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I’ve detailed in my ongoing playtest numerous times that the ability to use Appraise to determine the value of items or to identify magic items is simply too easy. Please increase the DCs for all of these effects by 5 to make the skill useful, but not an automatic success.
Right now, Joe Farmer can identify items worth up to 500 gp, and the chances of identifying a magic item without the spell Identify have an 80% success chance. With Identify, it's automatic.
(This would, by association, be a suggestion to increase the DC of tasting potions by 5 as well under Perception).
For numerous examples, see my playtest thread - http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderR PG/playtest/archadesOngoingPlaytestReports
I’ve detailed in my ongoing playtest numerous times that the ability to use Appraise to determine the value of items or to identify magic items is simply too easy. Please increase the DCs for all of these effects by 5 to make the skill useful, but not an automatic success.
Right now, Joe Farmer can identify items worth up to 500 gp, and the chances of identifying a magic item without the spell Identify have an 80% success chance. With Identify, it's automatic.
(This would, by association, be a suggestion to increase the DC of tasting potions by 5 as well under Perception).
For numerous examples, see my playtest thread - http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderR PG/playtest/archadesOngoingPlaytestReports
I like this idea. I love the new appraise skill especially with the ability to identify magic items, but I feel that a bump of the DC by 5 would give the pc's more motivation to take ranks in appraise.
I dont know about this, my group routinely fails checks to identify anything even a level or two above them. I think identify as it pertains to magic equipment has been needlessly expensive and difficult for a party for a very long time and am glad to see it become much less of a burden. I never got the obsession with delaying a parties ability to use their hard earned loot to begin with. If you are concerned with the abilities of farmers, make a rider on appraise that states in order to identify magic items you must have the ability to wield magic yourself, or have ranks in use magic item. This will trim the field to those who should have said knowledge without burdening a party with delay item utility.
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Hey there everybody,
The thing that is missing here is that the farmer needs to be able to cast detect magic or identify to discern the properties of magic items with the Appraise skill. As for the DCs, I am looking into them.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
Actually, what I was talking about was two different issues:
1) The use of Appraise to identify mundane treasures. The DC 10 check, IIRC, is for items up to 500 gp. Meaning Joe Farmer with no ranks and no Intelligence bonus can pick up a semi-precious stone, and without equipment, successfully guess it's value. If you increase the Appraise DC scale by 5 in this area, it means Joe Farmer can only evaluate items up to 100 gp. In our ongoing playtests, art objects and treasures haven't been worth the need of a dice roll. A 7th level character with a few ranks in Appraise can successfully identify anything they are likely to come across, which means the skill is rendered useless.
2) The identification of magic items -- it's probably one of my biggest beefs. I have numerous statistical examples in my playtest how it should be 10 higher, although at Gen Con you suggested that 5 higher might be the way to go ... :)
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Hey there everybody,
The thing that is missing here is that the farmer needs to be able to cast detect magic or identify to discern the properties of magic items with the Appraise skill. As for the DCs, I am looking into them.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
Jason,
I and my players all think that identifying magic items should be part of Knowledge (Arcana). Appraise seems an odd choice for that, although I understand (to a degree) why you made that decision. However, as it stands now, Knowledge (Arcana) sees very little use in my campaigns, and Spellcraft is definitely the "better" investment of the two. I think this "tweak" would balance the skills a bit.
I and my players all think that identifying magic items should be part of Knowledge (Arcana). Appraise seems an odd choice for that, although I understand (to a degree) why you made that decision. However, as it stands now, Knowledge (Arcana) sees very little use in my campaigns, and Spellcraft is definitely the "better" investment of the two. I think this "tweak" would balance the skills a bit.
Yeah knowledge arcana for the magical properties and appraise for the mundane vallue.
(true value ofcourse, when your knowledge arcana check was right too in the first place)
I and my players all think that identifying magic items should be part of Knowledge (Arcana). Appraise seems an odd choice for that, although I understand (to a degree) why you made that decision. However, as it stands now, Knowledge (Arcana) sees very little use in my campaigns, and Spellcraft is definitely the "better" investment of the two. I think this "tweak" would balance the skills a bit.
I think this makes a lot of sense. After all, knowledge (arcana) is what's used to identify spells already cast. So why not magic items as well?
I've been running two Pathfinder games and Appraise has been both well used, and hardly 100% successful at identifying objects.
If you run into an item of your level, someone with maxed appraise needs to roll 15 - 3 (class bonus) - Int to identify the item. This is close to a 50% chance, and skews higher with lower items, and higher Int from higher level. It skews down without maxed ranks.
Of course - if a couple party members can try, it makes identification a good bit more likely, but still not automatic.
I still miss the advanced d&d times when you where never fully sure you knew what all your items could do, and you NEVER just tried something on to find it's effect becuase there was a very real chance it was a cursed item. Heck even identify wasn't a garantueed success...
:: wanders off mumbling about the new timers and something about "get off my lawn!"::