This is a D&D post, so please bear with me. I know that reading about other peoples' D&D campaigns is like hearing someone tell you about that really weird dream they had last night. It's interesting to the person telling the story and a meaningless bore to everyone else.
We recently completed a huge milestone in our campaign, so I wanted to write a little bit about it. But don't worry, I'll spare you most of the details.
The short version is that we completed the modules "Five Shall Be One" and "Howls from the North" from the Greyhawk setting. I haven't read them, since I don't want to spoil details for myself as a player, but the gist is simple. Find five swords of great power. Based on the length of the books, my guess is that they would take 10-15 sessions, maybe 20 if you're players are slow. And the basic aim is simple: collect 5 swords of power.
My DM used these books to create an overarching framework for a 4-year campaign that we just recently finished. It was a long time coming, and for much of that time, we didn't know exactly where we were headed. There were lots of side quests and other modules interspersed among the clues and threads for us to pull in this main story line.
The story took us from the humble town of Saltmarsh into the Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan and the Sunless Citadel, across the world to Zakhara, into a necropolis populated by the undead (and a couple of very sus necromancers), and then to Greyhawk (and lot of places along the way I'm leaving out).
In our travels, we picked up a magical sword called "Dreamsong". At first we thought it was a just a cool sword that was good for killing stuff. But then it slowly revealed clues to guide us on our way or showed displays of power that hinted it was more than just a normal magical sword. Often we set these clues on the back burner, choosing to follow whatever matters seemed more urgent or profitable.
After at least a couple years in real life, we eventually found a second sword that seemed related to the first one. Unexpectedly finding this second sentient sword focused our attention on the main quest line, but our DM threw a lot at us along the way (e.g., something or other about Vecna and the Circle of Eight).
Anyways, I just wanted to write this up because it was a really fun ride and I wanted to give a shout out to my DM for playing the long game, doing some really great world-building, and helping us create an adventure that felt really epic.
Also, RIP in peace to Shadowflower, my Halfling rogue, who didn't make it out of a temple to the pissy crocodile god Ragarra in the Grey Jungle. 🙁