tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post5619265494977598628..comments2024-03-23T05:46:31.832-07:00Comments on Power Score: Dungeons & Dragons - Arcana Checks and Spell UseSeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-64231227374069177362019-09-04T18:42:44.947-07:002019-09-04T18:42:44.947-07:00Mike Stickler: I am a big fan of ritual spells as ...Mike Stickler: I am a big fan of ritual spells as well! Do you have a list of them you could easily share, I'd love to see them. <br />Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-27925747690296126872018-05-16T20:45:09.819-07:002018-05-16T20:45:09.819-07:00#1 I'm old school and hate attunement and the ...#1 I'm old school and hate attunement and the whole "sleep with it under your pillow and you know everything about it.<br />#2 I'm going to give every wizard several extra utility spells at first level as these are typically tasks that the wizards master is likely to have the apprentice do.<br />#3 I don't do "you automatically learn two spells when you level"<br />#4 i give you a small chance to learn any spell you encounter even if that is only seeing it cast across the field of battle. Every time you see it, discuss it with another caster, glimpse in another spellbook, etc your chance increases and you get another opportunity to learn it.<br />#5 Want a spell you haven't encountered... That's what research is for. <br />#6 Certain spells are common knowledge in my games others are extremely rare.<br />#7 I litter my games with magic items that have no bearing on game mechanics... Weapons that don't rust, Sheaths that sharpen the blade while it's sheathed, ladles that heat whatever they stir... (Speaking of which I had a fighter beat a werewolf to death with such a ladle, it was both silver and magical and I ruled it would be effective as an improvised weapon.) - Consider these the side effect of wizards who don't yet know how to do any really useful stuff yet.<br />#8 I littler my games with cursed items that have very little mechanical bearing... Swords that shine brightly in the daylight but not in the dark. Items that convince their users they are worth much more than they really are... Etc Consider these the side effect of wizards who don't yet know how to do any really useful shit yet.<br />#9 You can learn about magic items but only once per day and you must spend some time using them... For example if the player is pretty sure they need a 15 to and surprisingly they hit on a 14 but not on a 13 then they just discovered its a +1 weapon (yes it's meta gaming but its a game mechanic explanation for a fighter realizing that he was a little bit better during that fight than he can explain) <br />#10 I love rituals.... So much so that I have expanded the ritual list to include a few more low level spells and some higher level spells but such spells typically take an hour to a whole day to cast. <br />Mike Sticklerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14735406883054963367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-45341142176104299322016-07-13T18:10:51.989-07:002016-07-13T18:10:51.989-07:00Like Patrick said ritual cast it. Ritual caster fe...Like Patrick said ritual cast it. Ritual caster feat and the spells in a spell book, or the basic ritual casting of the cleric and druid, or pact of the tome warlock with book of ancient secrets. There are ways around it without burning spells and spell slots. Most of the spells listed up there are tagged ritual, your evil villain has time to do the ritual casting of his/her spells. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08837077076807349873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-84457380189955997242016-07-01T00:15:47.154-07:002016-07-01T00:15:47.154-07:00I'm not sure why people seem to think Identify...I'm not sure why people seem to think Identify is useless but it might be because they haven't read every line of the spell and are still thinking it operates like older versions of the rules. It only takes an hour to cast in earlier editions of the game, and it's prohibitively expensive in earlier editions as well.<br /><br />In 5th edition, Identify only has a <b>1 minute</b> casting time, which means that as a spell its meant to be cast relatively quickly when the party doesn't have time (or doesn't want) to rest. Want to figure out what that sword does so you can give it to the fighter before you open the door to the next room? 1 minute and Boom! You know what it does.<br /><br />Identify is also a ritual spell, which means the casting time becomes <b>11 minutes</b> and it doesn't expend a spell slot. This is what makes Identify so useful because so much of 5th edition is written as a high magic system where magic items are plentiful and routine. In every session I've run of 5th edition the players are determinedly trying to allot time in the dungeon for Identifying all of the weird crap they're picking up. <br /><br />I don't remember what the RAW description for learning a magic items powers while resting were because everybody at my table thought that was weird and dumb and we never used it in my game.Patrick Mallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04906639025904535922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-2619787232917359552016-06-28T23:07:01.422-07:002016-06-28T23:07:01.422-07:00Jeremy Graten: That could help! That might be a go...Jeremy Graten: That could help! That might be a good experiment to try.<br /><br />Yardan: That might work. I just hate the idea of the group wasting time wiggling a wand for 15 minutes of real life time.<br /><br />r0zzin: Nice! I forgot all about this stuff in the DMG. That might be the way to go - spending an hour with the item gives you clues instead of telling you exact properties.