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<blockquote data-quote="Lancelot" data-source="post: 6660295" data-attributes="member: 30022">I have three categories: consumables, boring permanent items, and special permanent items.I allow characters to identify consumables with a short rest and a successful Arcana roll, based on the rarity of the item. Potion of Healing? DC 10. Potion of Something Very Rare? DC 20 or 25. Otherwise, they have to wait for a long rest. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it creates some tension in the dungeon. Occasionally, you'll get a situation when a character will &quot;take a chance&quot; in a tense combat with an unknown potion. This can lead to hilarious results. I've never yet seen a player get frustrated or angry at this; most players at my table actually love the uncertainty. You pays your money, you takes your chances. But secondly, the auto-identify after a long rest is a safeguard to prevent record-keeping. I don't want to be tracking every potion long-term. Once we're clear of the session, the player can just write it down on his sheet.For uncommon or well-known magic items (sword +2, elven boots, ring of invisibility), I simply tell them what it is when they find it. It's assumed that trial-and-error will quickly figure it out, and it's a hassle for me to remember to add the +1 to attack and damage if the character is simply using a +1 weapon. I'd rather just tell them, and let them do the math.However, for special items (e.g. multi-property items, or home-grown items), it requires an identify spell. They might, at best, get a single property of the item by trial-and-error. But all the deeper qualities require proper identification. This keeps identify relevant and valuable, while not forcing it's use for every potion of healing and +1 sword.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lancelot, post: 6660295, member: 30022"] I have three categories: consumables, boring permanent items, and special permanent items. I allow characters to identify consumables with a short rest and a successful Arcana roll, based on the rarity of the item. Potion of Healing? DC 10. Potion of Something Very Rare? DC 20 or 25. Otherwise, they have to wait for a long rest. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it creates some tension in the dungeon. Occasionally, you'll get a situation when a character will "take a chance" in a tense combat with an unknown potion. This can lead to hilarious results. I've never yet seen a player get frustrated or angry at this; most players at my table actually love the uncertainty. You pays your money, you takes your chances. But secondly, the auto-identify after a long rest is a safeguard to prevent record-keeping. I don't want to be tracking every potion long-term. Once we're clear of the session, the player can just write it down on his sheet. For uncommon or well-known magic items ([I]sword +2, elven boots, ring of invisibility[/I]), I simply tell them what it is when they find it. It's assumed that trial-and-error will quickly figure it out, and it's a hassle for me to remember to add the +1 to attack and damage if the character is simply using a +1 weapon. I'd rather just tell them, and let them do the math. However, for special items (e.g. multi-property items, or home-grown items), it requires an [I]identify[/I] spell. They might, at best, get a single property of the item by trial-and-error. But all the deeper qualities require proper identification. This keeps [I]identify[/I] relevant and valuable, while not forcing it's use for every [I]potion of healing[/I] and [I]+1 sword[/I]. [/QUOTE]

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