I won't bore anyone w/the deets of last campaign; suffice it to say it ended badly at 5th level as opposed to the 20th level we were shooting for. Many changes have been made and after much mining for advice on these boards I'm finally getting my stuff back on the table.
People on these boards told me to look at AP's. I did but didn't end up using them specifically. I did however realize that one of the reasons they're so epic and my games are so lame is detail. AP's give a players guide with useful info that let the PC's know all the background they need for the start of the campaign. I usually cover that in a few sentences in character gen so my players never really felt very dialed in.
Anyway, thanks for all the great advice and thanks Paizo for a terrific game and the free AP player's guides; it's given me a lot of inspiration. Here's why I'm posting: at the start of the game I want to give my players an initial goal; something that relates to the first 3 level arc.
The arc: in a homebrew land modeled loosely on Ustlav in the Carrion Crown AP there is a blight on the land and famine. Some of the locals around a port city are blaming it on a baron's daughter since she recently became an oracle with the Haunted curse. The 3-level arc will see the party arrive in the city at the same time as the festival, fight baddies in the city and then find clues that show that everywhere this gypsy caravan at the festival has been there has been blight. They then have to head to the baron whereupon they find that the daughter is missing. It culminates with heading into a dungeon to stop a final rite that will permanently blight the land and cause an earthquake.
Please help w/a hook that puts them in the city. We haven't done character gen yet so I don't know the characters yet. If you need more detail I understand and will oblige.