Attunement with a magic object

Hi there!

My question is: if a player finds a magic object and that object requires attunement, should I say it to the player?

And once the player makes the attunement with the object, the player immediately knows what the object does?

I'm a little confused about this so I'd appreciate some help.

Thanks in advance.

Generally, there are only two ways to know what a magic item does - casting the Identify spell, or focusing on a magic item during a short rest while being in physical contact with that item. This lets the character learn the item's properties, including whether or not it requires attunement.

Attunement to an item requires a character to spend another short rest focused on only that item while being in physical contact with it. The attunement rules specifically say that this can’t be the same short rest used to learn the item’s properties.

So, the short answer is your players should spend a short rest learning what it does and if it requires attunement, then a second rest attuning to it. 

Quote from Official_FBI >>

Generally, there are only two ways to know what a magic item does - casting the Identify spell, or focusing on a magic item during a short rest while being in physical contact with that item. This lets the character learn the item's properties, including whether or not it requires attunement.

Attunement to an item requires a character to spend another short rest focused on only that item while being in physical contact with it. The attunement rules specifically say that this can’t be the same short rest used to learn the item’s properties.

So, the short answer is your players should spend a short rest learning what it does and if it requires attunement, then a second rest attuning to it. 

 I love you, mate. You explain things perfectly! 

Thank you very much for your help ❤️ I understood everything now.

The thing is, should I tell them the object requires attunement? What do you do?

Thanks again.

Quote from JaimeVonCarstein >>

The thing is, should I tell them the object requires attunement? What do you do?

 
Going by the rules, no. They should spend a short rest focusing on the item to learn what it does - once they've done that, you can tell them the item's features/abilities and let them know whether it requires attunement. Then they can choose to attune to the item on their next rest, if they want.

Quote from Official_FBI >>

Quote from JaimeVonCarstein >>

The thing is, should I tell them the object requires attunement? What do you do?

 
Going by the rules, no. They should spend a short rest focusing on the item to learn what it does - once they've done that, you can tell them the item's features/abilities and let them know whether it requires attunement. Then they can choose to attune to the item on their next rest, if they want.

 Ok, I've got it! Cheers, mate.

Quote from Official_FBI >>

Generally, there are only two ways to know what a magic item does - casting the Identify spell, or focusing on a magic item during a short rest while being in physical contact with that item. This lets the character learn the item's properties, including whether or not it requires attunement. 

 Just to add to this: Identify doesn't reveal curses. If an item is cursed, that is revealed once the character has attuned to the item.