Noob Question: What do Detect Magic and Spellcraft reveal about magic items?

[dhemery]

If I understand right, Detect Magic reveals only a spell's or magic item's school and aura strength. It does not, all by itself, reveal other details of the spell or item.

But a successful Spellcraft check, made while applying Detect Magic, identifies "the properties of a magic item" (emphasis mine). Which properties, exactly, does this reveal? Full details of the spell or item, as shown in its description? The general nature of its effects? How to use or trigger it? Something else?

[Jeraa]

When using Detect Magic on a magic item, a successful Spellcraft check will identify everything about it. Its exact abilities (a weapon or armors +'s, spells in a staff, all the abilities of a wonderous item, etc.), any command words or other ways to trigger it, and anything else about the magic item. The only thing it will not show is if the item is cursed - you need to beat the Spellcraft DC by at least 10 to determine that.

[dhemery]

Thank you Jeraa. That should be easy enough to remember ;-)

[Mayr]

Will it determine if an item is intelligent? Especially if the item is trying to keep that fact hidden.

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

Mayr wrote:

Will it determine if an item is intelligent?

Yes, including its exact special abilities. Detect magic + Spellcraft = everything (except curses).

As always, the GM is free to fudge this, say by requiring multiple Spellcraft rolls over several rounds, though IMHO it should never take more tools than detect magic and Spellcraft to get all possible information (except curses).

[Meirril]

If an item has multiple abilities (like an intelligent item) you can assign multiple DCs to identify different properties. If the players make the lower DC they get those properties and they are within 10 of the next higher DC I'd tell them 'and possibly other abilities you haven't managed to identify'. To get a second opportunity to identify the item they would need to improve their odds of success significantly or they aren't allowed a retry. Something like casting Identify if they didn't the first time works. Other significant modifiers would be to gain aid from others with Spellcraft, or access to a reference library. And kind of the last resort is waiting to gain a level.

If they don't get within 10 of the higher DC, I wouldn't tell them about the other abilities immediately. I might give them clues as they use the item that something seems off...but in a good way. Assuming its a good thing.

[PokeyCA]

Detect magic + Spellcraft = everything (Curses = DC+10, unless the item is a known cursed item, then normal DC).