Identifying found items

[mcmanusaur]

I think there should be some process of identifying items, but a catch-all "lore" skill does feel very artificial.

[jivex5k]

Good points,

Allow us to equip unidentified objects, and please have cursed objects.

But cursed objects should be able to be removed, some easily, some by finding a specialiezd npc, and some should take the form of a quest.

If you go to the cursed item remover dude and he's like....uhhh yeah I can't get this thing off but I've heard there are old texts up in this crypt that describe this item.

Begin 20 hour quest.

[Hormalakh]

I dunno about being able to identify everything with a "id spell." It's just so...."grindy". There really is no fun-factor behind that kind of thing. Just make everything ID'd if that's what we want. It's just easier and we can spend our time on other, more fun aspects. Like deciding between the Longsword+1+poison or the Longsword+3.

[AGX-17]

How much information you get about a new item should be based on your experience with the subject. Class, background and experience, basically. A fighter who has received thorough military training should be familiar with all the types of weapons that he or she is likely to encounter on the battlefield in their own region and potentially neighboring territories in case of war, but not an exotic, obscure or ancient variety of weapon.

 

I'd also think nearly anyone would be able to detect whether or not a weapon is enchanted through use. If it's made of known materials with a known design but feels lighter or hits harder than it should based on a fighter's experience with that weapon type, they could safely assume there's some kind of buff enchantment. If enemies get burned or set ablaze, it should be clear that it has some manner of fire enchantment, but these would be vague points without detail, and it would take a magical specialist to figure out what exactly the enchantments are.

 

Or they could just die as soon as they pick it up and everyone has just learned unequivocally that it's enchanted with "+1 die instantly on holder."

 

Disclaimer: I do not support unavoidable instant death under any circumstance.

Edited November 30, 2012 by AGX-17

[jezz555]

I really don't see much point in having to identify stuff, Include it if you want, but its annoying as crap.

[Karkarov]

Uh maybe? If I find a rare sword with a storied past that can light on fire if a key word is spoken I don't mind needing to take it to a lore master to learn it's true name or how to make it catch fire. That said I should not need to identify or consult blacksmiths, alchemists, or other npcs every time I run into something that is nothing more than a longsword made of mithril with a minor enchantment, or a healing potion with an extra ingredient to give it extra kick. If it isn't a truly unique, rare, or unusual effect or power my party should be smart enough on their own cognition to figure it out.

[Brother Pain]

I've never found it fun to have to identify every mundane piece of gear you pick up before you can use it, whether in PnP or CRPGs. It just means that the item languishes in your backpack until you can haul it somewhere and get it identified, or you have the one class that can identify it. As someone said, it's busywork, nothing else, and doesn't add any enjoyment for me. Looting the bodies has almost always been something that happens when you have time (unless it's just grabbing someone's weapon and running), and using unidentified items and becoming cursed lost it's allure long before I left my teens.

 

On the other hand, Identifiying a few unique powerful items can be interesting, especially if you have to go through an interesting quest to unlock the item's true potential. Though in practice, that's not so different from receiving the item as a reward for said quest.

[Dragoonlordz]

I enjoy unknown items, identifying them ideally through NPC's within that world which have expertise in such areas. Throw away expendable or constant identifying kits or items on the player is not my ideal. A character in your party who is proficient in such knowledge would be fine but it is to me a knowledge based skill not an item one so no thanks to any scrolls or kits just leave it to characters within that world with that knowledge. Unknown items are like kinder eggs or christmas presents yet to be unwrapped. As long as the method for unwarpping such or identifying is done well, then I will be very happy to have such.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Dragoonlordz

[Ieo]

Oh, this thread should be moved to Gameplay & Mechanics.

 

Also http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/61973-identifying-unknown-items-in-pe

No word yet. If there is such a spell, then I don't want the items (specifically armour/jewelry or weapons) to be unequippable. With the risk of a curse, but whatever.

 

I think it'd be nifty if specific magical abilities were discovered over use instead, with the option to take an item to a magic expert for full identification. For example, you find a mace. You can tell by the fact that your soul flows more freely through it that it has magical properties, but you're not sure what. You decide to wield it for now. After smacking a nasty critter with it and seeing that it does some fire damage, you "identify" that aspect of its enchantment yourself, and it appears on the item description. Or you find a helm, and after putting it on, discover you can see better at night; but maybe there's an on-use shield effect you hadn't figured out, and that has to be fully identified with an expert.

 

Please don't make "unidentified" things unequippable! That's just silly....

[PrimeJunta]

I like the way it works in NetHack.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I think there should be some process of identifying items, but a catch-all "lore" skill does feel very artificial.

 

As opposed to consumable scrolls that tell you the details about one weapon, only one, and then disappear with a *puff*?

