In which they get what they asked for

 Table's been going for over three years now.  Third campaign.  First two ended in TPKs.  After each did

an exit interview and tried to incorporate the responses into the next one.  They were pretty good with everything except the over-arching plots.  They didn't want one.  "We wanna be itinerant monster and treasure hunters."  And they wanted a little more political intrigue.  And one wanted some big military stuff.  Maybe.

So I plopped them onto a corner of the planet ruled by noble houses with a complex web of interrelationships and intrigue.  Lot's of one shots and exploring.  And it seemed well received.  Until last session.  We ALWAYS spend a bit of time discussing the meta-game but after our last session they lamented the lack of a BBG and big plot line!  I was throwing two or three plot hooks at them every session, tailored for their class and backstory.  They knew they could pass on any and do whatever they wanted.  I was usually able to riff off their decisions.  But now five levels in they've decided they want the thing they didn't want!

And.

In each of the prior two campaigns I had an "out" adventure.  Something to run if someone couldn't make it or if things went south early.  First one was a book of fairy tales that pulled PC's in.  They fought the big bad wolf and Rumpelstiltskin and encountered the Bremen town musicians.  They liked it.  Second one was a demi-plane in a tapestry (lifted from Pathfinder.)  They liked it too.  And they wanted another one.  So it's tough when good ideas fall in your lap and then you're called upon to duplicate the result.

Anyway.

Spending this weekend spinning up a BBEG, an overarching storyline and a recurring diversion.  And I have one.  IF YOU'RE AT MY TABLE STOP READING THIS NOW.  Recurring diversion is a compass that opens gates to small demi-planes where I'll drop small strange worlds or 5-room dungeons with ever increasing CR monsters.  AND there's an AI nested inside of it, which siphons off magic and event energy and decides to evolve.  Hence the BBEG.  And lots of factions want control of it.  Which is the adventure arc.  So I'm done.  After reviewing every Pathfinder Adventure Path, D&D published campaign, the twenty steppers designed by Sly Flourish, and a raft of tired ideas on Reddit and other sites.  

But.

The party will be happy (I hope.)  I've advised there will be a raft of plot hooks next week and one of them MIGHT be the Big Arc and one of them MIGHT be the Recurring Diversion.  So we'll see how it goes.