Have you ever found yourself standing at the crossroads?

When the latest edition of Dungeons & Dragons arrived I jumped right into gamemastering a new campaign. I decided that rather than play through published materials I’d design my own campaign that revolved around a world-shaking Event and the continuing world-reshaping fallout from that event. I put a lot of thought into it and hammered out a broad outline (I like to fill in details as I go to incorporate the reactions from my players) that would span levels 1-20.

For various reasons I decided to use Harn as my campaign world. As my players were unfamiliar with it, I decided to start them in a corner of the world where I could introduce the politics, religion, and socio-economics of the setting. The beginning sparks of the Event would happen here.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), what was intended to be a 1-2 session opening turned into an 8 session (and possibly more) mini-saga. My players really got into the setting and its Tolkienesque vibe (I took my own advice and allowed the players to make standard PCs, but the rest of the world more resembles Middle Earth than Greyhawk or Golarion) and at this point while they have some hints at something bigger happening, I haven’t gotten to the Event yet.

My players are really enjoying the campaign, so now I find myself questioning whether I’d be threatening that by moving ahead with the Event. I find myself revisiting many old campaigns (both as GM and player) that started off awesomely, but the sudden change in tone was less well-received. I’m wondering whether I should tone down or remove the Event or proceed as I’d originally planned.

Have you ever found yourself at the crossroads of a campaign? What did you ultimately choose to do? Was it satisfying or did you regret your decision? Did you ever get a chance to revisit the crossroads and take the other path? How did they compare?