 

You have weirdly arbitrary boundaries for what feels artificial and what doesn't.

[rjshae]

Awakening magic items

Here's a notion I had for an alternative approach to item "identification":

 

Say your character finds an item with some mysterious magical powers. Now in D&D to use an identify spell to try and find out what those powers are. But, in PE, where magic is drawn from the soul, suppose that the nature of the powers becomes immediately apparent to the PC. Instead, the powers are "locked" from access and you will need to find a means to "awaken" those powers. That is, the powers are visible in the item description are visible but inactive and you need to forge a link from your soul to the magic in the item.

 

Such magic item powers could be awakened by frequently wearing or wielding the item. They could also be awakened by casting a related spell into the item, which can cause a synchronization with the power, causing it to be activated. (This may be an area where a Chanter's lore becomes useful.) Finally, for those without the right skill or power, the item could be taken to an expert for them to find the appropriate means. At any rate, what you have is the possibility for a more extensive system of triggering an item than just casting an identify spell.

 

What do you think?

[Dragoonlordz]

I think there should be some process of identifying items, but a catch-all "lore" skill does feel very artificial.

 

There is logic to having a skill or knowledge to identify things. Over the decades or centuries such an item existed it is bound to have been handled and touched by many people from the past. That skill or knowledge can sense or read into that history to identify it's past. Sort of like the souls of those who touched it remain as a glimmer of past essense. Soul-version of fingerprints as it were. The people characters and NPC's in that world able and knowledgable about seeing into that past can be the ones who have such a skill or ability. This in essense is a catch-all as you put it meaning that single person can read the history of any object using the taint and traces of souls that touched it. Only those characters with that knowledge or NPC's proficient in such a talent and ability should be the ones who can identify unknown objects, ones that do not have a tracable physical history relating to documentation or etching on walls of place located for example. I personally just do not want a item based indentication process, I want a character or NPC method.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Dragoonlordz

[Kronos]

Agreed. My halfwit barbarian should definitely NOT know about that fancy sword made at the other end of the world that I just found in a locked chest in the corner of that bad man's room.

[Dumarus]

I would like to see it that way:

 

Character has its own knowledge (based on the intelligence + skill + level + character)

and can identify basic items with dice roll.

 

Identify magic add modificatory to this roll but it will be based on the caster level.

It will be great to see some really forgotten artifacts that no one knows about but arch-mages.

 

common: 1-9% of max knowledge.

not offen: 10-20%

rare:20-40%

very rare: 40-80

extremely rare:80-100%

where when only great casters can add like 60% to check throw.

 

Great topic BTW

[Osvir]

"Entering discussion post" (read page 1&2, went through page 4 quickly)

 

Could identifying items and the Codex/Journal be linked somehow? I find an "Sword" and I have no idea what it is, could I (the player) be a Lore Master? Could an unidentified item have a word inscribed on it, and if I go to the Codex I could find the "Word" which is now clickable because I have the item in question in my inventory which equals identifying it. <- That could be an annoying workload for Obsidian though.

 

Concept is that... finding a Book with some lore about a Sword that I happen to have in my inventory should identify it.

[Jarmo]

Of course, it's mostly grinding only if there's a lot of magic items in the loot.

If you find a magic weapon (you can't lore immediately) only a couple of times during the whole game, it's not such a big effort after all.

 

Maybe ID spell could be just a divination that gives a circumstance bonus to the lore?

Maybe 2 guys with decent lore skills could compare notes and ID an item cooperatively?

Edited December 4, 2012 by Jarmo

[Somna]

Personal thought:

 

Discovered items -> Use your Lore score.

 

Instead, crafted items should require an identification at the end of the process, which tells you if you made what you were aiming to make or if you have a critical result/failure that is slightly different. Critical results tell you that the item is a critical result and may be better than the expected result OR cursed, which you unlock after several uses. You can then decide to sell the result or take your chances and unlock the critical effect.

[PsychoBlonde]

I never saw the point, it's just an inconvenience. I do kind of like how Torchlight does it for the majority of items--you don't see the prefix/suffix names when the item first drops, so you have to actually look at it in your inventory to see what the properties are. They use ID scrolls for unique/set items, but you practically find so many of them that there's no need to purchase any.

 

A method I would like, is if you ID new items by putting them on or using them. I think this would be cool, and it would also force you to actually don the cursed items, leading to hilarious results. It would also be really nice if they were extremely consistent about having unique appearances for different items, so when you find another Scroll of Prot Fire or whatever, you know what it does by looking at the icon. It'd give people a reason to pay attention to what the items look like. And, when you find a new unique, you have that little "is this cursed? Do I try it out?" thing.