Detecting magic and magical effects

[Belares]

This just came up in our game and need to know what is correct ruling. I tried to detect the presence of magic in an area and failed, and there was a magic set of armor. We took the armor not knowing it was magical and we moved to another room and i detected again (the room was more than far enough away from the last room). This time i made my role and we had not rested. The question is can i detect the magic on the armor in this room even though it was in an area i already checked?

 

[Arbitrary]

I'm very interested in what others have to say on this but my personal take on it is that detect magic is for hidden items. Anything you are holding in your hands is obviously magical.

I don't find the failure chance, if it is supposed to be there, acceptable.

 

[Oompa]

If you try to feel all magic in the area and you miss the dc..

✦ Failure: Either you detected nothing or there was nothing in range to detect. You can’t try again in this area until after an extended rest.

That means you can try it again in an different area, but the other area only after an extended rest.. So if the first time nothing comes up, move an few squares an try again..


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[ppaladin123]

I don't think you need to roll to detect magic in the armor once you already have it in your possession. The player's guide says that during a short rest anyone can determine the properties of a magic item, including whether it is magic to begin with.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Yes, you can determine the abilities of one item per short rest.
The question is whether you do.

If you don't think the armour is magic, you shove it into whatever container you have, and don't think twice about it.
You never handle it to figure out what it does.

 

[Oompa]

Yes, you can determine the abilities of one item per short rest.
The question is whether you do.

If you don't think the armour is magic, you shove it into whatever container you have, and don't think twice about it.
You never handle it to figure out what it does.

True, First you have to sense the item if it is magical, then in an short rest you can identify it..

 

[Danceofmasks]

Not necessarily ... if I find a staysharp sword of rustproofness, I'm going to try to identify it.