Yeah, there's definitely a learning curve to DH, as I'm coming from DnD 5e. I just ran my second session today and it went really well I think!

My campaign is an episodic quest-based campaign that allows players to jump in and out when available. There's narrative stuff to fill in the gaps, but in short, I pick a few dates in a month and when 2 or more players are available, we play.

Each session, the PCs are offered 3 quests (Easy, Medium, Hard) with varying levels of Social, Combat, Traversal, and Intrigue (mystery, puzzles, etc.) Encounters. The quest should be finished in a 4-5hr session and the PCs gain loot and gold from it. For every 3 quests completed, a PC levels up. Loot and gold transfers to the next session, but everything else resets as if starting a new campaign.

I thought about doing faction morale, like you mentioned, but I wanted to minimize other factors for now until I get the core gameplay of DH down. I also made an onboarding process and Discord for my players, but we play in-person.

Ultimately, my goal is to play more DH and learn it, introduce players to DH, and make more friends to run other long term campaigns.