Do you use the spell “identify” in your game ?

[Myth27]

First of all am I correct that by RAW this spell allows you to know ALL the properties of any magical object without spending any resource (it’s a ritual).

If so anyone else finds it to be too powerful and it takes away some interesting and fun mystery to unravel every time you find a magical item ?

How do you handle this spell?

[Amnestic]

Identify doesn't reveal curses on an item, and a character can identify an item (again, not including curses) without the spell by spending one hour in contact with it during a short rest. Doesn't even require an arcana check.

Identify is used when you need something identified faster than a short rest or you need to identify spells affecting a creature, and for a 1st level ritual spell with a one-time component cost of 100gp, it serves just fine.

I don't find there being mystery about what magic items do terribly interesting personally, so I've got no problem with it working as it does.

[Mastikator]

Yes. And. The DMG has some words about identifying high rarity magic items which is that identify is not strong enough. Many cursed items also have some text about identify does not find it, and some bad items specifically identify as their good counterpart. (like potion of poison, dust of coughing and wheezing)

Most magic items reveal what they are if you attune or use them, at least eventually- so identify isn't needed.

I find that accurately identifying low level magic items in 11 minutes with error bars is not at all overpowered for games that I run or play in. When I play the DM is extra cruel and has a risk of destroying the pearl, which means you may need to have a spare or get a new one. I find this a bit too cruel so I don't use that rule when I DM.

[kingcheesepants]

I rarely see identify in games not because it's too powerful but because it's mostly useless. Like others have pointed out anyone can spend an hour attuning to an item to learn what it is, curses and high level magic items typically slip past identify, and on a meta level most DMs will just tell you what an item is unless there's some reason for it to be secret and if it needs to be secret anyways you can bet that identify wouldn't have worked. Very much a niche spell that will rarely be useful except in certain campaigns.

[Chaos Jackal]

Handle what? For one, anyone can learn the properties of a magic item simply by touching it for an hour. The things you can't find, typically curses, aren't revealed by identify either. So there's no real mystery to unravel in regards to learning what an item does (nor would such a mystery be much fun in most cases).

Identify exists so that you save time on that identification, for cases where you can't afford to spend an hour learning properties and potentially another hour attuning to something. Unless the DM doesn't allow players to learn item properties on their own or allows identify to uncover curses, it's mostly a convenience booster with niche, fringe uses. And it's not a cheap one either; 100gp and a free spell known or 125gp if you scribe it are nothing to scoff at early on; you could scribe or learn much more useful spells and the pearl itself is worth another 1-4 spells on its own.

The only times I've seen identify picked up by a wizard it was essentially given freely (oneshots or games starting at like lv5, with the DM giving the wizard a few extra spells in their spellbook outside of the levelling ones) or it was buffed (the DM promising that there would be ways to eventually get it to do things like reveal curses). Plus a couple more times by people unfamiliar with the standard item identification process, who weren't particularly happy to find out their spell was just around for convenience's sake. Otherwise, someone might pick it late in the game when they can spare the gold... maybe.

Identify's impact is, ultimately, quite small. The spell requires no handling whatsoever.

[Leon]

Have used it as a Ritual on my Artificer. Who doesn't do a lot with her spells presently so having it prepared for occasional uses is fine.

[nickl_2000]

Yes, because I can spend 10 minutes identifying an item known to be magical while another PC is casting a different ritual (say detect magic) or casting something like Prayer of Healing.

Then when we get that short rest, it can be used for attunement instead of figuring out what an item is.

[No brains]

I use it because I have never had a satisfying 'mystery' magic item. To me, all a mystery does is give me anxiety about when this thing is going to suddenly crap out/ reveal rigmarole on me. Besides, identify already doesn't reveal curses, so DMs are already free to maliciously waste time when a player devotes a precious known spell to identify.

I was once part of a game where there was an intelligent evil artifact that inflicted short term madness on the wizard who tried to ID it. We had more fun watching the wizard hurt themselves than risking the use of a ring that gave us the most gossamer of ribbons. If it had a real power, the DM wasn't really tempting us with it.

I then open up the floor to anyone who actually has had fun with mystery magic items. What was fun about the process of experimentation? How did you logically narrow the potential uses of an item down to what it really does?

But I also ask DMs: Have you ever had a magic item that you wanted some 'mystery' to that the PCs just did not vibe with? How many rings of feather falling went undiscovered just because PCs though to always tie a good rope?

