Mending

[pukunui]

But since the Plot Train needs this clue...

It doesn't actually. They just think it does.

 

[Seramus]

Humorously, if you have an enormous amount of time you could mend together a shattered item simply by mashing two pieces together and casting the cantrip. If it mends, those two pieces go together! If it doesn't, try another piece. Basically the equivalent of taking 20 on your Investigation check simply by eliminating every possibility.

 

[Aldarc]

I would, but I might require an intelligence (investigation) check to figure out how to piece it together. A lower DC for simpler items with fewer pieces and perhaps advantage if it is an item that the castor was familiar with before the break and a higher number of for more complex items, many pieces, and items that the castor is unfamiliar with. Instead of multiple casts, I would home rule that it can be cast as a ritual.

Though perhaps another alternative would be to substitute the relevant tool proficiency check for Intelligence (Investigation). For example, if a hypothetical Forge cleric was mending a broken sword, then I would probably permit the player to use their Blacksmith Tools proficiency bonus for the check.

 

[TikiPowers]

Humorously, if you have an enormous amount of time you could mend together a shattered item simply by mashing two pieces together and casting the cantrip. If it mends, those two pieces go together! If it doesn't, try another piece. Basically the equivalent of taking 20 on your Investigation check simply by eliminating every possibility.

I have had groups employ teams of hedge wizards to this effect.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

Another option for handling mending could be to make time the important aspect. Mending can reassemble a broken or shattered object so long as it broke recently (hours, days, maybe weeks). This is a divergence from the text, but I find it interesting. The idea being that the pieces of a shattered object still see themselves, or are seen as, parts of something else. But eventually they start to see themselves as individuals, and can no longer be readily reassembled by magic.

 

[AmerginLiath]

Mending will always remind me of the one 3.5 game where we were all pinned down behind an overturned cart by goblin archers. When things got too quiet, we wondered whether the coast was clear, so the rogue grabbed the bard’s lute and (like a classic cartoon moment) stuck the head of the instrument over the top of the cart like it were a person peering over. When an arrow slammed into it with a discordant thud, we knew that we had to escape by an alternate route. However, as we got ready to sneak away, we saw the bard beginning somatic spell gestures (the player miming the same). As we all turned to him incredulously, the sound of approaching goblins getting closer, he said a line that has become legendary to our group...

“Wait, I’m mending my lute!”

(The same player is also known for shouting, in character, “I’m using diplomacy!” as his paladin tried to make himself heard over the din of battle in another game, as if that would convince the enemies to stop fighting and listening)