Upheavals

The ambitious DM may want to add an over-arching narrative based around historical upheavals.  Here it is best to think in terms of the Four Horsemen: War, Famine, Pestilence and Death.  But before we get into specifics, allow me to caution you: don't introduce a gigantic narrative of this type unless you understand how events like this trend and function.  If you know little to nothing about war, and the influence it has on society; or if you cannot fully grasp something like the Covid pestilence that is gripping the world right now; then you are out of your depth and your world will be better without your lack of knowledge minimizing the potential impact these events can have.  Nothing hurts a campaign than to have a narrative fizzle from lack of imagination or competence.

Additionally, when introducing these concepts, do not have them surprise the party.  A huge event produces an underlying, ongoing tension ~ as many readers are learning right now in real time.  This works enormously in your campaign's favor.  Knowing that there is a war going on two or three hundred miles away is enough to capture a party's imagination.  Having that war break out in different districts, perhaps one where the party intended to go, will send a chill.  Add to this the various incidents that accompany such events: assembling soldiers, seizing war materials, increased taxes, encounters with battlefields long after the battles have taken place, the unusual appearance of hundreds of crippled ex-soldiers, etc.

We may apply the same logic to famine.  A famine builds slowly; a poor harvest raises prices, week by week.  Certain foods are no longer available.  Incidents occur where people steal food.  There are hangings of such thieves.  Starving people begin to appear everywhere.  There is no food available in this town, at any price.  Resentment builds towards anyone who looks well-fed.  Crowds of people appear on the roads, moving towards places where they hope food is available.

There are many forms of death that are not included under war, famine or plague.  Natural disasters; horrific weather; political repression; predation by monsters or wild animals; and accidents.  An unusual number of these events can portent some unnatural power at work.  The death of a king or someone important can spark resentment, rebellion, the appearance of competitive factions.  The momentum from such events can build over months; and the aftermath can require months to overcome.

Each of these large narrative arcs can be ongoing while the players are wrapped up in simple mundane things, such as proposed in the last post.  It is one thing for the players to be immersed in following up clues in a book that will lead to the location of some large magic ruby; it is another when that adventure is set against a completely disconnected background of a pestilence ravaging multiple villages in the neighborhood, giving the players reason to pause before simply heading off to the next dungeon or ruin.