[Amnestic]

If I wanted an item's magic to be teased out over time I'd probably go the route of an evolving magic item instead of letting the item not be identified and making the players figure it out over time, which presumably wouldn't be possible in a number of cases without knowing the very specific command words.

[Warder]

I've never played with attunement = identification in 5e, for me it's always been the use of Identify, whether cast by a PC or NPC. Saving up money for a pearl tends to be the first priority for a low level party. I've always found the identification process and explaining what a magical item does in character to be a great roleplaying opportunity for a caster.

Edit: Also, I've used Identify on many, many magical doodads that aren't necessarily equipment, but strange stuff we've found in dungeons that are part of the environment. It's a neat spell.

[KorvinStarmast]

Given my old school roots, I find that magic items not being instantly recognized (unless one has found and tasted a potion like that before, for example) can be a fun part of the discovery pillar of the game. (Exploration is a sub set of discovery). Trying out a magic item, or tasting a potion to see if it might be dangerous, are all ways of handling the unknown.
I thus find the use of identify to fit well into the game, as do my players.

Attunement on a short rest: while I find that a bit 'videogamey', since it's available as a rule I often leave well enough alone there, but this sums up my feelings pretty well

Yes, because I can spend 10 minutes identifying an item known to be magical while another PC is casting a different ritual (say detect magic) or casting something like Prayer of Healing.
Then when we get that short rest, it can be used for attunement instead of figuring out what an item is. Nice point.

Cursed or gated items: (and I include artifacts and sentient items in this category). These reveal their features over time, through play. Run of the mill rare or very rare items (robe of stars) and their powers are clearly identified by identify.
I have a gated item in play right now, and it's not working out quite how I had intended it to, so I'll have to fiddle with it some more.
I rarely see identify in games not because it's too powerful but because it's mostly useless. Not my experience.

I then open up the floor to anyone who actually has had fun with mystery magic items.
We have, for years.

What was fun about the process of experimentation? The act of experimentation and discovering what it did.

How did you logically narrow the potential uses of an item down to what it really does? By trial and error.

But I also ask DMs: Have you ever had a magic item that you wanted some 'mystery' to that the PCs just did not vibe with? I don't really understand the question, but the sorcerer in one of our parties is wearing an artifact that he thinks is a magical amulet. (It gives adv on death saves, and once per day allows him to cast speak with dead - in the hands of a death or grave domain cleric, an undying warlock, a lich, or a necromancer wizard it's an artifact with a bunch of undead/necrotic powers that unlock as levels go up). He's a draconic origin sorcerer, so for him its various other features are not unlocked. But the other side effect is that the party has been attacked by a cult that lost this artifact about every thirty days in game world time. They have so far handled those attacks but on one occasion three of the six party members present were at 0 HP before the fight was over.

I did have a monk piss and moan about cursed amulet (on the first try of the day it gives adv on ability checks and on all others it gives disadvantage, and the player playing the cleric had to quite the campaign). OK, having a cursed item stinks. I found a way for her to let go of it gracefully once she'd paid cash for the curse to be removed, which allowed her to un-attune it.

How many rings of feather falling went undiscovered just because PCs though to always tie a good rope? None. My players like magic items. They are part of the fun.

I've never played with attunement = identification in 5e, for me it's always been the use of Identify, whether cast by a PC or NPC. Saving up money for a pearl tends to be the first priority for a low level party. I've always found the identification process and explaining what a magical item does in character to be a great roleplaying opportunity for a caster.
Mostly how my experience has gone. I also like how the spell can figure out a spell or enchantment cast on someone or something. The artificer in our group used that a few times to good effect.

Edit: Also, I've used Identify on many, many magical doodads that aren't necessarily equipment, but strange stuff we've found in dungeons that are part of the environment. It's a neat spell. Yes, I find the objections to it a case of not fully understanding its usefulness.

[Thunderous Mojo]

Handle what? For one, anyone can learn the properties of a magic item simply by touching it for an hour. The things you can't find, typically curses, aren't revealed by identify either. So there's no real mystery to unravel in regards to learning what an item does (nor would such a mystery be much fun in most cases).

While the DMG does state that Cursed items curses are generally not revealed by use of Identify, when one reads the specific descriptions for many cursed items, Identify does actually help asses the curse.

