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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

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There is a Remastered version here.

Identify Magic (Trained)

Legacy Content

Source Core Rulebook pg. 238 4.0
Using the skill related to the appropriate tradition, as explained in Magical Traditions and Skills on page 238, you can attempt to identify a magical item, location, or ongoing effect. In many cases, you can use a skill to attempt to Identify Magic of a tradition other than your own at a higher DC. The GM determines whether you can do this and what the DC is.
Item Bonuses for Identify Magic - Common Items

Skill Uses

[Arcana] Identify Magic, particularly arcane magic.
[Nature] Identify Magic, particularly primal magic.
[Occultism] Identify Magic, particularly occult magic.
[Religion] Identify Magic, particularly divine magic.

Identify Magic

Concentrate Exploration Secret 
Source Core Rulebook pg. 238 4.0
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.

Critical Success You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure You misidentify the magic as something else of the GM’s choice.

Magical Traditions and Skills

Each magical tradition has a corresponding skill, as shown on the table below. You must have the trained proficiency rank in a skill to use it to Identify Magic or Learn a Spell. Something without a specific tradition, such as an item with the magical trait, can be identified using any of these skills.
Magical TraditionCorresponding Skill
ArcaneArcana
DivineReligion
OccultOccultism
PrimalNature