Identifying Magic Items: please, update!

I know, this belongs in House Rules, but it's made my games run a lot faster, and it's made a terrible skill into a decent one.

House Rule of Appraised Identification:

Appraise can be used to determine the effect of a magic item, DC 15 + 2*Caster Level of item. DC of cursed items is 20 higher, with moderate failure (20 or less under the DC) resulting in you determining that the item is what it is posing as (Bag of Holding for Bag of Devouring, etc...) and more serious failure just resulting in a failed check (Cloth Sack for Bag of Devouring, etc...).
 

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Nostalgia...

I started AD&D with 1E. I've posted THAT edition's identify spell below. Compared to THAT rigamarole, the 3.5 Identify is positively peachy keen!

Just figued a bit of historical nostalgic perspective might be in order :)

Identify (Divination)

Range: 0
Duration: 1 segment/level
Area of Effect: One item
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 turn
Saving Throw: Special


Explanation/Description: When an identify spell is cast, one item may be touched and handled by the magic-user in order that he or she may possibly find what dweomer it possesses. The item in question must be held or worn as would be normal for any such object, i.e. a bracelet must be placed on the spell casters' wrist, a helm on his or her head, boots on the feet, a cloak worn, a dagger held, and so on. Note that any -consequences of this use of the item fall fully upon the mogic-user, although any saving throw normally allowed is still the privilege of the magic-user. For each segment the spell is in force, it is 15% + 5% per level of the magic-user probable that 1 property of the object touched can become known - possibly that the item has no properties and is merely a ruse (the presence of Nystuls' Magic Aura or a magic mouth being detected). Each time a property can be known, the referee will secretly roll to see if the magic-user made his or her saving throw versus magic. If the save was successful, the property is known; if it is 1 point short, a false power will be revealed; and if it is lower than 1 under the required score no information will be gained. The item will never reveal its exact plusses to hit or its damage bonuses, although the fact that it has few or many such plusses can be discovered. If it has charges, the object will never reveal the exact number, but it will give information which is +/- 25% of actual, i.e. a wand with 40 charges could feel as if it had 30, or 50, or any number in between. The item to be identified must be examined by the magic-user within 1 hour per level of experience of the examiner after it has been discovered, or all readable impressions will have been blended into those of the characters who have possessed it since. After casting the spell and determining what can be learned from it, the magic-user loses 8 points of constitution. He or she must rest for 6 turns per 1 point in order to regain them. If the 8 point loss drops the spell caster below a constitution of 3, he or she will fall unconscious, and consciousness will not be regained until full constitution is restored 24 hours later. The material components of this spell are a pearl (of at least 100 g.p. value) and an owl feather steeped in wine, with the infusion drunk and a live miniature carp swallowed whole prior to spell casting. If a luckstone is powdered and added to the infusion, probability increases 25% and all saving throws are made at +4.
 

nittanytbone said:
I started AD&D with 1E. I've posted THAT edition's identify spell below. Compared to THAT rigamarole, the 3.5 Identify is positively peachy keen!

Just figued a bit of historical nostalgic perspective might be in order :)

with the infusion drunk and a live miniature carp swallowed whole prior to spell casting

Yes, I've always found carp to be much too bony.
 

Identify

Has anyone used the Appraise Magic Value Feat from the Comp Adventurer. It allows the player to use the Appraise skill to identify magical items. The pre reqs are pretty standard and the cost is 25 gp in materials (a lot better than that 100 gp pearl). It still requires 8 hours. But because it's not a spell it allows for faster cheaper identification of items.
 

I prefer to use Monte Cooks Arcana Evolved spell for identifications: Object Loresight. You have to cast the spell many times to get the full details of a magic item, but it is a LOT more flavorful, can lead to spinoff adventures, and has more overall untility than identify.
 

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