to use during the Next War.

With that in mind... There are a number of potential players in Eberron's Next War. There are the Four Nations (plus whatever is left of Cyre) as well as a number of other states, of which I can pick a handful to be relevant to the plot.

Each of the major states that I want the plot to center on can have 2-3 internal factions vying for control. The outcome of these contests can have a predetermined outcome, which will occur if the PCs don't get involved - Faction X acquires the ancient artifact Y and uses it to ensure victory in the Brelish election by doing Z, unless the PCs get involved, which could go a number of ways (do they destroy the artifact? Give it to a different faction? Etc).

As these internal faction disputes are resolved, the battle lines for the Next War will start to be drawn. Now the artifacts being sought out will be useful to war, with the different sides growing their capabilities.

Finally, the war itself will occur. By this point, maybe the players will have decided to involve themselves in politics directly, and be backing one of the factions. Or maybe they stay unaligned, selling their aid to different sides at different times - the people who are hiring adventurers will be ideologically motivated, even if the players aren't, and so they'll be shaping the battlefield regardless.

If they players have gotten directly involved, they can battle elite units or surgically strike important targets on the enemy side, since they'll likely be some of the highest level assets on their chosen side. If they haven't, they can go on various adventures related to groups reacting to or profiteering from the war.

I will probably come back to share some particular thoughts about factions and sides I've already shaped. But for now I am interested in feedback regarding the idea as a whole. Would you enjoy a campaign structured in this way? Have you run one like it in the past? Any advice?