Pathfinder 1E No response on paizo.com ...help

[pathfinder_raw]

So, I know this is long ... but I thought I would give it a try here. Any help is appreciated.

I am currently in the process of creating a computer role playing game based on the Pathfinder RPG version of the Open Game License. It is my goal to implement RAW as complete as possible.

I only make mention of it to put into context my question and to avoid being accused of being too inane.

I have read nearly every post about Appraise, Identify, Detect Magic, Spellcraft, and Analyze Dweomer. I believe I am in good shape when it comes to magical items and can implement RAW fully. My issue is how to handle non-magical items as I would like to find a balance between discovery and drudgery.

Take for example a Mithral Shirt or Flight Arrows. I may want the initial examination of these items to describe them as a “chain shirt made of fine links” or “a quarrel of arrows with unusual fletchings”. This would represent what one would visually know with a cursory glance.

My non-scientific review of the literature seems to indicate a good many people simply find Appraise to be annoying or broken. Many have house rules to compensate or they simply ignore.

That said, I was wondering what people thought of the following:
1. Mundane items and gear would be fully identified and valued when found
2. Rare, exotic, or special, non-magical items would require an Appraise check to identify. Upon a successful check the following would be revealed:
..... a. Full name and description
..... b. Quality (e.g. normal, masterwork)
..... c. Special Materials (e.g. mithral, blood crystal)
..... d. Hit Points/Hardness
..... e. Value

Questions I have:
A. Thoughts about approach in general?
B. What to do if Appraise fails? Follow RAW? Allow another check every 24 hours (time will matter in the game so there is impact)?
C. Should I reveal/hide other info
D. Per RAW, if an Appraise check succeeds by 5 or more and an item is identified as magical, is the value revealed as well? It would seem that the item should be identified for its magical properties and then Appraised again to determine value. But I don’t see this in the rules specifically.
E. A few people wrote that Appraise will reveal if an item is Masterwork. If true, can someone point me to the proper documentation.


Thanks.

 

[Stormonu]

If this is just to be a game, I'd personally only worry about appraise when dealing with art objects, items of unusual material and magic items. Unless you want some programming headaches, it's best if the identification is a one-time thing and perhaps you have merchants who can perform the appraise for you for a small fee (thus investing in the skill will save some money when selling/buying stuff).

If you implement the appraise skill, you're looking at several programming obstacles.

1) When does the appraise occur (click/examine to appraise, automatic when picked up, etc.)

2) If the item's identity is not revealed automatically, you have to track that on the item for every person that comes in contact with it. If someone drops it or passes it to another PC/NPC or sells the item then buys it back, you have to track what the former owner knew about the item or someone could, for example, keep dropping it and picking it up until they sucessfully identify the item.

If this is more of a tool for DMs/players, I'd defer to someone more familiar with the Appraise rules (my group tends to gloss over appraising stuff)

 

[Jester David]

Many games have a sell price when hovering over items. That could be a reflection of appraise, and might be off depending on a random result whenever an item is picked-up or identified.


But as a head's up... the OGL doesn't cover video games as far as I know. Be aware.

 

[pathfinder_raw]

Many games have a sell price when hovering over items. That could be a reflection of appraise, and might be off depending on a random result whenever an item is picked-up or identified.


But as a head's up... the OGL doesn't cover video games as far as I know. Be aware.

Thanks. I plan on making available to the player extensive info, including the identified value. When you 'examine' an item you will see a ton of detail (for those who relish in the stats).

Part of this goes towards satisfying the OGL requirements for use in games, which is you have to expose to the player (in some manner) all of the OGL material used.

In case your interested this is the link where Wizard's of the Coast explicitly state that OGL is OK in games as long as license is followed:

Software FAQ

By the way, one of the best implementations in game of the OGL (IMO) is:
Heroic Fantasy Games - CRPGs and other games

I am sure you can pick it up cheap as it has been out for a while. Retro look.

 

[pathfinder_raw]

If this is just to be a game, I'd personally only worry about appraise when dealing with art objects, items of unusual material and magic items. Unless you want some programming headaches, it's best if the identification is a one-time thing and perhaps you have merchants who can perform the appraise for you for a small fee (thus investing in the skill will save some money when selling/buying stuff).

If you implement the appraise skill, you're looking at several programming obstacles.

1) When does the appraise occur (click/examine to appraise, automatic when picked up, etc.)

2) If the item's identity is not revealed automatically, you have to track that on the item for every person that comes in contact with it. If someone drops it or passes it to another PC/NPC or sells the item then buys it back, you have to track what the former owner knew about the item or someone could, for example, keep dropping it and picking it up until they sucessfully identify the item.

If this is more of a tool for DMs/players, I'd defer to someone more familiar with the Appraise rules (my group tends to gloss over appraising stuff)

Definitely an RPG game.

Those are some things to consider. I made the assumption that within a party, a transferred object would not need identification. Is this a reasonable position?

As for the tracking, the good news is that the engine is object based. So essentially everything in the game is an object and I can attach any number of lists or dictionaries to an object, so I should be able to track who did what fairly easy.

As for limiting the scope of Appraise, I agree. I am leaning towards limiting it's utility to rare and exotic non-magical items and allowing Spellcraft to handle magical. I am trying to avoid house rules upfront but this one will need tweaking.

Thanks again.

 

[Stormonu]

Definitely an RPG game.

Those are some things to consider. I made the assumption that within a party, a transferred object would not need identification. Is this a reasonable position?

Depends on how detailed you want to be. Assuming different characters in the group could have different levels of the appraise skill, you could have cases where one character should know what it is while another rightfully wouldn't unless somehow told them. If you defer the appraisal of an item at the group level or where only one person need identify the item and the whole group thereafter knows it value, then in a given group only one PC needs to any ranks in Appraise to identify items - a headache for someone playing solo, an easy way to "cheat" for someone running a large group.

And, if you're planning any multiplayer, that opens up a whole new can of worms for tracking IDing items.

 

[concerro]

If you don't use appraise not many people will miss it. If you do use it, then it should make sure the character sells the item for the correct price. A bad appraisal could lead to the character losing money. That would make it worth taking.

 

[pathfinder_raw]

When you say "sell the item for the correct price" what exactly do you mean?

I was thinking that if appraisal failed and it was higher, then upon selling the person would only receive 50% of normal price.

If the appraised value was lower then I was thinking 50% of the lower value.

 

[concerro]

That is what I meant. The issue now is that it becomes mandatory, and that takes choice out of the hands of the player. I would say appraisal can be for non-magical items. If the game has enough items such as jewels and art then appraisal can still be valuable, but not a must have skill.

 

[pathfinder_raw]

Thanks, that is exactly how it is shaping up. I was intending to allow a successful Spellcraft check to provide the value of magical items.