ffone
2011-01-15, 03:48 AM
'Identify' takes an hour to cast, has a 100 gp material component, and at low levels, a spell slot per item can be quite a tax (and encourage parties to spend a long time Rope Tricking etc.)
Are there some easier/quicker/cheaper workarounds? I know of:
- Identify as a L1 cloistered cleric spell, which I believe circumvents the material component? (Also means you could have a much cheaper wand...)
- Identify as a L2 Magic domain spell.
- MIC has a provision for using some skill checks (I think Spellcraft 25 + spell level in conjunction with Detect Magic and some others); fairly high DCs. Also suggests finding hire-able NPCs in towns to cast Identify (or provide the same info nonmagically, charging the equivalent cost.)
- Artificer's Monocle in MIC gives you unlimited IDing, at only one minute per item, for 1,500 gp! Requires being an artificer, or 5 ranks in K(arcana), which most parties' mages will have.
For a party which actually does lack characters with K(arcana), I wondered about finding a cheap 'sidekick' character to use the monocle...is there some sort of tiny 2 HD intelligent construct (or an awaken construct spell) in any manual? You could just keep it in the bag of holding, since it doesn't need to breath, and it could be doing the IDing with the monocle...
I have a vague memory some manual had a construct familiar which was a spark-spitting mechanical eagle. Anyone remember the reference?
Edit: Spark Guardian, from Complete Warrior. It ranks 2 HD, which is just what you'd need for 5 ranks. The only way to give it an intelligence score that I know of is Spell Compendium's Awaken Construct, a 9th level spell with a 5000 XP cost,so the 'market price' of a scroll or hired spellcast would include 25,000 gp for the XP plus the scroll / NPC hire cost. Combined with the Spark Guardian's 10,000 gp market price that's over 35,000 gp....no longer a cheap solution for unlimited fast IDing. (And that's breezing over all the issues with convincing an awakened creature to be your IDing slave.)
Are there some easier/quicker/cheaper workarounds? I know of:
- Identify as a L1 cloistered cleric spell, which I believe circumvents the material component? (Also means you could have a much cheaper wand...)
- Identify as a L2 Magic domain spell.
- MIC has a provision for using some skill checks (I think Spellcraft 25 + spell level in conjunction with Detect Magic and some others); fairly high DCs. Also suggests finding hire-able NPCs in towns to cast Identify (or provide the same info nonmagically, charging the equivalent cost.)
- Artificer's Monocle in MIC gives you unlimited IDing, at only one minute per item, for 1,500 gp! Requires being an artificer, or 5 ranks in K(arcana), which most parties' mages will have.
For a party which actually does lack characters with K(arcana), I wondered about finding a cheap 'sidekick' character to use the monocle...is there some sort of tiny 2 HD intelligent construct (or an awaken construct spell) in any manual? You could just keep it in the bag of holding, since it doesn't need to breath, and it could be doing the IDing with the monocle...
I have a vague memory some manual had a construct familiar which was a spark-spitting mechanical eagle. Anyone remember the reference?
Edit: Spark Guardian, from Complete Warrior. It ranks 2 HD, which is just what you'd need for 5 ranks. The only way to give it an intelligence score that I know of is Spell Compendium's Awaken Construct, a 9th level spell with a 5000 XP cost,so the 'market price' of a scroll or hired spellcast would include 25,000 gp for the XP plus the scroll / NPC hire cost. Combined with the Spark Guardian's 10,000 gp market price that's over 35,000 gp....no longer a cheap solution for unlimited fast IDing. (And that's breezing over all the issues with convincing an awakened creature to be your IDing slave.)