I am not fully satisfied with the core rules and the variant options for identifying magic items, so I am thinking of using the rules below for how characters can identify magic items.
Please let me know your thoughts on these, or if you have any links you can share to other similar house rules which I could use to tweak some of my ideas. I also want to ensure that these rules read clearly, so if there is better wording that you would suggest that would be more in line with the general 5e format, I would also appreciate your suggestions.
Identifying Magic Items House Rules
There are various ways to identify magic items depending on the type of item and the general power level (rarity) of the item.
Potions: To identify a potion a character must make a DC 12, Intelligence (Arcana) check to try to identify the properties of a potion by tasting it. If a character has proficiency with the Arcana skill, they gain advantage on this roll. Potions commonly used by the player character, such a Potion of Healing, decreases the difficulty of the check by 4. Alternatively, if the character has access to an alchemy lab they may use 1sp worth of alchemy supplies over the course of 10 minutes to learn what the potion is.
Scrolls: If the spell is contained on any class spell list which your character has access to, you immediate learn what the spell is. Otherwise, for each spell on a scroll, a character may attempt a DC (12 + the spell's level), Intelligence (Arcana) check to identify the spell. If a character does not have proficiency with the Arcana skill, they gain disadvantage on this roll.
Magic Items: For any other magical item that is not a potion or scroll, the following rules apply:
Experimentation. While interacting and experimenting with a magical item during a short rest, a character can learn any number of easily identified properties of a common, uncommon, rare or very rare, magic item. Easily identifiable properties are those that would be easily discerned from moderate interaction and experimentation of the item, such as the benefits conferred by a ring of jumping, or that a weapon or armor grants a +1 magic bonus. If the property discovered is normally activated by a usage charge, then a charge is expended during this investigation.
Intellectual Analysis. Any character which has previously cast a detect magic spell on an item may spend 1 minute to study a magical item that is not an artifact by attempting an Intelligence (Arcana) check. On a successful check, the character learns all easily discerned properties of the item and a single property which is not readily identifiable. The difficulty of the check is dependent upon the rarity of the magic item:
Rarity
DC
Common
10
Uncommon
12
Rare
15
Very Rare
18
Legendary
25
A character which exceeds the difficulty check by 5 learns all magical properties of the item just as if they had cast the Identify spell, otherwise repeated attempts to learn additional properties will not yield any further results.
Identify Spell. When a character casts the Identify spell as a ritual, they may select a number of objects equal to their proficiency bonus, provided that they can remain in frequent contact with each item throughout the ritual.
What's the point of inflicting advantage/disadvantage depending on proficiency with arcana? Isn't being able to add your proficiency bonus enough? It just seems redundant and doesn't make sense.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
My reasoning for it, is that ideally I really only think people proficient with the skill (those that have received specific training) are the only ones that should have a good chance at being able to do it. Additionally, the bonus granted by proficiency is a very negligible amount and in my opinion does not well reflect the vast difference (especially on knowledge-based checks) of someone who has particular knowledge in that area, versus those that don't. My first thought was to just double the proficiency bonus of anyone making the check (and maybe that is still the better option), however I then didn't want anyone lessen the benefit of anyone who might have Expertise in that skill.
I have not seen any precedents in 5e for not allowing people to make a skill check if they are not proficient -- so rather than prohibit them I thought by applying advantage/disadvantage would be the better way to reflect this.
1. Are there any precedents in 5e for not allowing a character to make a skill check if they are not proficient?
2. Would just doubling the proficiency bonus be a "cleaner" way of achieving this?
I'm pretty sure there are precedents in 5e for not allowing a character to make a skill check if they are not proficient. Even if there aren't, it makes much more sense, and I don't think there are any precedents for advantage/disadvantage based on proficiency either.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
I think it's not really necessary to require a check to identify a magic item. Just let the players identify it on a rest, or with the Identify spell.
I posted here looking for suggestions on general rules balance and other options, and was not looking for someone to try to convince me that my personal preference of the theme of how want to run my game is wrong, hence the first sentence of my post "I am not fully satisfied with the core rules and the variant options for identifying magic items,". Thanks for your feedback.
I think it's not really necessary to require a check to identify a magic item. Just let the players identify it on a rest, or with the Identify spell.
I posted here looking for suggestions on general rules balance and other options, and was not looking for someone to try to convince me that my personal preference of the theme of how want to run my game is wrong, hence the first sentence of my post "I am not fully satisfied with the core rules and the variant options for identifying magic items,". Thanks for your feedback.
Sure. Just make sure to run it by your players first, before enforcing a debatably pointless rule.
I think it's not really necessary to require a check to identify a magic item. Just let the players identify it on a rest, or with the Identify spell.
I posted here looking for suggestions on general rules balance and other options, and was not looking for someone to try to convince me that my personal preference of the theme of how want to run my game is wrong, hence the first sentence of my post "I am not fully satisfied with the core rules and the variant options for identifying magic items,". Thanks for your feedback.
Sure. Just make sure to run it by your players first, before enforcing a debatably pointless rule.
Interesting note: it was my players who noted that it didn't seem right that you can just play with a magic item for a few hours to learn their properties and command words. Of course my crew of players and I have all been playing for 35+ years, so there are certain intricacies of the theme behind the rules which we appreciate.
It is the belief of my players, and myself, that Identifying magical properties of items should generally only be permitted by those that have magical aptitude (ability to cast Identify or perhaps detect magic combined with an Arcana check). There are challenges to this approach though when crafting an alternative house rule:
1. The 5e ruleset structure was created to simplify many things from previous editions -- including the identifying of magic items. This is an area in which we believe has been over-simplified, and sort of breaks with the depth and theme of the game that we like to play in. So we are trying to craft a rule that is a good balance between the 5e ruleset and our intended theme.
