how to discover the power of an item

[rugrat]

hi there

I am a total newbie to D&D and thus have no idea where to begin so I need some help please. It was recently my birthday and a special treat, our DM has granted me a special item to help me out. Except all that they will say is that it is sort of like a trinket/little object which is like a pendant but not on any kind of necklace. It will help with my animal companion. And my companion can wear it if he wears a collar.

When I was given this, I was a 2nd level druidess of the catfolk race, size medium. My animal companion is a wolf also size medium. We are both now level 3 and quickly closing in on level four (probably on our next adventure in about a weeks time). I am neutral alignment.

I can see it is frustrating the hell out of my DM that I can't figure it out, but I just have no clue what it could be. Obviously if I know what it is, I can create a story for how my character discovers it and whatever powers it might have.

Anyone feel like helping?

[Bronk]

There are a lot of things it could be.

It sounds like your DM wants you to figure it out through experimentation or something, but I've always found that to be extremely frustrating.

In game, your character should have it appraised and/or have an arcane caster use the 'identify' spell on it. That's a level one spell for bards, wizards and sorcerers, and would tell you exactly what it is and what it does.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/identify.htm

[Troacctid]

If you cast Detect Magic on it and succeed at a Spellcraft check, you can learn its properties. The DC is pretty high, though (25 + half the item's caster level), so you'll need a good check result.

[Bronk]

It does seem a bit odd that your DM would give you an item (for your birthday even!) and then let you be confused about it for so long. I don't know if they're super old school or very new at this themselves, but it seems like they should have steered you in the right direction before now.

Next time you play, you can tell your DM out of game that you want to make figuring out that collar a priority. He or she might have some crazy scheme in mind for you already (and this might get them motivated to enact it), but if not, in game, use Troaccid's idea to get an initial read on the collar. If you don't find out what you need to know, then role play going to a town to find a friendly merchant or hire a low level wizard to cast an identify spell, or better yet, see if a fellow player can do it.

If they're going by the book, the spell should cost you 110 gold: 10g for a level 1 wizard casting a level 1 spell, and 100g for the pearl you need for the spell. Maybe a bit more if the wizard is a higher caster level.

The prices for hiring spellcaster services are at the bottom of the page here:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm

[Gallowglass]

In ye olden dayse of D&D, figuring out magic items was always this frustrating.

"Okay I put the trinket on Wolfie's collar. Does anything happen?"

"No, nothing overtly happens."

"Okay, I have Wolfie attack a tree. Do his claws sink in deeper than normal?"

"Not really."

"Okay I have Wolfie jump over some logs. Does he jump higher or longer than before?"

"No about the same."

"Okay, I hook Wolfie up to a sledge and piles some rocks on. Can he pull more weight than he used to be able to?"

"Yeah! He pulls about triple his old capacity!"

*sigh*

[rugrat]

So it turned out to be a communication item, like a pearl or something. I am not 100% sure what yet, but my wolf can now talk with this thing hanging around it's neck. The limitation is the wolf's intelligence and knowledge, for example, if i send him to scout and he sees a fire, he only knows it s fire and not what type of fire (e.g. magical) it is.

I would like to know more about it, but can't quite figure out what it is exactly.

Any ideas?

[Morcleon]

So it turned out to be a communication item, like a pearl or something. I am not 100% sure what yet, but my wolf can now talk with this thing hanging around it's neck. The limitation is the wolf's intelligence and knowledge, for example, if i send him to scout and he sees a fire, he only knows it s fire and not what type of fire (e.g. magical) it is.

I would like to know more about it, but can't quite figure out what it is exactly.

Any ideas?

Sounds like a Pearl of Speech, from the Magic Item Compendium. Basically, it grants your wolf the ability to speak and understand one language.

[Telonius]

"Pardon me, Wolf, do you have a minute? Other than now being able to talk to me, have you noticed anything different about yourself since you put on the collar?"

Really, other than the Identify spell, a high-DC spellcraft check, or trial and error, it's going to be a guessing game.

[Segev]

I suggest preparing fox's cunning, or getting an int-boost item for your pal, so that the "limited by his intelligence" at least gets up to approximately ogre level of conversational skill (I estimate an average 6-year-old child's conversation to be about right).

[Jormengand]

I suggest preparing fox's cunning, or getting an int-boost item for your pal, so that the "limited by his intelligence" at least gets up to approximately ogre level of conversational skill (I estimate an average 6-year-old child's conversation to be about right).