Identify will reveal a Potion of Poison, or Dust of Sneezing and Chocking, or Armor of Vulnerability for example.

The value of this will vary, depending upon how common cursed items are in your particular game.

On a personal note, I disagree with the blanket statement that Magical Items having Mystery is not fun. Hidden powers, and having to do research, (perhaps even years of research), on Magic Items is part and parcel of Fantasy.

Lord of the Rings and The Broken Sword, (both seminal works of modern fantasy), include Magic Items with storied pasts and hidden depths.

The Lord of the Rings, would be significantly diminished if Bilbo had realized that his magic ring was the One Ring after Second Breakfast.

[Chaos Jackal]

While the DMG does state that Cursed items curses are generally not revealed by use of Identify, when one reads the specific descriptions for many cursed items, Identify does actually help asses the curse.

Identify will reveal a Potion of Poison, or Dust of Sneezing and Chocking, or Armor of Vulnerability for example.

The value of this will vary, depending upon how common cursed items are in your particular game.

Yeah, but it's not that common in the first place that such curses specifically mention identify as a way to see through them. A DM could create more items like that, admittedly, in order to make identify matter... in which case it falls under the "DM buffs the spell" part of my post.


On a personal note, I disagree with the blanket statement that Magical Items having Mystery is not fun. Hidden powers, and having to do research, (perhaps even years of research), on Magic Items is part and parcel of Fantasy.

Lord of the Rings and The Broken Sword, (both seminal works of modern fantasy), include Magic Items with storied pasts and hidden depths.

The Lord of the Rings, would be significantly diminished if Bilbo had realized that his magic ring was the One Ring after Second Breakfast.

The primary thing about those items is their history, which is much less of an issue to keep secret. Stick as much hidden lore as you want behind every second common item that the party finds and I won't mind it one bit. But mechanically speaking, it adds nothing unless the goal is to get the player to risk and get screwed or worry and not use it, with the former being exactly what cursed items are about and the latter obviously defeating the purpose. I'd never use an item if I suspected it was cursed and I'd also never use an item whose mechanics I don't know; if you give me a ring or a sword and you tell me "well, you'll have to put it on/swing it to find out what it does", my immediate reaction would be to huff and stash it away until I have time for a sidequest, because my first thought when an item is "mysterious" is that it's cursed in some manner.

Simply put, lore and unlocking new effects are the kind of thing I'd find fun about a "mysterious" magic item. Not knowing its mechanical benefits would be a surefire way for the item to go into the bag of holding or even ditched altogether if I find the circumstances of its acquisition particularly suspicious.

Also, let's be fair, the Lord of the Rings doesn't rely on the Ring's hidden nature at all. Pretty much everything about the Ring is revealed quite quickly; yes, if Bilbo knew what it was after Second Breakfast, as you put it, Gandalf would've gathered a Fellowship much earlier and would've probably disposed of the ring much sooner and safer, as at the time of The Hobbit Sauron was nowhere near as powerful as he's in LotR, but as far as the actual LotR story is concerned, knowing what the damn thing does is a lot more important to the story than the few pages it spends being a mystery before it's tossed in the fire.


Edit: Also, I've used Identify on many, many magical doodads that aren't necessarily equipment, but strange stuff we've found in dungeons that are part of the environment. It's a neat spell.

This one did remind me that the actual best use I've seen out of identify (outside of a couple cases where saving that extra identification hour proved quite clutch) hasn't been the part about finding out the properties of items, but the one about finding out what spells affect something or someone. While, in the case of items, it's often dangerous because touching the suspicious enchanted item or wall or whatever might trigger the magic, there are common cases like locked chests or books, plus diagnosing someone with an actual spell rather than just "it's an enchantment" or whatever can be key to using the correct counter effect or understanding someone's action or motives. I find that to be more important than item identification lots of times.

[Thunderous Mojo]

Simply put, lore and unlocking new effects are the kind of thing I'd find fun about a "mysterious" magic item. Not knowing its mechanical benefits would be a surefire way for the item to go into the bag of holding or even ditched altogether if I find the circumstances of its acquisition particularly suspicious.


So if you found a magic sword, but lacked the time to take a Short Rest, you wouldn’t use it?

What about a Wand of Wonder? Essentially the effect of the Wand of Wonder is unknown beforehand …would you just consider the wand trash, and sell it?

