I am trying to figure out how an arcane wizard can use an intelligence based skill check (Spellcraft), to identify a divine spell (that is not in the wizard's spell list). I would think that arcane spellcasters do not know much about divine spells as they have spent all their time training on arcane matters, but the rules seem to say this is legit. Any thoughts?
A wizard doesn't have to take a single rank in spellcraft to cast 9th level spells.
Spellcraft represents a more general study of magic, which is of course relevant to one's own study but not necessarily limited by it.
Non-casters can take spellcraft, too. Granted, it's not likely they would, but identifying spells as they're cast is just a feature of the skill.
Consider that most arcane casters adventure with divine casters and vice-versa, and they might have seen quite a few divine spells go off over time.
You might want to give a penalty to a caster who's never seen a certain spell cast before, but that's more work than I'm willing to do.
Also, knowing what the spell is doesn't mean you can do anything about it! XD
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I am trying to figure out how an arcane wizard can use an intelligence based skill check (Spellcraft), to identify a divine spell (that is not in the wizard's spell list). I would think that arcane spellcasters do not know much about divine spells as they have spent all their time training on arcane matters, but the rules seem to say this is legit. Any thoughts?
I get you, this bugs me enough that I am probably going to house rule how Knowledge-Arcana, Knowledge-Relgion, and Spellcraft interact with Divine vs Arcane.
If you think about it "in-game" then you could theorize that all magic is under the purview of your campaign's deity of magic. He or She oversees all magic and, really, both divine and arcane casters tap the same source just in different ways. Clerics call upon their gods directly while mages utilize their own language to tap the free-standing energies established by the deity. But, if you take a look at most of the spells there is that anomalous somatic component. This could be universal to both areas of magic and, therefore, identifiable to all casters.
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Monte Cooke proposed using a -4 penalty to Spellcraft to identify a divine spell if you're an arcane caster and vice versa.
I actually like my DCs to be multiple of 5 if possible, so I'd just raise the DC by 5. The only issue here is if the spell is one that isn't common, then you've got to look up the line in the spell description that says which classes have it on their spell list. Not a big deal in general...
People are assuming that spells are identified by name or, at least, as a whole. That's not necessarily either bad or wrong, for the record, and I wouldn't object overmuch to any house rule to that effect.
However, let me present an alternate scenario:
When you use Spellcraft to identify a spell as it's being cast, you're not saying, "Oh, that cleric is casting flame strike" (unless, of course, you're intimately familiar with the flame strike spell and recognize it as such -- we're assuming not for this example); instead, your character sees the pattern of the spell being described by the words and gestures and can tell it is a damage dealing, area of effect spell with elements of fire and sacred magic that will fill a cylindrical space, and that it's a 5th level evocation spell (or whatever roleplaying term you use to describe a spell of that power level). In other words, you identify the components of the spell, rather than the spell itself. This fits with Spellcraft being an Int-based skill and it fits with the open-endedness of the identify a spell being cast check.
I just replace Spellcraft with Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (nature), and Knowledge (psionics).