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Author Topic: Identify in D&D 3.5  (Read 10738 times)

Xavier Lang

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« on: July 07, 2006, 02:25:21 PM »
Do you like the way identify works currently?
Do you use it as written in your campaigns?

If you do something other than exactly by the book, what do you do?

I don't understand why identify is set up the way it is and why higher level better versions of the spell don't exist in droves.  In every game where the DM has started off using the spell only as written, they have either given up due to the frustration of keeping track of bonuses for magic items the party didn't identify and or we have simply researched a better version first chance we had.

(On a side note, I find it amusing in general that spells requires a specific gold piece value of something because the gold piece value of something is determined by economics, not mystical property.  If I pay my friend bob 100gp for a 2sp pearl will the pearl work in an identify spell?  If not, how does the spell know I didn't pay "fair market value".
 

Yig

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2006, 04:19:32 PM »
Instead of needing 8 hours to identify an item, we changed it to 1 hour.
 

Dacke

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2006, 04:51:13 PM »
I use identify as written: one hour, and you know pretty much everything there is to know. I also allowed the party to have an item made that could identify one item per day (don't recall the cost off-hand).

As for higher-level versions, well there's analyze dweomer. But since none of the PCs in the party I'm running have a dedicated arcane caster, that's not an issue.

What exactly are your issues with identify?
 

Xavier Lang

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2006, 11:00:49 AM »
Quote from: Dacke
What exactly are your issues with identify?


It costs a 100gp+ in pearl(s) per casting.  
1 hour casting time.
The idea of someone spending 1000gp to discover what 10 potions do.
The need for this ability vs. the usefulness of the spell.
I use the need from the DM's perspective.  If the party is on a quest that doesn't have a good way for them to have lots of pearl on hand, the DM has to keep track of potentially a dozen magic items and constantly adjust checks made by the players to reflect them using or not using the items.

Analyze is great, but you have to be 11th level wizard/12th level sorceror and use up a spell of your highest level.
 

Bagpuss

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2006, 04:50:51 AM »
Quote from: Dacke
I also allowed the party to have an item made that could identify one item per day (don't recall the cost off-hand)?

Monocle of Perusal, it's 6500gp, from the Complete Adventurer +5 on Appraise checks and Identify once a day. We decided against that in the end and thought a Wand of Identify (5750gp) was probably better, since if you wanted to use several items you've just found a Wand would work, but the Monocle would not be that useful.
 

Name Lips

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2006, 11:38:30 AM »
Quote from: Xavier Lang

The idea of someone spending 1000gp to discover what 10 potions do.

:p

IMC I've started assuming that anybody who owns potions keeps them clearly labeled. So do all shops.

Otherwise, how do you know you're not mixing up your potion bottles and drinking a Bull's Strength instead of a Cure Moderate?
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways, it's still rock and roll to me.

You can talk all you want about theory, craft, or whatever. But in the end, it's still just new ways of looking at people playing make-believe and having a good time with their friends. Intellectualize or analyze all you want, but we've been playing the same game since we were 2 years old. We just have shinier books, spend more money, and use bigger words now.

Cyclotron

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2006, 12:20:09 PM »
Quote from: Xavier Lang
Do you like the way identify works currently?
Do you use it as written in your campaigns?

If you do something other than exactly by the book, what do you do?

We typically house-rule as follows:

Identify
Divination

Level: Brd 1, Magic 2, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Targets: One or more touched objects
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hr./level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

The spell determines all magic properties of a magic item, including how to activate those functions (if appropriate), and how many charges are left (if any).  The spellcaster may identify the properties of one single magic item per hour, up to one magic item per caster level.

Identify does not function when used on an artifact.

Arcane Material Component
A pearl or gold dust of at least 100 gp value.
Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace,
 NFPA 70E, Article 330.4 (F):
"Laser beams shall not be aimed at employees."

Cyclotron

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2006, 12:21:58 PM »
Quote from: Xavier Lang
The idea of someone spending 1000gp to discover what 10 potions do.

That's what Spellcraft checks are for...  "DC 25:       Identify a potion. Requires 1 minute. No retry."
Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace,
 NFPA 70E, Article 330.4 (F):
"Laser beams shall not be aimed at employees."

Dacke

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2006, 12:34:26 PM »
Quote from: Xavier Lang
The idea of someone spending 1000gp to discover what 10 potions do.
As cyclotron says, that's what Spellcraft is for. At least in theory, my current party doesn't have anyone with significant amounts of Spellcraft, so they use their ID-lens instead.
 

Xavier Lang

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2006, 05:02:56 PM »
Quote from: Cyclotron
That's what Spellcraft checks are for...  "DC 25:       Identify a potion. Requires 1 minute. No retry."


If I can use spellcraft to determine some magic items, why can't I use it to
determine all magic items?
 

Xavier Lang

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2006, 05:05:52 PM »
Quote from: Dacke
so they use their ID-lens instead.

If a spell has a material component that is expensive.  For example 100gp for a identify.  
Don't I have pay that material component a certain numberof times during the creation of an item that does the spell?
Or am I thinking of a house rule or older version of magic item creation?
It looks like it does from the cost of a wand of identify, I'm just trying to remember.
 

Dacke

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #11 on: July 11, 2006, 06:54:13 PM »
Yes, you need to pay the cost quite a few times when making the item. Basically, my party decided that they wanted the cost upfront rather than having to pay 100 gp each time they got something IDed. Plus, no-one in the party is actually capable of casting identify since the guy playing the artificer moved.
 

Akunin

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #12 on: July 11, 2006, 11:05:04 PM »
The cheapest way to get one-a-day Identify spells is to hook up with a Cleric that posesses the Magic domain.

Other than that, I'd go with a wand.

I used to house rule the spell to have a casting time of 10 minutes.
 

Cyclotron

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2006, 09:25:53 AM »
Quote from: Akunin
The cheapest way to get one-a-day Identify spells is to hook up with a Cleric that posesses the Magic domain.

How does that make the spell any cheaper than, say, hooking up up with any old wizard with identify in his spellbook?

The cleric still has to have a 100 gp pearl to cast the spell.
Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace,
 NFPA 70E, Article 330.4 (F):
"Laser beams shall not be aimed at employees."

Dacke

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Identify in D&D 3.5
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2006, 02:51:06 PM »
No.

Quote
Components: V, S, M/DF
Arcane Material Component: A pearl of at least 100 gp value, crushed and stirred into wine with an owl feather; the infusion must be drunk prior to spellcasting.
A cleric uses his holy symbol instead.