The Curse of the 100gp Pearl

[Hella_Tellah]

Should 4th edition magic items be identified as they were in 3.X? At my table, I've had only grumbling and workarounds to deal with the identify spell. Currently, using the Artificer's Monacle from the Magic Item Compendium has completely replaced identify in the games I'm playing, and I can't imagine going back to the old days, hanging onto magic items until we can get back to town and buy a big sack of pearls.

I would prefer to see a skill do all the heavy lifting in 4th edition. We know there will be a skill, Streetwise, that seems to fold together Gather Information and Knowledge: Local. I'm envisioning a Spellcraft skill that folds together Knowledge: Arcana and magic item identification, or perhaps a Lore skill that combines Knowledge: History, Arcana, and magic item identification.

How would you guys redesign the identification of magic items? If you've been houseruling it in 3.X, what changes did you make?

 

[PeterWeller]

I just let people make Knowledge (Arcana) checks against a suitable DC (often just eyeballed on the spot) and pretend like Identify doesn't exist.

 

[Aloïsius]

I never think about it...

I guess that, with less magic item, it could be possible to make each one unique, with its history and ties to the plot.

I think the "identify" spell will not exist in my next campaign.

 

[Klaus]

Should 4th edition magic items be identified as they were in 3.X? At my table, I've had only grumbling and workarounds to deal with the identify spell. Currently, using the Artificer's Monacle from the Magic Item Compendium has completely replaced identify in the games I'm playing, and I can't imagine going back to the old days, hanging onto magic items until we can get back to town and buy a big sack of pearls.

I would prefer to see a skill do all the heavy lifting in 4th edition. We know there will be a skill, Streetwise, that seems to fold together Gather Information and Knowledge: Local. I'm envisioning a Spellcraft skill that folds together Knowledge: Arcana and magic item identification, or perhaps a Lore skill that combines Knowledge: History, Arcana, and magic item identification.

How would you guys redesign the identification of magic items? If you've been houseruling it in 3.X, what changes did you make?

Agreed on Artificer's Monocle.

Identifying an item through Knowledge (Arcana)/Spellcraft/whatever it's called in 4e while casting Detect Magic on the item should suffice.

 

[RangerWickett]

Wand of Identify, crafted by a cloistered cleric (from Unearthed Arcana). They get identify as a 1st level divine spell, and the divine version doesn't have a material component, just divine focus. So 15 gp to identify a magic item.

Well, that's the official work-around in the rules lawyer-y games I play in sometimes. I think skill checks is a good idea, though it should take some magic to know for certain. Spellcraft might let you know something about it, but there can still be secrets.

 

[szilard]

I suspect that Identify will either be gone or one of multiple methods of identifying magic items in 4e. As time has gone on, there have been an increasing number of ways to do this in 3.5 - I think the designers have realized that relying on Identify too much is a bad idea.

-Stuart

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

I'd like to see it done with a skill, potentially with Detect Magic folded into said skill, as it's pretty ubiquitous on any caster anyway.

 

[WayneLigon]

I haven't bothered with material components for anything other than major ritual magic for years.

I really liked the means of identifying thing in Arcana Unearthed; you cast the spell 10 times and walk through a list of things known: who made it, where it was made, etc.

 

[Pinotage]

We've used the 100 gp pearls as an arcane focus for some time now. That combined with suitable skill checks on 'expendable' magical items, and of course, the tried and tested way of just trying various things.

Identify has been one of the more annoying things to deal with in 3.5e because you're always carrying around a lot of stuff that you have no idea what it is. Characters want to find something, learn what it does and use it. Not lug it around for ten encounters until you get time to find out what it is.

Pinotage

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Not slugging down a 100gp pearl and an owl feather in a bowl of wine is so anime.

Hopefully this relic goes away. Detect magic should let you roll a spellcraft/knowledge arcana or whatever to identify. I enjoy a run and gun style of gaming. Waiting back at town 8 hours for each item is tedious at best.