Eh, just stash the glowing orb of celestial might in your backpack.

[Quasqueton]

Ever have something really cool in an adventure (item, person, event, other), and when the PCs see it (take, meet, experience, other), they don't realize what it is, and are not curious, impressed, awed, or even aware of its imporatnce, power, or coolness?

What was the item/person/event/other? Did the PCs ever come to realize the significance?

Quasqueton

 

[Jdvn1]

I think it happens whenever the party is expecting some big (item, person, event, other). They're like, "Oh, this is another of the the DM's big important things. That's like the thirtieth one." When the (item, person, event, other) starts to obviously affect the game, I think that's what impresses the party. Also, if you can set up the situation beforehand, that can help.

I had a big temple in one of my games, the biggest in the world. Dedicated to the most important god. Created hundreds of years ago by the finest dwarven crafters. I described it in not excessive detail, but enough so the party would get the gist of the place. Some of the most important Clerics and Paladins stayed there, as well as some very important Wizards (it was a god of magic). Hugely important. The party was impressed, I think, but not overly. This sort of thing happens whenever one of our GMs runs a game. It's normal. There's always a big important site. Well, they spent time there, met people, did stuff they needed to do. They went on a few adventures and it was a base. They get back from their second or third adventure and the place is destroyed. Nothing but rubble left on the ground. There's a sound of crying in the distance. People are climbing over the rubble, looking for survivors. And that's where I ended the day's session.

That got to them.

 

[Rystil Arden]

I'm going to agree that players often need to see a tangible effect before they become impressed with something important.

An example from one of my campaigns: The party found an item that was supposed to be the source of all Plant-Element (there are 8 elements on this campaign world including plant/wood) Energy in the world. It was sitting on an imposing-looking ziggurat and sending out energy. Unable to decipher the script on the walls, the party's Frenzied Berserker just shrugged and attempted to pull the artifact out of its holster with a Strength Check. When he failed on a roll of 25, he went into Rage and Frenzy and tried again, succeeding on a 33. Pocketing the item unimpressedly, the party walked out of the temple into the surrounding forest, only to find that the forest was rapidly withering away and dying in a huge radius around them. Horrified, the PCs replaced the artifact, but the link had been severed, the damage done. Returning the artifact to its place slowed the death of the planet's greenery, but now the PCs had a healthy respect for the artifact, fighting ardently to prevent the evildoers who had been unable to make the DC 32 Strength check to break the artifact out from getting their hands on it.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Usually when we have some item like that sitting unused it's because we haven't a way of identifying it.....

 

[Ellie_the_Elf]

My PCs spent five levels questing for a sword which was both extremely powerful and of crucial importance to the campaign story. Shortly after they found it, the NPC cleric who they had planned to give the sword to got kidnapped by the BBEG. So who got this really cool weapon while they went off on another quest to find their friend?

The party wizard. Who had a strength of 8, next to no BAB as a result of having two spellcasting PrCs on top of his wizard levels, and went into melee about once every ten game sessions (and even then it was by accident because the'yd got attacked from behind or something, and he didn't have dimension door prepared to get out of the way easily).

Important artifact-level sword promptly went into his backpack and was drawn only very occasionally from that point on, generally only if they were out of daylight spells (casting daylight being one of the sword's powers)

Ellie.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Identify is a pain in the butt to use, so unless you give a big hint, it might end up in the backpack.

Besides, with the huge amounts of treasure being handed out, it's easy to forget something you picked up. You can't sell it if you don't know what it is and you don't want to spend 100 gp and an hour on it if you think it's not important.

 

[Goblyn]

My PCs spent five levels questing for a sword which was both extremely powerful and ...
snippage
... promptly went into his backpack and was drawn only very occasionally from that point on, generally only if they were out of daylight spells (casting daylight being one of the sword's powers)

Ellie.

I've had experiences like this too. Most of the time using the artifact was too much of a PITA to use because it had drawbacks of some sort, or was quite specialized, unwieldy, etc.

Anyway, as to the original post, we've had almost that exact thing happen. Some big jewel that purportedly was a communication device, but also was used to grant wishes. We never did learn more about it, and weren't even sure of that much. I was a player in this game.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I played a Paladin once who carried the Wand of Orcus around in his backpack for most of the campaign... but he knew exactly what it was.

After he used it to command an undead army.

Can you say A-T-O-N-E-M-E-N-T?

 

[Darth K'Trava]

I'd have thought that something like that would've caused an adverse effect BEFORE he used it to summon undead..... like it burning in his hand.... feeling weaker (the level loss) or something.....

My paladin's going to seek atonement but not for something like that..... just questioning her deity's edicts from the effects of the Dragon Rage in FR....

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Yeah.

At the southern end of a field of ancient Netherese barrows there was a gigantic mound rumored to be the tomb of the great Netherese witch-king Acererak. Buried with him are untold riches of the ancient world. Upon the flattened top of the mound are a set of black stones, that from above mark the shape of a grinning skull.

For some reason, I can't get my players near the place.