Magic items in Playtest

[steeldragons]

slight tangent .....

do the rules (yes, i realize it's an incomplete playtest document) have a method for magic item identification? I haven't been able to find one...
historicaly, one way was that if you studied it for 5 minutes of downtime, you could figure out what it is and its properties (which was simple and streamlined but at the same time probably not the 'older edition feel that this edition is aiming for). another way in other editions was that you needed to "play" with it to figure it out as you used it (which made it more of a learn by trial-error thing but also, at least in my games, led to so much delay as people were timidly experimenting in unnecessary detail for fear of saying the wrong thing and getting a curse)

anyway, my point is, if there is a rule for identifying magic items, anyone mind pointing out which document and page number it's on? 'cause i can't see to find it if it's there. (but i've been known to be blind to the obvious before)

Personally, I would LOVE if it was a "play it/use it" kinda default...but I seriously doubt that would fly with a LOT of players.

I don't have the playtest, so if you haven't found one, then I suspect there isn't one "in duh rulz". Perhaps the playtest is leaving it up to the DM, to work with the players, to determine how/when they figure them out...add to that "old school feeling" perhaps?

I suspect, and this is total conjecture on my part, that "Identify", the spell, is going to be making an appearance in later playtests as a "Ritual" (along with the, hopefully, optional rules for Rituals themselves. Personally I'd make that available to mages AND clerics, but that's just me.).

But that is a COMPLETE guess and not based on ANYthing I have read or heard...iow, I have no "in" at WotC.
--SD

 

[steeldragons]

The Staff of Curing is directly out of the Basic D&D rules. The original version healed 1d6+1 damage to the target. It had no limit on total daily uses, but a specific creature could only receive the benefit once per day.

Pre-dated wands of CLW by a good 19 years or so.

LOVE ME some Staff of Healing goodness! [never played 3x so never ran into the Wand of CLW conflama...and never allowed wands of CLW to be "crafted" in my game setting. Potions? Sure. That was a nice economic staple for several temples. But that's just me/my setting.]

I will also posit, suggest, guess (wow, I'm filled with conjecture this evening, huh?) that the whole "Blue Crystal Staff" of Dragonlance fame and fortune was based off of the original Staff of Healing.

But again, just a guess.
--SD

 

[GX.Sigma]

I suspect, and this is total conjecture on my part, that "Identify", the spell, is going to be making an appearance in later playtests as a "Ritual" (along with the, hopefully, optional rules for Rituals themselves.

Ritual rules are in the playtest packet. Certain spells can be cast as rituals by expending certain material components (if you have a special ability or class feature that lets you cast rituals). This bypasses spell preparation, but costs money and time.

 

[steeldragons]

Ritual rules are in the playtest packet. Certain spells can be cast as rituals by expending certain material components (if you have a special ability or class feature that lets you cast rituals). This bypasses spell preparation, but costs money and time.

Oh? GREAT! As well they should. Perfect. Well then, perhaps Identify (as spell or ritual...the original casting of this spell took, essentially, the entire day. So, to my mind, it was always a "ritual"...though we didn't have the term back in the proverbial day) specifically, will appear later.

 

[Campbell]

If you're going to balance the game so that melee combatants and spell casters are on equal footing without magic items and still want to have +3 Swords of Awesome you kind of need to have +3 Staves of Awesome. Thems the breaks.

 

[CM]

The Staff of Curing is directly out of the Basic D&D rules. The original version healed 1d6+1 damage to the target. It had no limit on total daily uses, but a specific creature could only receive the benefit once per day.

Pre-dated wands of CLW by a good 19 years or so.

I may be wrong but basic D&D didn't have item creation by characters either. If you're using the 5e item creation module, unless crafting the staff is prohibitively expensive, we're going to see parties with bundles of them, just like the cure wand.

 

[Boarstorm]

I hate wands providing +s to hit. That is a personal preference.

It's not a wand, it's a blasting rod!

 

[steeldragons]

I may be wrong but basic D&D didn't have item creation by characters either.

Nope. Not wrong. Basic and Expert had no allowance for crafting magic items. In the Companion set, I believe, when the presumed level was 14+ it was allowed (but I think the crafting rules might have said something about being able to do it at 9th or 10th. By then "name level" was present in AD&D).

If you're using the 5e item creation module, unless crafting the staff is prohibitively expensive, we're going to see parties with bundles of them, just like the cure wand.

Can't speak to that, but I certainly hope not!

 

[Keldryn]

I may be wrong but basic D&D didn't have item creation by characters either. If you're using the 5e item creation module, unless crafting the staff is prohibitively expensive, we're going to see parties with bundles of them, just like the cure wand.

A 9th level magic-user or cleric can craft magic items, at a general cost of 500gp and one week per level of the spell (if the item duplicates a spell effect). The example given include a potion of healing (500gp, 1 week) and a wand of fireballs with 20 charges (30,000 gp and 17 weeks). So the staff of healing would cost at least 10,000 gp (based on the max of 20 charges) plus around 5 weeks of dedicated crafting time.

It's expensive, but not prohibitively so. You're not going to see too many PCs crafting them.

[MENTION=92511]steeldragons[/MENTION], the rules for crafting magic items are in the Expert Rulebook, in the DM's section.

 

[fba827]

It's not a wand, it's a blasting rod!

That just sounds dirty.