Some, players are not risk averse, and like interacting with the unknown. Opinions, on ‘unknowable magic’ will vary depending upon player temperament.

I’m not sure how people landed onto the idea of completely unknowable magic items. Back in the hoary days of 1e, if one used a +1 Sword, often times the DM would just tell you the basic stats, without Identify.

The idea is more a Short Rest or use will tell you basic features of the item, Identify will tell you more, and Legend Lore will tell you probably everything about it.

The value in hidden features is that the item can grow with the character, instead of the magic item becoming disposable and being replaced with something better, which I think allows for more emotional connection.

Identify also has it’s uses for Exploration.
In a game setting filled with ancient ruins of the past, and almost innumerable prior civilizations that had mastered many different types of magic, knowing what you are monkeying with is almost essential.

Not every game will be like this, but Identify is great for those games.

[solidork]

I played a Magical Detective, and it was a big part of my go to combo of at will Detect Magic, followed up with Identify if that's not enough. See magic thing, quickly tell what it is and at least something about how it works.

[Witty Username]

I find that identity is mostly superfluous in a game that has identification via attunement.

That being said I have found it interesting with a liberal reading of 'Properties' with the caster learning things about the purpose of the item's creation and notable bits from previous owners as applicable. I borrowed the idea from the computer RPGs where an identified items included the unique item description but a generic one until identitified.
A extra line to cast plot hooks essentially.

[ProsecutorGodot]

I find that identity is mostly superfluous in a game that has identification via attunement.

That being said I have found it interesting with a liberal reading of 'Properties' with the caster learning things about the purpose of the item's creation and notable bits from previous owners as applicable. I borrowed the idea from the computer RPGs where an identified items included the unique item description but a generic one until identitified.
A extra line to cast plot hooks essentially.

Keep in mind, Identify will most often be used to learn the properties of a magic item, but that's not its only use.

You choose one object that you must touch throughout the casting of the spell. If it is a magic item or some other magic-imbued object, you learn its properties and how to use them, whether it requires attunement to use, and how many charges it has, if any. You learn whether any spells are affecting the item and what they are. If the item was created by a spell, you learn which spell created it.

If you instead touch a creature throughout the casting, you learn what spells, if any, are currently affecting it.

Identify lets you learn the properties of magical doors that have a spell cast on them like Arcane Lock (it might even reveal the passcode associated with such doors given a generous reading of "learn its properties and how to use them") or whether someone's illness/odd behavior is natural or caused by a spell. If you're the paranoid type it can also reveal whether glyphs or symbols are hidden on a door or object.

In fact, I wish this would be used more in my games, so often I've had players who know that something is magically influencing a creature or that the obstacle in front of them is magical and they wrack their brains for 10-15 minutes of table time trying to find a solution when Identify would give them the missing information they needed.

[Chaos Jackal]

So if you found a magic sword, but lacked the time to take a Short Rest, you wouldn’t use it?

Depends. Was it just some nondescript weapon that didn't do anything in the fight I acquired it from? Then probably yes. Was it found resting on an altar, or caused gouts of flame to sprout from the ground every time it was swung, or caused its owner to explode when he died? Then no, I wouldn't. Pretty much bound to require attunement too in those cases, so at least an hour required to use it anyway, and I'm not swinging a suspicious piece of enchanted iron without knowing whether it will harm me or my party.


What about a Wand of Wonder? Essentially the effect of the Wand of Wonder is unknown beforehand …would you just consider the wand trash, and sell it?

This isn't within the scope of the discussion, but yeah, the only use I have for an item like the Wand of Wonder is to sell it. It's not even that dangerous of an item, but the odds of it being a waste of a turn are just too high and I'm not at all fond of wasting turns. It's a novelty item that has negative potential. So yes, expensive trash.


Some, players are not risk averse, and like interacting with the unknown. Opinions, on ‘unknowable magic’ will vary depending upon player temperament.

I'll give you that. The sentiments above are largely my opinion... but let's just say that, if we came upon a Wand of Wonder, I would certainly argue against its use and if somebody wanted to keep it I wouldn't object, of course, but I would give a very rigid ultimatum of it never targeting or being turned in the direction of my character.

Interacting with the unknown is often required for many reasons and I like it. I just don't see much of a reason to extend it to the stuff I use to survive as well.


