Identify (spell)

Identity explains the make and purpose of magical or mundane items that are touched or handled by the caster. Once the spell is in effect, the caster is protected from any effects or powers the item might possess.

Identify

Range	touch
Duration	1 round per level
Area of Effect	1 item
Casting Time	5 rounds
Saving Throw	none
Level	mage (1st)

All items have a place of origin, a function and a previous owner or maker. Some items will also include dangers that might accrue to the user, called malevolent effects. For each round of the spell's duration, one piece of knowledge has a chance of being known. This chance is equal to 15%, plus 5% per level of the caster, rolled each round. A failed roll reveals nothing.

Any item may have, as part of its existence, certain powers, purposes for its creation, dangers that might accrue to the user, circumstances surrounding its existence and so on. The caster of identify has a percentage chance to know one such detail per level of the caster. The chance of success equals 15% +5% per level. If the roll in a given round fails, nothing that round is learned.

For example, a 5th level caster has a 40% chance of learning something each round, with a total of five chances. If the mage succeeds in 3 of 5 rolls, then three details about the item are learned.

Artifacts are subject to the identify spell like any other object.

Order of Knowledge

The order in which details are learned is listed below; all details of each category is learned before the next category is learned.

1. Dangers which the item possesses for the user, from the most dangerous to the least.

2. The item's least formidable power, then so on up through each ability upwards through potency. If the item has a set number of charges or number of times it can be used, then this should be the first detail that's learned. A weapon's bonus to attack & damage should be known first before special details about the weapon are learned, such as it being a "flame tongue" or having a higher bonus against reptiles, giants, dragons and so on.

3. Full knowledge of the item's intended purpose, treated as one detail.

4. Knowledge of the item's last owner, along with when and where the item was lost, treated as one detail.

5. Other details about the item that might matter.

Once a given caster has attempted to identify a particular item, further knowledge of that specific item cannot be learned until the caster has gained an experience level. If the spell is used again at that time, the order of details should proceed beyond what the caster already knows.