<br /><br />LURKEN: I don't like to give out cursed items except on super-rare occasions. I've never seen anything fun come out of them. I guess they could lead to something cool but I haven't seen it happen.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-90288322509440771862016-06-26T21:49:51.154-07:002016-06-26T21:49:51.154-07:00Identify doesnt even help against cursed items RAW...Identify doesnt even help against cursed items RAW, DMG 138 - "Most methods of identifying items, including the identify spell, fail to reveal such a curse"LURKENhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04919060972723126233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-9097548254523096762016-06-26T16:37:29.436-07:002016-06-26T16:37:29.436-07:00I like the variant rule for identifying magic item...I like the variant rule for identifying magic items found in the DMG(p 136). Fore my games it all depends on the item, some may be easy to identify while others are not. Same with attunement, not everything is the same and some things need a bit more effort for it to work.<br />If no one in group can cast identify have NPC's to do it for them, for a cost of course.<br />The best thing about D&D is that once you understand the basics you can customize things how you like, its your world have fun and move past RAW. Just make sure to tell players before hand xD. r0zzinhttps://www.twitch.tv/r0zzinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-45646725939362824852016-06-26T15:44:56.768-07:002016-06-26T15:44:56.768-07:00I agree with both the idea that there needs to be ...I agree with both the idea that there needs to be a way of identifying magic items without identify AND that unfortunately the RAW makes the Identify Spell nearly useless. Yes, Identify helps against cursed items, but that is about it. <br /><br />I like the idea that without the spell a player would only know the basics of the item. Yes the armor is +1 to AC, but you would need a spell or check to know it gives advantage against dragon breath effects.<br /><br />My suggestion would be possibly an Arcana check that can be made by only 1 player once per day. I know that goes against this entire article, but the Arcana skill seems limited, this would beef up the skill and make Identify better for those unwilling to wait several days to find out the full uses of items.Yardanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06615488149887018690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-915775928246320512016-06-26T15:43:50.684-07:002016-06-26T15:43:50.684-07:00I agree with both the idea that there needs to be ...I agree with both the idea that there needs to be a way of identifying magic items without identify AND that unfortunately the RAW makes the Identify Spell nearly useless. Yes, Identify helps against cursed items, but that is about it. <br /><br />I like the idea that without the spell a player would only know the basics of the item. Yes the armor is +1 to AC, but you would need a spell or check to know it gives advantage against dragon breath effects.<br /><br />My suggestion would be possibly an Arcana check that can be made by only 1 player once per day. I know that goes against this entire article, but the Arcana skill seems limited, this would beef up the skill and make Identify better for those unwilling to wait several days to find out the full uses of items.Yardanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06615488149887018690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-76557144302083270852016-06-26T12:37:34.274-07:002016-06-26T12:37:34.274-07:00You could decide to use a long rest instead of a s...You could decide to use a long rest instead of a short rest for those functions.The guy I replied to is wrong.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05545229055605860965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-14135544454565998412016-06-26T10:25:22.847-07:002016-06-26T10:25:22.847-07:00Anonymous: I agree, but I'm not sure what the ...Anonymous: I agree, but I'm not sure what the solution is. If they remove the ability to sit for an hour and learn what the item does, that means that if the group doesn't have someone who can cast identify, they will end with items that have powers they'll never learn. They'll also waste a ton of game time just messing with each item they find.<br /><br />Maybe the best way to handle it is to establish certain rules in your game world. Like, every item with a command word has a certain rune on it. Every item that has a unique power has an etching on it that gives a clue as to what that power is. <br /><br />Thanks!Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-50932364981623487192016-06-24T03:09:14.361-07:002016-06-24T03:09:14.361-07:00Identify specifically has its own problem in 5e. R...Identify specifically has its own problem in 5e. RAW, you can spend an hour just swinging a magic item around and randomly trying words; or maybe you just meditate over it, and you somehow mystically know everything there is to know about the item except for the fact that it's cursed. This REALLY devalues Identify as a spell, unless you want to test for that pesky curse.<br /><br />I have never yet had a player take Identify, for this reason.<br /><br />I have a houserule in my game that spending an hour and attuning to the item only teaches you the properties of the item that you could reasonably find out by trial and error. To learn less obvious properties, it requires Identify. Even this, however, has not tempted anyone to take Identify. They'd rather wait and take the item to an NPC mage to learn all the things that remain secret.. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com