I’m not sure how people landed onto the idea of completely unknowable magic items. Back in the hoary days of 1e, if one used a +1 Sword, often times the DM would just tell you the basic stats, without Identify.

The idea is more a Short Rest or use will tell you basic features of the item, Identify will tell you more, and Legend Lore will tell you probably everything about it.

The value in hidden features is that the item can grow with the character, instead of the magic item becoming disposable and being replaced with something better, which I think allows for more emotional connection.

Honestly, I'm pretty sure the more mundane stuff is given away immediately these days too. Yeah, that's a +1 sword, this is a cloak of protection, these are boots of elvenkind. Not everyone will do it, of course, but sometimes it's obvious or just not worth the drum-roll reveal. Better to tell the players immediately that the sword is just +1, rather than end the session after the fight and have them anticipate their loot, only to be told next week that yeah, the magic sword is simply +1.

If there's more to it, cool. I explicitly mentioned lore and unlocking new features as things I'm OK with not knowing. What I'm not OK with is being told "Yes, it's a magic sword... a mysterious magic sword! Have fun!" Or, to be more precise, I'm OK with it. I just won't bother using it until it's no longer mysterious. You could paint Blackrazor red so I won't recognize it from the description and give it to me, but if I cannot identify it via touching or the spell I'm not gonna attune to it or swing it. Sure, I will probably try to find out what the fancy, sexy sword can do, ask you whether some NPC can do it for me or if I can look it up in books about famous weapons or whatever. But until I do have something solid, that thing is staying sheathed.


Identify also has it’s uses for Exploration.
In a game setting filled with ancient ruins of the past, and almost innumerable prior civilizations that had mastered many different types of magic, knowing what you are monkeying with is almost essential.

Not every game will be like this, but Identify is great for those games.


Keep in mind, Identify will most often be used to learn the properties of a magic item, but that's not its only use.


Identify lets you learn the properties of magical doors that have a spell cast on them like Arcane Lock (it might even reveal the passcode associated with such doors given a generous reading of "learn its properties and how to use them") or whether someone's illness/odd behavior is natural or caused by a spell. If you're the paranoid type it can also reveal whether glyphs or symbols are hidden on a door or object.

In fact, I wish this would be used more in my games, so often I've had players who know that something is magically influencing a creature or that the obstacle in front of them is magical and they wrack their brains for 10-15 minutes of table time trying to find a solution when Identify would give them the missing information they needed.

Yeah, like I said, this is the part I find is both oft-forgotten and probably what is best about identify.

[Witty Username]

Oooh, that kind of thing hasn't come up for me yet, but I definitely like that line thinking. I will file that away.

[stoutstien]

I see it plenty of my games but mostly for environmental magical stuff and potentially seeing what spells are effecting objects or creatures.

The number of players that haven't had a glyph of warding explode in there face is surprising.

[Mellack]

I don't see identify used much in my games. As pointed out, most magic items can have their powers discovered by a short rest. As for its use to know about spells on people or objects, detect magic is usually all that is needed for the short term. Need to know if someone is being influenced by magic? Detect. Door won't open? Detect can let you know that there is magic involved. Are there glyphs around? Detect finds those too. Sure, you won't know specifically what the glyphs do, but you can avoid them. Generally we haven't found identify to be worth it if your known spells are at all constrained.

[Samayu]

If an item had level- or class-locked features, handling or attunement wouldn't reveal them, but Identify would.

[nickl_2000]

If an item had level- or class-locked features, handling or attunement wouldn't reveal them, but Identify would.

Sounds like DM choice to me. If I wanted to keep it a secret, I would probably say something like "your spell reveals that there are other powerful hidden in the depth of this weapon that will need more time and experience with it for them to be brought out"

[Person_Man]

As DM I generally interpret the “learn its properties and how to use them” broadly. Like, you can figure out if coinage has been debased, if an object is real or a counterfeit, the very basics of how to operate a vehicle or machine, what kind of plant a seed will probably grow into, what kind of creature a dead body was, etc. Basically an all purpose single object divination for anyone who has it and is willing to take the time, as a basic stand in for the same kinds of things they could reasonably do in the real world with sufficient know-how and a similar amount of time. If they have proficiency in whatever is most appropriate for the object (Arcana, History, Medicine, Nature) then they can make that check separately and more quickly if they prefer, or put them together to gain a much more detailed understanding of the object beyond what you could do with either separately.