D&D 5E Magic item and identifying

[Tormyr]

Moreover, correct me if I'm wrong but the Identify spell gives also info on curses on the item, while the short rest does not (or possibly has the PC endure fully the curse).

If I recall correctly, the DMG states that identify does not pick up on curses.

To the OP: identify gives all information on an item apart from curse and possibly sentience (I don't remember that part). Interacting with an item during a short rest only picks up the information that would fit with how you interacted with it. There could be special things that won't be revealed by just swinging it around.

 

[Sunseeker]

If I recall correctly, the DMG states that identify does not pick up on curses.

I believe the DMG does say so, but the PHB leaves it open for interpretation in the line about "what spells are affecting" the item in question. Depends on the sort of curse, if an evil wizard cursed the item to get revenge on its bearer, I'd say that qualifies. If it is a sword that was used to slay a thousand demons and has thusly absorbed some of their demonic energy and therefore makes wielding the blade harmful to good-aligned people, that's not.

 

[the Jester]

Some of us don't use the easy-identification-on-short-rest approach. I think identify is mostly there for us.

 

[PnPgamer]

So is detect magic still useful in any situation? Can everything be replaced by short rest identification or identify spell?

 

[Sunseeker]

So is detect magic still useful in any situation? Can everything be replaced by short rest identification or identify spell?

Detect Magic is for locating magic stuff. Identify is for well, identifying it.

Lets say you're in a room full of treasure and you can't tell if there's any magical stuff. You cast Detect Magic, for the next 10 minutes you can now see a light aura on any magical object within 30 feet. Now that you've located the magic item, you need to figure out what it does. You can take a short rest to fuddle with it, which will give you the basic, most obvious effects (it lights on fire! Hot!). You can also cast Identify on it, which will give you all the detailed information about the object, except curses.

 

[Cristian Andreu]

I realize this may be based more on nostalgia rather than being 'better' or 'more fun'.... but I miss the days of hoarding every single item/weapon/armor you could come across. Then at the end of the day putting it all in a pile and casting Detect Magic. The few items that would glow you would keep.

Then came the decisions.... did you wait until you could get some 'safe' time so the Magic User could cast Identify a baziilion times... or did you 'risk it' and just put that ring on anyway..... Fortune Favors the Bold!!

We still use that method in our games. I always remove Identify spells and similar effects, and instead have the players rely on Detect Magic, deduction, and experimentation. A Spellcraft/Arcana roll might help give some general insight once the aura has been identified, but I think it adds far more excitement when the party has to start figuring out how to test for powers while avoiding certain doom. Since most magic items in our games are non-standard and flexible in nature, this forces them to get creative each and every time, continuing to experiment with the items throughout all of the campaign.

The phrase "I employ the finger I use the least!" has become a staple of magic item testing in our games. There's a critical deficit of pinky digits in our stories as a direct result.

My proudest moment was giving them a mirror in which reflections would sometimes show some kind of auras around things; they were just an illusion and it did absolutely nothing, yet for the entirety of the campaign they kept using the mirror to determine their course of action, convinced the auras indicated certain doom or something. It was merely meant to be a dungeon feature (it came from a room full of mirrors, and they were supposed to conceal an item, nothing more), and it ended influencing the whole story.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Some of us don't use the easy-identification-on-short-rest approach. I think identify is mostly there for us.

Except that, as someone who doesn't like the short rest approach--the spell isn't any better. In fact, it's usually easier. It has a one time 100gp component cost (the pearl is not consumed by the spell). Then your wizard can figure out what a magic item does in 11 minutes rather than an hour.

I remember an article by the designers talking about magic items before the game was out. They mentioned how there would be a sort of discovery, that you may not know what the item did unless you attuned to it first (they must have changed the plan since then), so there was that element of risk and mystery involved...and then the end of the article said you could get around all of it with identify. So...if you have a wizard in the party you get to skip all the fun?

I'm still not sure how I'm going to house rule it, but I'm considering requiring identify to be used in a high level spell slot to identify an item. The important part is that it has to require spell slots that are high enough levels that you won't have them when the mystery of magic items is the most fun. Then, when you are high-level and the novelty has worn off, maybe you can use the spell to identify most of what you find..and when you come across something it doesn't work on, that is interesting.

 

[the Jester]

Except that, as someone who doesn't like the short rest approach--the spell isn't any better. In fact, it's usually easier. It has a one time 100gp component cost (the pearl is not consumed by the spell). Then your wizard can figure out what a magic item does in 11 minutes rather than an hour.

Yeah, I'm one of those guys who is okay with this simply by virtue of the fact that it requires a spell. In fact, I had a version of identify as a ritual in 4e and eschewed the 'easy identification' paradigm then, too. The fact that 5e makes identify easier to cast doesn't change the fact, for me, that you still have to cast a spell to figure out what that item is (or experiment).

I do absolutely get your point, and agree that, for those whose objections are more... hmm... resource-expenditure-based, I guess?... than mine, identify combined with eliminating the short-rest-identify mechanic is a poor fix.

I'm still not sure how I'm going to house rule it, but I'm considering requiring identify to be used in a high level spell slot to identify an item. The important part is that it has to require spell slots that are high enough levels that you won't have them when the mystery of magic items is the most fun. Then, when you are high-level and the novelty has worn off, maybe you can use the spell to identify most of what you find..and when you come across something it doesn't work on, that is interesting.

Oh my God, this is brilliant. I hope you don't mind that I'm going to totally steal this.