Identification – Dungeon's Master

Greatest Hits 2011: Make Magical Item Identification Harder

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2011. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

We all like getting stuff, whether it’s in real life or in game. If it’s new, it’s exciting. In the case of magical items they have the added benefit of being powerful; likely more powerful than the items you currently possess. But being able to discover everything about an item over the course of a short rest, a mere 5 minutes in game, is a lot like receiving a gift without wrapping paper. Where’s the surprise? Where’s the suspense? And more importantly where’s the joy that comes from finally discovering what’s actually beneath that disguised exterior?

By making magical identification harder you take something that was once a thrilling part of the game, and add the excitement back into getting something new. When you don’t know what the magic sword actually does (beyond providing a plus or two) it’s like looking at all the wrapped presents underneath a Christmas tree with your name on them. You know that eventually you’ll get to open those presents, but until then there’s the anticipation of what they might be? Is that box a new video game or a pair of dress socks? Does that small packable contain a gift card to your favourite store or is it a last minute bauble from a discount store?

By making magical identification harder you bring back anticipation. You make the PCs and the players live with the suspense of not knowing what that item will be. And when they finally do discover the item’s full potential it’s just like being a kid on Christmas morning and finally getting to open all those presents that you could see but not open in the day days and weeks leading up to Christmas.

Make Magical Item Identification Harder

In its attempt to simplify things and keep the game and the players focused on the important details, identifying magical items in 4e is something any PC can do during a short rest. I think it’s time for this to change. This is something that they had right in previous editions of D&D.

In this week’s Legends & Lore column Magic and Mystery, Monte Cook talked about the wonder of magical items. He focused mainly on the idea of magic being too commonplace in most campaigns, but he also brushed on the idea that some magical items should have hidden properties that are only revealed when certain conditions are met. This really got me thinking about the whole mechanic of magic item identification.

Based on the current rules all a PC has to do to identity an item is spend time handling and examine it during a short rest. After the five minutes are up they know that the sword is a +2 Frost Weapon or that the boots are Goblin Stompers. They know the exact nature and properties of the item. I realize that this makes things simpler but it also makes things boring.