Identifying Magic Items

[Mattachine]

That probably depends on how common magic items are. I run relatively low magic campaigns with no "magic marts" and the PCs use everything they find that gives them an advantage.

Well sure. I run a campaign (in 4e) with almost no magic items at all, and those that do exist always come with a drawback. Still, my campaign and yours are atypical, no?

 

[Hassassin]

Well sure. I run a campaign (in 4e) with almost no magic items at all, and those that do exist always come with a drawback. Still, my campaign and yours are atypical, no?

How would any of us know what is atypical when we have only played in a tiny minority of campaigns?

 

[Stormonu]

What on Oerth makes you think that potions look nearly identical?

IMC I've always described them individually. You might find a pink, sweet-smelling potion (potion of healing), one that is so clear that you almost don't even notice it (potion of invisibility), one that looks like beef stew and smells strongly of sweat (potion of hill giant strength) and a bubbling, foul-smelling potion with bits of bone and flesh mixed in (potion of zombie form), and in fact, AFAIK going waaaay back to the B/X days, the dm was encouraged to give clues to a potion's nature by varying their descriptions.

I've used potion colors, bottle styles and smell/taste to differentiate potions as well, but if you weren't the one who made it youself, or if they are similar (perhaps both are clear, but have slightly different smells), you don't want to be guessing or trying to remember which is which - especially in a stressful situation.