Int 6 is about adult of IQ 80, which is the point at which soldiers are only just incapable of mastering soldiering in a cost-efficient way (according to Wikipedia). It's "Mildly mentally deficient adult" not "Infant". Adults can do unskilled work with an IQ of 60. IQ 80 is better than a 6-year-old kid, assuming that your kid is nonheroic and therefore rolled on 3d6.

[Morcleon]

Int 6 is about adult of IQ 80, which is the point at which soldiers are only just incapable of mastering soldiering in a cost-efficient way (according to Wikipedia). It's "Mildly mentally deficient adult" not "Infant". Adults can do unskilled work with an IQ of 60. IQ 80 is better than a 6-year-old kid, assuming that your kid is nonheroic and therefore rolled on 3d6.

Mhm. Infants probably fall around Int 2, and a six-year-old is maybe Int 4 at best.

[Hiro Quester]

Sounds like a Pearl of Speech, from the Magic Item Compendium. Basically, it grants your wolf the ability to speak and understand one language.

Congratulations! This is a very useful item to have. Even better, it will enable your druid PC to speak common when you are in wildshape (after level 5).

This will be essential for communications with your party after level 6, when you can cast in wildshape (you will of course take Natural Spell then) and so you are in wildshape much of the time.

Though lack of a Pearl of Speech (DM ruled it doesn't work if you can't make there right sounds to speak a human language) can make for some fun roleplaying (as in my game, in which my druid took a couple of ranks in perform (pantomime) to be able to mime out information when in tiger wildshape).

[Inevitability]

Congratulations! This is a very useful item to have. Even better, it will enable your druid PC to speak common when you are in wildshape (after level 5).

This will be essential for communications with your party after level 6, when you can cast in wildshape (you will of course take Natural Spell then) and so you are in wildshape much of the time.

Though lack of a Pearl of Speech (DM ruled it doesn't work if you can't make there right sounds to speak a human language) can make for some fun roleplaying (as in my game, in which my druid took a couple of ranks in perform (pantomime) to be able to mime out information when in tiger wildshape).

In 5e, I played a druid focused on wildshaping who'd stay in wildshape most of the time. Communications got interesting after a while, with the time I wildshaped into a swarm of spiders standing out most.

I can tell you, having the individual spiders move to specific places to form letters was really fun. Though I suppose having the entire swarm crawl over the gnome in the party to have him carry it around was even better.

[Andezzar]

If you cast Detect Magic on it and succeed at a Spellcraft check, you can learn its properties. The DC is pretty high, though (25 + half the item's caster level), so you'll need a good check result.If you can get your hands on an Artificer's Monocle (MIC p. 72, 1500 gp) you don't even need to make a check.

[Telok]

Bardic lore checks, asking other druids if they know anything, possible history or arcana checks to learn about anything similar, search checks for on-item command words, asking a sage to research it, hitting up a library that has magic item info, asking your diety (assuming you aren't one of the atheist druids). There are more options beyond casting spells, they usually just require talking to NPCs.

Just don't say "Since none of us can cast Identify and it's red, I drop it in the lava to see if it's a fire resist thing."

[atemu1234]

If you cast Detect Magic on it and succeed at a Spellcraft check, you can learn its properties. The DC is pretty high, though (25 + half the item's caster level), so you'll need a good check result.

Eh, by the time Magic Items are common in a campaign (LVL 8 or so), you have an 18-Int Wizard with 11 ranks in Spellcraft, and synergy for identifying, with tops DC 29 for that level. So, identifying about 40% of the time on the first try. And don't forget the 10-Int spellcasters with +11. In the average party with three casters (Wiz, Clr, Drd/Brd) that'll mean success , (100 - [.6 x .9 x .9] =) 51.4% of the time or so, just with that method. If CL matches party level, and sometimes it lags behind.

[Tiri]

Mhm. Infants probably fall around Int 2, and a six-year-old is maybe Int 4 at best.

I know this isn't really the place to discuss it, but I think that a six-year-old could realistically get up to Int 5 or 6, judging by the six-year-olds I have known. Not all of them, of course, but some.

[rugrat]

Thanks for all the answers and info.

I dont think its a pearl of speech because i read somewhere that the pearl has to go under the tounge in order to be effective. My item is worn in the my animal companions collar.

Also, i dont think it is something i can use in wildshape without taking it away from my companion?

I will try out all your ideas though to see if I can figure out exactly what it is. Our next meet should be this coming week :)

[Kelb_Panthera]

If your DM is a by the book DM, you should be able to get it identified in a moderately large settlement for 110gp. That's how much it would cost to hire a local sorcerer or wizard or bard to cast identify on your behalf. Of course, not every DM observes the rules regarding settlement demographics and availability of services.