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Hey guys I have a question for you that I need help with. I am in a campaign right now and I was received an unidentified wand. Now I thought a good enough spellcraft check was needed to identify something magical without using identify spell. But I got told no I was wrong.
So my question is this how do you identify a unknown magical item (without the use it and see method.) in mundane ways?
Read Spellcraft again. It does what you want it to, but you might fail the check. Outside of that you could pay someone to do it.
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you need to at least cast detect magic at a minimum to attempt to identify a magical item. Identify gives you a bonus true but it's not necessary, detect magic would do the job. My group mostly don't bother casting identify anymore, plus it costs a bunch of gold. Unless the magical item is so much more above your spellcraft check, you shouldn't need to cast identify.
Stalarious, it says outright in the Spellcraft skill description in the Core rulebook what you need to know. The DCs are in the table at the bottom of the page and it is discussed under the skill description.
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spellcraft basic description:
You are skilled at the art of casting spells, identifying magic items , crafting magic items, and identifying spells as they are being cast.
Determine Properties of Magic Item
When using detect magic or identify to learn the properties of magic items, you can only attempt to ascertain the properties of an individual item once per day. Additional attempts reveal the same results.
Special
If you are a specialist wizard, you get a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks made to identify, learn, and prepare spells from your chosen school. Similarly, you take a –5 penalty on similar checks made concerning spells from your opposition schools.
An elf gets a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft checks to identify the properties of magic items.
If you have the Magical Aptitude feat, you get a +2 bonus on all Spellcraft checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in Spellcraft, the bonus increases to +4.
check out in the corebook, the pathfinder srd etc...
Your GM is probably thinking of the identify spell as it was back in D&D. In Pathfinders, Identify simply adds a +10 bonus to your spellcraft check. Both Spellcraft and Use Magic Device can successfully identify magical items. Use Magic Device can randomly activate a wand - showing you what the effect is.
Spellcraft still requires detect magic, but it does not require identify.
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I miss the old ways, where you look across the table at the GM's face as you discuss with the other players about whether to put that ring, or say...Girdle, on.
I miss the old ways, where you look across the table at the GM's face as you discuss with the other players about whether to put that ring, or say...Girdle, on.
Sucks when the dm is a good poker player and has mastered the poker face though :-)
To the OP, u still need detect magic active and pass the dc with spellcraft to identify. Did u roll for spellcraft with detect magic? Because there are 2 ways ur dm is correct in his ruling. 1. U didn't cast detect magic while rolling for ur spellcract. 2. You rolled for spellcraft while detect magic was active and rolled to low. If u fall in either of those then ur dm was correct.
Edit-also I will agree for a 3rd that they are correct if the item was a macgruffin as well.
Yes I did spellcraft with the detect magic on but it was one of those moments when he was flying off the cuff
Then I suggest you email him privately, or call him, or visit him privately (not during your next game, but before it, alone, without all the other players). Tell him what you've found out and ask him if it works that way in his game world and, if not, then would he please let you know what the houserules are so you can use them the way he wants it done.
Of course, if you don't like his houserules, that's a whole different situation.
My group mostly don't bother casting identify anymore, plus it costs a bunch of gold.
It doesn't cost any gold anymore does it? In 3.5 and earlier editions it required a 100g pearl but I don't think the spell has any components of value anymore.
Yes, in previous editions it required a 100gp pearl. Very expensive, especially for low-level characters. Tedious to have to bring along a dozen of them on an adventure, just to be sure you could identify the stuff you found. Also, it burned a spell slot to have identify prepared (and bummer if you found more items than you had identify spells).
In Pathfinder, there is no cost. You simply cast Detect Magic (not Identify) and use your Spellcraft skill. If you want, you CAN cast Identify (but it's not required) to get a +10 bonus to the roll, but even that has had the component changed to a negligible one (wine stirred with an owl's feather) that has no cost.
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Perhaps your GM was only stalling to come up with the magical properties. In a game I'm running, the party got 3 magical weapons. I let them detect magic, and yes they were, and try to spellcraft them. Because of the story line, these weapons must be attuned to the PC for a week before they can properly identify their magic. Plus, there are two more weapons they need to find. Once they do, other more powerful magical abilities will become apparent to the PCs over and above what they find out after a week.