1) Are Wands of Identify legal by the rules?
2) Would dumping a WoI w/ 10 charges be too overbalancing in 3FoE? The party is stuck there and burned through a lot of resources, and I'd like them to be able to use at least SOME of the assorted scrolls/potions/wands/toys that they've found so far...
1) Are Wands of Identify legal by the rules?
2) Would dumping a WoI w/ 10 charges be too overbalancing in 3FoE? The party is stuck there and burned through a lot of resources, and I'd like them to be able to use at least SOME of the assorted scrolls/potions/wands/toys that they've found so far...
wands of identify are cool in my campaign.. but they'd cost 5750 gold to make (50 pearls at 100 gp each adds up real fast).
In terms of Identifying scrolls / potions / wands, I generally let a UMD check work on the wands, an alchemy check work for the potions, and read magic has always worked on scrolls.
It makes no sense spending a lot of resources identifying a potion that isn't worth all that much.
In terms of Identifying scrolls / potions / wands, I generally let a UMD check work on the wands, an alchemy check work for the potions, and read magic has always worked on scrolls.
What do you do for DCs on the checks? I'd probably choose Spellcraft instead of UMD on the wand, but that's six o' one, half-dozen o' the other...
I've gone so far as to completely remove the 100gp requirement from the identify spell. I really don't see how it adds to the FUN of the game to make it so difficult to use one of the primary resources that characters collect over the course of the game. Neither do I see how alleviating this difficulty adversely affects the balance of the game.
I've gone so far as to completely remove the 100gp requirement from the identify spell. I really don't see how it adds to the FUN of the game to make it so difficult to use one of the primary resources that characters collect over the course of the game. Neither do I see how alleviating this difficulty adversely affects the balance of the game.
Hmmm...I think I agree with you, Urko. I'll have to take that under consideration... :)
Creative Director
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Wands of identify are good for the game.
In fact, I think that identifying magic items should be made easier all around. In my campaign, it's a Spellcraft check to identify any magic item: DC 10 + the item's Caster Level. Identify now works the same as the jump spell, applying a modifier to your Spellcraft check.
Wands of identify are good for the game.
In fact, I think that identifying magic items should be made easier all around. In my campaign, it's a Spellcraft check to identify any magic item: DC 10 + the item's Caster Level. Identify now works the same as the jump spell, applying a modifier to your Spellcraft check.
pretty much exactly how I do it.
I've gone so far as to completely remove the 100gp requirement from the identify spell. I really don't see how it adds to the FUN of the game to make it so difficult to use one of the primary resources that characters collect over the course of the game. Neither do I see how alleviating this difficulty adversely affects the balance of the game.
I see paying to identify hard earned loot as a necessary cost of adventuring. IMO it adds to the difficulty of just starting out as an adventuring group. Thinking back over a couple decades of campaigns, it's added a touch of roleplaying to have the characters keep an eye out for useful spell components or be faced with decisions about which items should be identified when funds are so low only a couple can be ID'd.
As for the party in a bind in 3FoE, I think supplying them with a wand of Identify would give them a moral boost...they've found something immediately useful that might give them the edge they need to survive or escape. Creative idea too!
J-
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I vary the identification skill used for magic items based on flavor and set the DC between 15 and 30. Know: Arcane always does the job at DC 30, but usually another skill will get you there at a lower DC. One example is the Empire Blades floating around my campaign. These are +1 shortswords that cast light and are crafted for use by my campaign's largest empire. They can be identified with a DC 15 Know: Local.
Bardic lore uses the lower of any two DC's.
If you can buy scrolls of Identify, why not wands.
Availability should go up in coastal area.
Selling them at double the price would be a sweet
gig for a retired spellcaster.
In a cash poor campaign, how about Blood Identify.
The total material component is 1D6 damage when the spellcaster
cuts himself and smears blood on the item.
Otherwise, it's the same spell.
I had Allustan give the PCs a WoI in exchange for the stuff they found in the Cairn and the etchings/notes they provided. He gave them some line about "I got tired of dealing with that ornery gnome jeweler."
In terms of Identifying scrolls / potions / wands, I generally let a UMD check work on the wands, an alchemy check work for the potions, and read magic has always worked on scrolls.
If I may? According to the SRD, a DC 25 Spellcraft check will identify a potion.
*uncorks bottle, wafts under nose* mmm...I'm getting elderberries, a hint of lemon...aftertaste of newt...
I will note that Clerics with the Magic domain get access to Identify as a 2nd level spell with no material component (divine focus, however). The market price would thus be 4,500gp for a WoI with a little holy symbol imbedded in it.
Thanks for the link. Those are some interesting suggestions. I'll have to see how I can incorporate them into my game.
Wands of identify are good for the game.
In fact, I think that identifying magic items should be made easier all around. In my campaign, it's a Spellcraft check to identify any magic item: DC 10 + the item's Caster Level. Identify now works the same as the jump spell, applying a modifier to your Spellcraft check.
James,
If I wanted to incorporate this into my campaign, after the PCs have spent probably a couple thousand gold on identifying items already, how could I justify it? Could I give them the gold back and say the wizard or artificer did it through spellcraft checks? Or perhaps Eligos could fill them in on some new way to use their spellcraft knowledge to accomplish this? Do you let your characters take 20 on this identify check? Thanks in advance for the advice.
I like the 100 gp expendable component requirement. Keeps the party poor and desperate and makes sure the casters have to learn/memorize something besides attack and defense spells. However, I let potions be identified with alchemy rolls, and let them learn a few things about other items with spellcraft or knowledge arcane rolls (but not everything they would learn from an identify spell).
