The well has run dry? If you've read my other posts then you'd know I have been there too. Here's a few things that helped me out of it:
1) The Runehammer Channel on Youtube - If you are stuck in a cyclone of rules, watch these videos. Especially the ones about ICRPG. Hankerin Ferinale snapped me out of my slump and freed my creativity that had been stifled recently (Pathfinder Society did more harm than good to my GM skills, I think).
2) Online title generators - There are several, I use many different ones. Generate a bunch of titles until one grabs your attention. Treat your campaign like a pulp serial of the 30's. Today's Episode: The Tree of Whispers!
Wait, what does that mean? I don't know but thinking about it gives my mind a target to focus on. Before I was staring at a blank canvas, with nothing there to inspire me. Now I have a title!
Here's what comes to my mind: An unknown, feral group of forest elves ritually hunt those that wander too deeply in their forest. They give their sacrifices to feed their Great Tree: Annanus. Annanus has grown old, corrupt, and mad. The tribe and the tree are one. Enter our heroes...
There, now I have the over-arching story. But I need to add dimension to this campaign. What two other problems are there in the area? Are they symptoms of the primary story, or a separate problem that also needs to be addressed immediately?
Side Problem 1) - We can kick off our campaign with this. A lord's son has disappeared (in the elves' forest). Unfortunately he was to be a peace envoy to a nearby kingdom and tensions have reached the boiling point. Since no one is aware of the elves' presence, one side believes the other has captured or killed the prince. Only his return can prevent the war. The heroes may run into scouts of either military force in the forest and neither will want to leave witnesses.
Side Problem 2) - The heroes will be fumbling around for months searching the forest. They need a guide. There is a tribe of Kobolds that have kept themselves hidden from the elves (or the elves didn't find hunting kobolds challenging enough. The heroes stumble across the Kobold, Yatzhee, hanging from a tree snare and panicking. If the heroes free the Kobold and befriend him, he can take the heroes to some of the Prince's company. The Kobolds took pity hid the retinue in their dens. Unfortunately the Prince was taken by the elves. Yatzhee volunteers to guide the heroes to the elf tribe and will tell them all he knows about them.
Let's add one more Side Problem - When the heroes reach Annanus, they see that an entire elf army is preparing to march. If it strikes the two kingdoms while they war with each other, the elves would triumph over both. How can the heroes warn and convince both kingdoms to ally when they must also find and rescue the prince?
Now I would go about roughly outlining the campaign as I recommended in my post - Campaign 101: Villainy is Afoot!
I hope these ideas help you!
