How to make my PCs retreive an artifact without making it seem rushed?

[Temennigru]

I am starting a campaign tomorrow where the first thing that will happen is the destruction of the world triggered by an artifact, after which the players will be transported to another one. For that reason, I didn't give much thought to the first world (being that it will be destroyed).

I want to convince my PCs to retrieve that artifact in the first session without making them feel rushed and by giving the impression that they have the power of choice.

How can I do that?

[mvpmack]

Assuming the players are together, just have a guy hire them to get the artifact. Most players tend to follow hooks, especially if you don't give them much else to do. Promise them a lot of money.

[Temennigru]

Then it would seem rushed. Starting the campaign and immediately hiring them to retrieve an artifact they've never heard of.
The idea that I'm going with for now is there is a lich destroying town after town and only a magical runeblade stashed away in an ancient temple can stop him, so the players get to the temple and find out the blade is gone, but there is something else in there.

[Socratov]

Then it would seem rushed. Starting the campaign and immediately hiring them to retrieve an artifact they've never heard of.
The idea that I'm going with for now is there is a lich destroying town after town and only a magical runeblade stashed away in an ancient temple can stop him, so the players get to the temple and find out the blade is gone, but there is something else in there.

You're going legend of zelda on them? Cool!

[Temennigru]

You're going legend of zelda on them? Cool!

Something like that,
Only when they pull the artifact from its resting place the world ends.

[noob]

And if your players are way too much paranoid and do not take the artifact because they read this thread?
And if they simply do not take the artifact "because I am scared by plot devices"
There is 1000 ways for your end of the world to fail.

[Bronk]

It sounds like you're planning on telling your players about the background about this lich guy running around, but I don't see any reason to tell your players that the macguffin they're after is an artifact in the first place.

It seems that even if these PCs aren't starting out at level 1, the Lich is way more powerful than they are, world endingly powerful. So, if you think they're all goody two-shoes paladins and so on, have a local lords send them to 'retrieve his stolen weapon' from a nearby dungeon while while he prepares his top people, so that he can go out and lead the fight when the lich comes. If they're all shady types, have someone hire them to steal 'something valuable' from a nearby wherever while everyone's distracted by the lich's activities.

Either way, they should just find it and have no qualms about snatching it up. Then you can be all 'Ha, that's a super artifact, and the world ends for some reason! Muhahahaha!'

Barring that, just have whatever they do pick up be the artifact. They won't know the difference if you don't tell them.

[noob]

What happens if they do not know it is an artifact:
They somehow get a scroll of disjunction(doable if they start making of that a quest)
They disjunct the "only weapon able to kill the lich".
They now come to the currently completely unbeatable lich and become servitors of the lich and get to be undead and live for ever under the service of the lich.
They saved the world and do not even know in addition.