D&D 5E GM's - How do you handle identifying magical items?

[ThirdWizard]

Do you also allow trial and error to give any info? Example: party picks up a longsword, they know it's magic via detection but have no idea what its powers and-or plusses might be; so the party Fighter uses it for the next several battles. If she stumbles on to a power e.g. it suddenly glows blue when Orcs are near that's fine, and I'd give her a roll of some sort after a while to see if she'd figured out how much (if any) the sword was helping her actually fight. Of course, the first time she uses it she's also going to trigger any curses it might have...

Lanefan

I allow them the option to attune a magic item without knowing what it is, at which point they will know the properties of the item, but they are way too paranoid for that. I think they laughed at the notion of it and then promptly forgot it was an option. For non-attunable magic items, they do have the option to "try it out" so to speak, but again the paranoia kicks in and they would never actually do that. And this for a DM who has given out maybe one cursed item in the entire last two campaigns.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Do you also allow trial and error to give any info? Example: party picks up a longsword, they know it's magic via detection but have no idea what its powers and-or plusses might be; so the party Fighter uses it for the next several battles. If she stumbles on to a power e.g. it suddenly glows blue when Orcs are near that's fine, and I'd give her a roll of some sort after a while to see if she'd figured out how much (if any) the sword was helping her actually fight. Of course, the first time she uses it she's also going to trigger any curses it might have...

Lanefan

I would assume that's what's happening during the short-rest magic item reveal process.

 

[SpikeTailDrake]

I do the short-rest reveal thing.

 

[the Jester]

There's a spell for that. I don't do the easy, handle-it-for-an-hour-and-figure-it-out thing, and I didn't do it in 4e either (I updated identify into a ritual). Otherwise, the pcs can experiment or carry it around until they get the chance to cast identify on it.

As for tracking unidentified items, I have the players write down where they got each un-ID'ed item and that makes it easy for me to track.

 

[kalil]

I just reveal. I grew weary of "trial and error" two decades ago, and identify spells shortly after. I don't put time and effort into making cool magical items for my PCs to NOT discover their properties.

 

[Shiroiken]

I allow the short rest discovery option, but it requires an Arcana roll with a variable DC. Common Items are DC 8, Uncommon are DC 11, Rare items are DC 14, etc. It's kind of important to note that I don't allow re-tries on failed skill checks, so if they fail someone else can try later, or they have to use Identify or a Sage.

As for bookmarking, I give a description of the item, along with a notation from the adventures. For example, "Red bubbling potion (ToEE 413)." This helps me find the items again later with minimal difficulty.

 

[Yaarel]

Nice comments. I think they are persuading me to start doing the following:

• Allow an Arcana check to try identify on the spot. Try once per short rest.
• Allow automatic identification when fiddling with it during the 1-hour rest. But this auto-triggers a curse, if any.
• Let the Identify spell be there for the inept or the paranoid.

If we’re in the mood, or if an item is remarkable, roleplay the Arcana checks every once in a while.

 

[Rod Staffwand]

I just tell them straightaway.

 

[aramis erak]

I allow them to use non-attuned magic items (at the risk of a cursed one) and discover the properties by trial and error. This has twice lead them to pick up and use cursed magic items.

They now use identify on almost any magic item they find. When encountering a hoard, Detect Magic, unseen servant (to dig out the sometimes buried items, and prevent handling items), and Identify each in turn.

 

[Lanefan]

There's a spell for that. I don't do the easy, handle-it-for-an-hour-and-figure-it-out thing, and I didn't do it in 4e either (I updated identify into a ritual). Otherwise, the pcs can experiment or carry it around until they get the chance to cast identify on it.

Ayup.

And, I always have had (and always will have, in any edition) Identify auto-trigger any curses the target item might have; in part becuase I've always had it that casting an Identify involves at least going through the motions of actually using (or trying to use) the item. Legend Lore does not have this risk, but it's also nowhere near as reliable for learning stuff.

As for tracking unidentified items, I have the players write down where they got each un-ID'ed item and that makes it easy for me to track.

I also have my players track what they have found (though not where), and I as DM keep a mirror list only with more complete notes. Each item gets a unique number which stays with it even after identification, for recordkeeping purposes; and this has saved my bacon countless times when players forget to write things down and-or an item has properties the players/characters don't know about or that were missed in field-testing.

Part of the fun of play is finding out through one's own effort what something does, particularly if it's something you've never seen before.

Lanefan