2. Some items could be easily "played with" to figure out the effect (+1 weapon, ring of feather of fall, etc.), there are other items that certainly could not (especially those which require command words to activate). In tweaking the rule to better fit the flavor we are looking for, we still want to be able to accommodate the "easy to identify items" while leaving it to the "professionals" to identify the more powerful or complex properties.
You are not judge and jury for determining what is deemed a pointless rule, and I can tell you that my players and myself disagree with your statement that the proposed rule is pointless. I am sorry if our decision to not play the game "your way" or as per the rules as written has caused you so much distress and angst. Please respect the original intent of this post and refrain from posting further to avoid me reporting your actions which appear trolling in nature. Thank you.
I am not fully satisfied with the core rules and the variant options for identifying magic items, so I am thinking of using the rules below for how characters can identify magic items.
Please let me know your thoughts on these, or if you have any links you can share to other similar house rules which I could use to tweak some of my ideas. I also want to ensure that these rules read clearly, so if there is better wording that you would suggest that would be more in line with the general 5e format, I would also appreciate your suggestions.
Identifying Magic Items House Rules
There are various ways to identify magic items depending on the type of item and the general power level (rarity) of the item.
Potions: To identify a potion a character must make a DC 12, Intelligence (Arcana) check to try to identify the properties of a potion by tasting it. If a character has proficiency with the Arcana skill, they gain advantage on this roll. Potions commonly used by the player character, such a Potion of Healing, decreases the difficulty of the check by 4. Alternatively, if the character has access to an alchemy lab they may use 1sp worth of alchemy supplies over the course of 10 minutes to learn what the potion is.
Scrolls: If the spell is contained on any class spell list which your character has access to, you immediate learn what the spell is. Otherwise, for each spell on a scroll, a character may attempt a DC (12 + the spell's level), Intelligence (Arcana) check to identify the spell. If a character does not have proficiency with the Arcana skill, they gain disadvantage on this roll.
Magic Items: For any other magical item that is not a potion or scroll, the following rules apply:
Rarity
DC
Common
10
Uncommon
12
Rare
15
Very Rare
18
Legendary
25
A character which exceeds the difficulty check by 5 learns all magical properties of the item just as if they had cast the Identify spell, otherwise repeated attempts to learn additional properties will not yield any further results.
What's the point of inflicting advantage/disadvantage depending on proficiency with arcana? Isn't being able to add your proficiency bonus enough? It just seems redundant and doesn't make sense.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
My reasoning for it, is that ideally I really only think people proficient with the skill (those that have received specific training) are the only ones that should have a good chance at being able to do it. Additionally, the bonus granted by proficiency is a very negligible amount and in my opinion does not well reflect the vast difference (especially on knowledge-based checks) of someone who has particular knowledge in that area, versus those that don't. My first thought was to just double the proficiency bonus of anyone making the check (and maybe that is still the better option), however I then didn't want anyone lessen the benefit of anyone who might have Expertise in that skill.
I have not seen any precedents in 5e for not allowing people to make a skill check if they are not proficient -- so rather than prohibit them I thought by applying advantage/disadvantage would be the better way to reflect this.
1. Are there any precedents in 5e for not allowing a character to make a skill check if they are not proficient?
2. Would just doubling the proficiency bonus be a "cleaner" way of achieving this?
I'm pretty sure there are precedents in 5e for not allowing a character to make a skill check if they are not proficient. Even if there aren't, it makes much more sense, and I don't think there are any precedents for advantage/disadvantage based on proficiency either.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
I think it's not really necessary to require a check to identify a magic item. Just let the players identify it on a rest, or with the Identify spell.
[REDACTED]
I posted here looking for suggestions on general rules balance and other options, and was not looking for someone to try to convince me that my personal preference of the theme of how want to run my game is wrong, hence the first sentence of my post "I am not fully satisfied with the core rules and the variant options for identifying magic items,". Thanks for your feedback.
Sure. Just make sure to run it by your players first, before enforcing a debatably pointless rule.
[REDACTED]
Interesting note: it was my players who noted that it didn't seem right that you can just play with a magic item for a few hours to learn their properties and command words. Of course my crew of players and I have all been playing for 35+ years, so there are certain intricacies of the theme behind the rules which we appreciate.
It is the belief of my players, and myself, that Identifying magical properties of items should generally only be permitted by those that have magical aptitude (ability to cast Identify or perhaps detect magic combined with an Arcana check). There are challenges to this approach though when crafting an alternative house rule:
1. The 5e ruleset structure was created to simplify many things from previous editions -- including the identifying of magic items. This is an area in which we believe has been over-simplified, and sort of breaks with the depth and theme of the game that we like to play in. So we are trying to craft a rule that is a good balance between the 5e ruleset and our intended theme.
2. Some items could be easily "played with" to figure out the effect (+1 weapon, ring of feather of fall, etc.), there are other items that certainly could not (especially those which require command words to activate). In tweaking the rule to better fit the flavor we are looking for, we still want to be able to accommodate the "easy to identify items" while leaving it to the "professionals" to identify the more powerful or complex properties.
You are not judge and jury for determining what is deemed a pointless rule, and I can tell you that my players and myself disagree with your statement that the proposed rule is pointless. I am sorry if our decision to not play the game "your way" or as per the rules as written has caused you so much distress and angst. Please respect the original intent of this post and refrain from posting further to avoid me reporting your actions which appear trolling in nature. Thank you.