War or Questing [help!]

[Altair_the_Vexed]

To Quest or to War? That is the question...

I'm running a D&D game in which it is all but inevitable that a war is about to kick off, that will have literally global repercussions (a super-power-scale Empire is launching an invasion, which will suck in the other nearly-super-power in the local region, which will open up the invading empire's flank to the other hemisphere's super-power ... it's complex).

I'm the kind of DM who runs the world in the background no matter what the heroes are up to. This war isn't going on hold just because the key players are off adventuring elsewhere. (I actually have a few different games running in the world setting on different nights, and I match up the event from each campaign as necessary.)

My main PCs are - almost by mistake - in the country that's about to be invaded. They are high enough level to make a real difference to how things play out in the early stages of the war.
I also had planned a long questing adventure of multiverse-shaking consequences far away from all this war action, which I really want to get under way.

So - question:

Do I hold off for a moment or two to avoid getting these PCs entangled in the war so they can go off on their quest..?
... or do I just start the war and let the PCs decide if they want to bug out and leave the scrapping empires to it?

(Of course, I know it's up to me, but what would you do?)

[Attilargh]

I'd move the multiverse-shaking quest to where the stuff is happening and eat the cake I have.

I simply find the idea of big damn heroes maneuvering across enemy lines while trying to save the world extremely exciting (which is a big part of why I love Iron Kingdoms). They can't just vote between "saving this corner of the world, now" and "saving the whole world, eventually" and then get to focus completely on one, but have to evaluate every plot hook individually. Do they have time to deliver the goods to the besieged fort? Can they negotiate with an NPC while there's a battle going on in the valley below? Catch the foreign spy or save the MacGuffin, think fast! And so on.

Of course, I'm not the one running multiple parties through the same story.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

I'd move the multiverse-shaking quest to where the stuff is happening and eat the cake I have.

I simply find the idea of big damn heroes maneuvering across enemy lines while trying to save the world extremely exciting (which is a big part of why I love Iron Kingdoms). They can't just vote between "saving this corner of the world, now" and "saving the whole world, eventually" and then get to focus completely on one, but have to evaluate every plot hook individually. Do they have time to deliver the goods to the besieged fort? Can they negotiate with an NPC while there's a battle going on in the valley below? Catch the foreign spy or save the MacGuffin, think fast! And so on.

Of course, I'm not the one running multiple parties through the same story.

Yikes!
Unfortunately, the multiversal quest thingy has already been established in-game as having a primary goal several thousand miles away from the current action.

Of course, I could tweak their noses curiosity with someone trying to steal their Multiversal plot token now - to remind them that they have it and that it's important - just before springing the War plot...

Then, yes, they'd have the multiverse to save, while a big, escalating war is erupting around them, and they are being pulled this way and that by demands for help.