D&D 5E Identify

[marsupial_riot]

im having some existential crisis over identify. to me it seems like once a player gets a hold of a 100gp pearl then all mystery is lost. not to mention cursed items just seem silly as none would stand up to the inspection of identify and therefore never be attuned with. of course this is something that could be settled at my own table with hand waving or rewriting or house rule. but i was wondering if anyone feels the same (or very different). if so have you made any adjustments at your table to make the spell more interesting or narrow its very broad view? just looking for some creative solutions for my game. thanks!

 

[ExploderWizard]

Just to clarify- a cursed item is NOT revealed by the identify spell per the DMG. In my campaign the PCs found a ring and identified it as a ring of free action. When the barbarian put it on and tried to attune it, it's true nature was revealed- it was a cursed ring of stupidity, lowering the wearer's INT & WIS to 3 each.

Being a barbarian, he didn't notice much.

But I understand your concerns. You could house rule that the pearl is consumed each time which would make spamming it costly.

Also- the identify spell is kind of just there for the impatient anyway. Anyone can learn about an item's properties by spending an hour of quality time making sweet love to it.

IDENTIFY.....cause playa's ain't got time for a short rest.

 

[Paraxis]

"Most methods of identifying items, including the identify spell,fail to reveal such a curse, although lore might hint at it. A curse should be a surprise to the item's user when the curse's effects are revealed." - pg 139 DMG

You could have them make an Intelligence(Arcana) check to identify magic items during a short rest, and make the identify spell give a bonus to the roll. That way you can judge how much information to give them.

 

[iserith]

im having some existential crisis over identify. to me it seems like once a player gets a hold of a 100gp pearl then all mystery is lost. not to mention cursed items just seem silly as none would stand up to the inspection of identify and therefore never be attuned with. of course this is something that could be settled at my own table with hand waving or rewriting or house rule. but i was wondering if anyone feels the same (or very different). if so have you made any adjustments at your table to make the spell more interesting or narrow its very broad view? just looking for some creative solutions for my game. thanks!

The "mystery" is lost anyway when a character can sit down and hold onto an item during a short rest. The identify spell is just an option that takes a much shorter amount of time and a 100 gp focus that isn't consumed. There's a meaningful choice there - sometimes - but usually not because there isn't enough time pressure combined with a desire to use this item right now that would make blowing a spell slot attractive.

The other issue with the whole "air of mystery" is that the PCs presumably just earned themselves a sweet item either by good exploration, defeating this monster or that, or whatever. Only now they don't know what the thing does and they can't trust that their DM isn't trying to pull a screw-job by making the thing cursed. So unless they really need that item right now (maybe they don't have a magic sword and there's demon's afoot), it's not worth the risk - into the bag of holding it goes. Which kind of sucks because they're not playing with the new toys they just got for Xmas.

Me personally, I've just given up on the whole thing. I can get my whiff of mystery from other aspects of the game and so I just tell the players what these things do straight away by framing them as storied items they've heard about from some tale or another. Often I'll engage the players to help me come up with that lore so they're more engaged by it and remember it better.

 

[Zaran]

Just to clarify- a cursed item is NOT revealed by the identify spell per the DMG. In my campaign the PCs found a ring and identified it as a ring of free action. When the barbarian put it on and tried to attune it, it's true nature was revealed- it was a cursed ring of stupidity, lowering the wearer's INT & WIS to 3 each.

Being a barbarian, he didn't notice much.

But I understand your concerns. You could house rule that the pearl is consumed each time which would make spamming it costly.

Also- the identify spell is kind of just there for the impatient anyway. Anyone can learn about an item's properties by spending an hour of quality time making sweet love to it.

IDENTIFY.....cause playa's ain't got time for a short rest.

I kind of think Identify is there for those who think spending an hour with an item shouldn't mean you know it's trigger word, it's history, and every ability if you attune to it.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I kind of think Identify is there for those who think spending an hour with an item shouldn't mean you know it's trigger word, it's history, and every ability if you attune to it.

As soon as a 100gp pearl is obtained any wizard can do the same thing in only 10 minutes casting identify as a ritual. It won't even cost a spell slot, just a preparation slot.

 

[Brian Michaluk]

remember in this edition everything is optional.

Personally I kicked out the short rest identification so a wizard-less party needs to play with an item or seek out a sage.

 

[Tormyr]

As soon as a 100gp pearl is obtained any wizard can do the same thing in only 10 minutes casting identify as a ritual. It won't even cost a spell slot, just a preparation slot.

It doesn't even require a preparation slot if I recall correctly. It just needs to be in the wizard's book to be cast as a ritual.

 

[the Jester]

The "mystery" is lost anyway when a character can sit down and hold onto an item during a short rest.

Thank God that the DMG includes a "More difficult magic item identification" option that eliminates this.

Hell, I added an identify ritual in 4e, too, and got rid of the "autoidentify with a short rest" clause then, too.

 

[iserith]

Thank God that the DMG includes a "More difficult magic item identification" option that eliminates this.

Hell, I added an identify ritual in 4e, too, and got rid of the "autoidentify with a short rest" clause then, too.

I used to do the whole trial and error thing back in 2e and 3e. It just didn't appeal to me. The characters earned those items through their blood, sweat, and tears and the skillful play of their players. My preference is that they should get to use them effectively as soon as possible. We work together to make them storied.