[RPG] Campaign suggestions for a new DM and new PCs

I think you'll want to go with the Chaos Scar series. This is a DDI set of adventures for low level characters that should get you through levels 1-5. It's not a campaign per se, more of a sandbox, but should be no problem to string together if you're an experienced DM. I ran some of it with my newbie group, before that group ended, I had planned to run all of it.

I started with the D&D Encounters Keep on the Borderlands adventure; however, the adventure as written is just combat encounter after combat encounter, so I stretched it out and chopped it up a bit. You may have to find it on ebay if you want a print copy, I ran mine from a PDF.

Interspersed in that adventure I ran other side adventures from the Chaos Scar series, of which there are 15 for levels 1-4, which you can find here (DDI Subscription Required): Chaos Scar

1A  Stick in the Mud  
1B  Den of the Slave-Takers  
1C  The Brothers Gray  
1D  Death in the Pincers  
1E  The Tainted Spiral  
1F  The Lost Library  
1G  A Chance Encounter  
1H  Eyes in the Forest  
1I  Elves of the Valley  
2A  Sliver's Call  
2B  The Shrine of Glass-Spire Forest  
2C  Dead by Dawn  
2D  The Hammer Falls  
3A  The Crawling Fane  
3B  The Splintered Spring  
4A  Glowstone Caverns

The characters were based out of Restwell Keep, which is detailed here (DDI Subscription Required)

The map of the Chaos Scar is great and can be found here (Free, as a .jpg)

There are two good resources for Chaos Scar info, both D&D Groups are old and outdated, but good info is here and here (Free)

I really liked the background of all the adventures that I ran and those that I read. I was hoping to use more of them but we stopped after 2 levels unfortunately. If I ever run another newb group I would probably use this series again.

After what's listed in the first link there are the following adventures:

 LVL Dungeon# Name 
- 4     178   The Crawling Fane      Chaos Scar   
- 4     180   The Pillar Of Eyes     Chaos Scar
- 4     182   Vanguard Tower         Chaos Scar
- 5     181   The Slaver's Stone     Chaos Scar
- 5-7   192   Scarred for Life       Chaos Scar
- 6     183   The Radiant Morn       Chaos Scar
- 6-8   193   Rumble in the Valley   Chaos Scar
- 7     184   Head in the Clouds     Chaos Scar
- 7     196   Reflections of Ruin    Chaos Scar
- 7-9   189   Scarblade              Chaos Scar
- 8-10  186   The Runecutter's Ruin  Chaos Scar
- 8-10  190   Pit of Delirium        Chaos Scar
- 8-10  197   Heart of the Scar      Chaos Scar

I hope this helps!

Think about the real world

There are many conflicts in the real world, for many reasons. Look at news or a history book if you need inspiration. Not all of them are combat encounters, many might be detective work and exploration.

• Which church is allowed to tax/get the tenth in a village? Help the priests of Pelor against an attack by Asmodeus' children (insert $LOCAL_DEITY).
• Are there racial tensions between the races? Calm the mob of elves wanting to burn all halflings.
• Who illegally hunted a deer in the baron's forest? Free the arrested farmer or help prove his innocence so he won't be executed for his crime.
• A landslide destroyed the crop in the neighboring village, and they are running out of food. But giving them food from this village might lead to starvation in winter.
• A Party member is unfairly accused of theft. The punishment is cutting off the left hand. Fight the guards? Escape the guards (Skill challenge?) Prove innocence (How?)?

But much more important than the exact back story is in my eyes:

Make combat encounters diverse

It's not (only) the creature selection that makes an encounter interesting, but how you set up the battle. Let me make an example, with the same old 'bandit take village hostage' in three variations. I'm sure if you run it like that, the players won't complain it's always the same.

Devious, planning ba...ndits

The bandits have obviously heard of the wandering band of do-gooders and are prepared. First, they send in the dogs. Use skirmisher dogs that charge + make the enemy prone. Feel free to give them half HP or make some of them minions in order to make the battle shorter, but use enough different dogs they can't be locked down.

The dogs are backed by ranged attackers on the roofs behind chimneys - that means ranged attacks from cover, plus potentially combat advantage if they hid well. To get on the roofs, require at least a move action + athletics check. You can also make them minions, or at least some.

After two rounds, when the party is likely to be softened up, send in the Hog-Brothers, two large, burly fighters, brutes that will focus on the same target to make it go unconscious...

Trees are fun

Bandits have taken over the village, but the village is on a hill. When the party approaches, the bandits roll logs (trees) down the hills. That's a nice trap against Reflex that damages, secondary attack against Fortitude that slows. Once the party is up the hill, use charging brutes that push them down again. As always, use cleverly distributed archer minions to make it more dangerous.

Hostages

Again, bandits take over the village. Everyone is on the village square. When the party arrives, two bandits in the center threaten the peasants that were rounded up. Can the party lock down the two bandits and prevent an all-out slaughter, while fending off the other bandits? If you make the villagers run around frightened on the battlefield, you have another nice restriction: non-friendly area attacks kill peasants.

Build up a villain/villains

Don't worry too much about 'same backstory' for side encounters, it doesn't really matter as long as the fights are interesting. And you could build up a gang of bandits that terrorize the area... every session there's another gang-related side encounter. With time, the bandits also start hunting the party. This could tie diverse and interesting encounters together. Build one or two lieutenant for every side fight that has special capabilities (not magic, but either some leaderish/controllerish powers or a especially hard brute/soldier.