If the PCs really needed to use one or more items they had found and were out of pearls and unable to withdraw and consult your friendly neighborhood sage, I wouldn't be adverse to letting them find a WoI. I would kep the charges low and not overuse this, however. As one of the first posters menationed, this would be an expensive wand to make and therefore be pretty rare.
I will note that Clerics with the Magic domain get access to Identify as a 2nd level spell with no material component (divine focus, however). The market price would thus be 4,500gp for a WoI with a little holy symbol imbedded in it.
Oh yeah... In our campaigns, clerics of Wee Jas or Boccob are more common than any other deity! And in an FR campaign, my cleric was of course a cleric of Mystra... free Identify spells is just too juicy to pass up.
Arcaine potions have eye of newt.
Healing potions might smell of incense, frankensense, myrr,
and maybe camfor.
I am working on a Wand Illustration for identify.
I'm thinking rare wood with a huge pearl on the end.
Maybe some arcane runes on the side giving the command word.
James,
If I wanted to incorporate this into my campaign, after the PCs have spent probably a couple thousand gold on identifying items already, how could I justify it? Could I give them the gold back and say the wizard or artificer did it through spellcraft checks? Or perhaps Eligos could fill them in on some new way to use their spellcraft knowledge to accomplish this? Do you let your characters take 20 on this identify check? Thanks in advance for the advice.
In my campaign I seperate the two. When the party is in the nitty gritty of the campaign, Spellcraft (I use the DCs from the WotC site as linked above) will identify the basics of the item (+1, keen, spell effect, etc) however it won't identify charges left or activation triggers. I allow a second retry with DC +10 and then no further retries on that item.
If they cast Identify, I've altered it to be able to identify one item per caster level, changed the casting time to 10min +5min per extra item, and allowed Gems and Art Objects to be used as the components (100gp for the 1st, 50gp for each sbsequent item).So in RedRobe's example with my technique, he could leave it as is and as he suggested have Eligos demonstrate the 'new way' of quick identification and the 'improved' way of the Identify spell and notch it all up as advances in the studying of the magicks of the realm...
:D B.
Generally spoken... I find identification of magical items as boring for the rpg as constantly counting cp´s for food, taking notes of how many mundane arrows are left behind or paying the bartender for the drink.
But for the rules, my players could use whatever they like to identify items, i.e. Identify spell (unfortunatly it uses up a spell slot), scrolls or wands (if they can affort it) or high-DC Know: Arcana, Bardic Knowledge or Spellcraft checks. Anything that is logical and does not hinder the flow of the game.
I had Allustan give the PCs a WoI in exchange for the stuff they found in the Cairn and the etchings/notes they provided. He gave them some line about "I got tired of dealing with that ornery gnome jeweler."
My boys have burned through 15 of their 20 charges already and we're just getting to the HOHR!
The WoI has made the PCs care about the treasure again.
They are actually asking how to hire someone to recharge the thing.
It's not in the DMG so they can't just order one in Greyhawk.
http://therpgenius.com/Portals/5/DNNDownload//WandOfIdentify.d151b8d4-01fd- 4a35-a6ee-984a21c97be1.JPG
I'm thinking of placing a Staff of Noise with a bad guy.
Staff of Noise(Like a staff of fire but with sonic damage.)
I agree that the identification of magic items can become a bit of a pain in the tail as a campaign goes on.
Here's what I do. Early in the campaign, when every magic item is a cool new treasure, I play fairly strictly by the rules. As things advance, I figure the characters get familiar with the common magic items--cure potions, amulets of natural armor, etc.--and can pretty much identify them on sight. I let them compare the intensity of magic auras of known items to find out, e.g. that the bracers of armor they just found are "three times as strong" as the ones the mage is already wearing, and the player writes down +3 bracers of armor, knowing the old ones were +1. For somewhat less common items, knowing the strength and school of the aura plus a knowledge arcana check will tell you exactly what it is. For wands, anyone who can use the wand can figure out what it does by burning a charge, and can feel how many charges it has left. (Too much bookkeeping for the DM otherwise).
At higher levels, I only play mystery games with really significant items that have multiple powers--in that case I set knowledge DCs to figure out the various powers--the lesser powers have easy DCs, the greater powers are more difficult. Often the powers are revealed by some kind of runes inscribed on the item (though they may be hidden somehow), or require research in a magical library to figure out. You can only make one knowledge check each time you gain a rank in the appropriate knowledge skill, but you might also be able to figure it out some other way. Of course, if one wants to do this, one has to reduce the effect of identify spells on such items.
So far Allustan has identified all of the parties items for them, but at the cost of complete notes, illustrations, and rubbings of the Whispering Cairn. He's even keeping a count of how much gold the party owes him, in case their notes aren't up to par. But I also like to use a little common sense application. After all, wizards don't create items to be misleading or myserious! The ring of Feather Fall has a feathery motif, all Cure potions are different shades of blue- the darker the stronger. Little tools like that should make a PC go "Ah, I betcha..." and be able to use the item.
I really need to look up the Identify spell again, what ever happened to the old 2nd edition version that allowed you to do a pile of items at once! DARN YOU WOTC!
In my campaign, I'm going to have Allustan provide his apprentice with a book that was given to him from his one time master Tensor. The book is an encyclopedia on how to identify many magic items of the world. If the party wants to know what that glowey pointy sword is right now, they will still have to cast identify. If however, they can wait until the wizard has time (when they camp for the night) she can look the items up in the book to identify them for free. Not every item will be found in the book, but a majority, and certainly all of the boring little things. Unique, strange, or fun items will require more effort to identify.
My group plays DnD to escape real life, so I don't force them to roll play the trivial aspects of the game. If they don't find it fun, and it doesn't advance the storyline, then I don't see the point.
--Bladesmith