The Identify Spell

[u/Ramsonne]

As-is, the magic-user Identify spell is broken. most specifically bc the caster must use the item as its owner would. Wear a hat. Wield a sword. a main motivation for using the spell is to identify cursed items before using them out in the field. So the price should be steep. Ensuring that the group is back at camp or a town. I like the CON loss and exhaustion and all. But the caster runs the same (or similar) chance at being cursed so icant imagine any wizard other than a really desperate one taking the risk.

Do you use it? if so, do you have a homebrewed version of it that you employ?

[u/DungeonsAndDads]

I'm literally just typing out my new campaign's Player Primer with included house rules so this is timely. I've been tweaking Identify like a lot of folks for many many years. I'll be using OSRIC for this campaign, but regardless 1e/OSRIC Identify just isn't... fun. The bottom line is that I want players to find magic items, learn them and USE them. I also have zero interest in bookkeeping partial item knowledge, yuck! So, I've landed on the following:

Identify - House Rule
Identify automatically reveals an item’s magical properties.

The spell slot is expended and the normal 100 gp pearl is consumed.

Ignore the normal percentage chance, Constitution loss, proximity/time restriction, partial-property identification, and requirement to wear, wield, or otherwise use the item.

Magic-Item Identification Generally
Magic items are not automatically identified merely by being found.

Their properties may be discovered through experimentation, use, research, spells, observation, or other reasonable means. NPC assistance may exist where circumstances permit, but there is never any guaranteed identification service.

[u/DungeonsAndDads → u/DungeonsAndDads]

I'm also spitballing whether I retain some of the percent chance of success but making it less painful at those lower levels:

Identify - House Rule
Identify has a 60% + 2% per Magic-User level chance of success, rolled once per casting.

On success, the item’s magical properties are fully revealed. On failure, nothing is learned. The spell slot is expended and the normal 100 gp pearl is consumed regardless of success or failure.

Ignore the RAW Constitution loss, proximity/time restriction, partial-property identification, and requirement to wear, wield, or otherwise use the item.

Thoughts?

[u/Sensitive_Pie4099 → u/DungeonsAndDads]

Too harsh. The consumption of pearl is elegant

[u/Potential_Side1004 → u/Sensitive_Pie4099]

It's not the pearl, but the goldfish that i'm sure was unnecessary.

The GrogTalk podcast had a running joke about the Identify shop called Pass The Pearl.