Detecting Magic Items

[Zerakon]

In my last session my players defeated a group of monsters. As a DM, I like to have my intelligen monsters use magic items as it makes a lot more sense than the players finding something and thinking "wow this would have hurt us!" There were two magic items used in this particular battle.

The first magic item was a Phantom Soldier held by a Howling Hag. It was obvious that this was a magic item because I described her using a figurine in her hand just before an illusionary soldier appeared on the battlefield.

The other magic item was Boots of Stealth worn by a Bugbear Strangler. Not as obvious.

At the end of the battle, the party tried to detect magic so I asked for the usual Arcana check. The wizard rolled poorly, resulting in a 15 arcana check. I've been using "Sense the Presence of Magic" under Detect Magic under the Arcana skill (PHB, pg. 181), so a 15 wasn't even close to detecting magic on the items.

The party clearly had a clue that the figurine was magical, so they took that as well as the hag's quarterstaff. The Boots of Stealth were left behind. I'm feeling a little sorry about that as the rogue in the party is a little behind on magic item acquisition and he would have loved them.

Am I using the right rules for this? In previous versions of D&D, a spell could be used -- if the party chose to expend that resource -- to discover all the magic items in the area. Now they roll for a skill.

How do other parties handle this? Do they spend a number of minutes using the Arcana skill until they've rolled sufficiently high? Does the DM just let them detect the presence of magic items automatically and the "sense the presence of magic" is used for other story-related magical presences?

 

[GorTeX]

sounds about right. I probably would have allowed the mage to use his passive arcana...and if they took their time (a short rest), let him get a take 20 on the arcana.

 

[Nightson]

I use a reduced DC for noticing (but not identifying) magic on items already in sight.

 

[Ryujin]

As i recall you can't identify a magic item on sight; you only know that it's magical. It takes a long rest to determine what it is and what its powers are.

If a passive check will get it, then our DM usually just gives it to us. As my current passive check is a 30 (it was 13 at level 1), you can imagine that there isn't much rolling done for it.

 

[Ottergame]

Am I using the right rules for this?

No. There are no rules for detecting magic items. The Arcana skill is detect magical EFFECTS in an area, but magical items are not effects.

The game assumes you tell your players what items are magical, by their nature something is obvious that there's more then meets the eye. Then the game assumes you tell them the properties of all magic items during a short rest.

 

[Ryujin]

No. There are no rules for detecting magic items. The Arcana skill is detect magical EFFECTS in an area, but magical items are not effects.

The game assumes you tell your players what items are magical, by their nature something is obvious that there's more then meets the eye. Then the game assumes you tell them the properties of all magic items during a short rest.

Not so. Under the description of the Arcana skill it states that the DC for "sense the presence of magic" is 20+(1/2 the level of the magic item) and that you can detect it within a number of squares equal to 5+Lvl, ignore sources you're already aware of, ignore all barriers...

 

[GorTeX]

As i recall you can't identify a magic item on sight; you only know that it's magical. It takes a long rest to determine what it is and what its powers are.

See above for 'detecting' (not identifying) magic items using the arcana skill.

It only takes a Short Rest to identify Magic items once you have detected them, not a long rest.

 

[Lakoda]

This is a great example of when, as a DM, you need to start "fudging" stuff. In most cases I would have run this exactly as you did, but since there was a real need for the Rogue to get this items (well, any really) I would have come up with a secondary way for the items to be discovered. Since such a thing isn't something you always due, the best way (in this case) would have been to just make it a gimmie so they detect the boots magic.

Alternatively, if you knew there was an important reason for the Rogue to find something magic (if you are away of the rogue's disparity in magic items, then so is the rogue) do something a little special, like have some random note or other item somehow reference the boots. Add some spice so that it feels special for who ever finds or ends up wearing the boots. Maybe have a note from the bugbears mother asking how he liked his new boots? I don't know, I'm just spitballing here, but it does accomplish two things. It makes the boots seem special and gives them reason to give them a second look as it makes the PCs less aware (in a metagaming sense) of notes, which are typically plot devices - now, not so much...it's flavor.

Another idea I've used in the past was to have surviving weak monsters try to grab important items from a dead (and more powerful) ally's body when they make a run for it. It gives the PCs reason to chance as well draws attention to the item.

 

[Ryujin]

See above for 'detecting' (not identifying) magic items using the arcana skill.

It only takes a Short Rest to identify Magic items once you have detected them, not a long rest.

Obviously you are correct with respect to it being a short rest. One of those cases where I thought that a good rule was *overly* lenient and keep messing up on it.

 

[Zerakon]

This is a great example of when, as a DM, you need to start "fudging" stuff.

Disagree. I don't think this is a great example where I needed to start fudging. The Boots were a minor throw-in item -- a level 3 item and the rogue was level 5. Also, he's likely going to be the biggest beneficiary of the Phantom Soldier item that the party found, as its primary purpose is that it allows extra flanking opportunities.

In most cases I would have run this exactly as you did, but since there was a real need for the Rogue to get this items (well, any really) I would have come up with a secondary way for the items to be discovered.

Again, there wasn't a real need for the Rogue to get this item. I said in my post that I felt "a little sorry" because the Rogue was "a little behind" in magic items.

I don't think such a small thing requires fudging.

Heck, if it was important that the Rogue get the boots, I could just as easily throw Boots of Stealth into their next treasure horde. They don't know that they missed out on the Boots in this particular battle.

I really just wanted to know what the actual rules are, to make sure that I wasn't missing something.

I do appreciate your advice for situations when it is important that a magic item be found, in terms of delivering it in a way that seems natural, such as your example of a lesser monster trying to grab a magic item from his fallen comrade.

Some of the other suggestions are okay too. I guess I'm surprised that 4E has such a wishy-washy way of going about this, considering the DMG has specific rules about treasure parcels so that parties get the "right amount" of magic items. It just seems inconsistent from a design standpoint. If they felt it was important that PCs get the right amount of magic items, they should have had a more surefire way to detect the items.