Questions regarding identifying and selling magic items

[Ironwolf]

Does anyone here have rules for what it would cost to identify a magic item? My PCs (a Fighter, a Cleric, and a Thief) found a scroll and a potion on an adventure, and they want to pay a local NPC Magic User to identify these items for them. What would it cost to do so?

Also, if the PCs want to sell such items, is there a GP value for selling potions, scrolls, etc?

[Hackworthy]

There are no preset scroll prices listed under Magic Items in the core rules or the equipment emporium. Under the core rules section pertaining to Magic-Users learning and researching spells I believe it gives a price of 500gp per spell level. Obviously that is a little steep for one time use so I generally go with something like 100gp per spell level for Scrolls. Obviously the nature of the Magic-User buying or selling them and the availability of magic in the given settlement is a factor.

As for identification, that's a good question. I allow my caster PCs to try and identify things themselves using Wis/Int depending on class and make it an easier roll if they use Detect Magic. I don't think it should be a terribly expensive service, maybe 10-20gp per item, depending on how powerful it is? Also, I'd expect that in most churches a Cleric could receive such a service for free from one of his superiors provided there is a church of that religion in the settlement.

[Solomoriah]

Hackworthy, I've read your first paragraph several times and I'm not sure what you're talking about. Are you discussing transcribing scroll spells to spell books? I deliberately did not include that in the Core Rules; personally, I do NOT allow it, but many do. Leaving it out of the rules leaves it up to the GM.

[Hackworthy]

No, I mean to say that's the only time in the core rules that a price is given for anything pertaining to spells that I can think of so I used that as a guideline, essentially. If it's suggested that a scaling 500gp per spell level is used for learning new spells then I think setting the value of Scrolls at 100gp per spell level is reasonable. That's just how I personally do it since there are no prices for Scrolls listed in the book.

[Dimirag]

I would use a base equal to the cost of a scroll (1000gp base), plus any profit the seller wants, it depends on how available is that service on that location.

Maybe there should be a higher level version of Analyze Magic that give more info which each use.
Another option is to create a Specialist with the ability to Analyze Magic items...

As for selling magic items, BF does not use the idea of trading them in a set monetary value, magic items are rare and invaluable...

[Hackworthy]

1000gp base cost? Is that in the book? If so I've missed something and been terribly generous.

[Dimirag]

Spell Scrolls
A spellcaster may create a scroll containing any spell he or she has access to (for a Magic-User, spells in his or her spellbook; for a Cleric, any spell the character might successfully pray for). The cost is 500 gp per spell level, and the time required is 1 day per spell level.

Analyze Magic
- Range: 5 feet
MU 2 Duration: special

Ergo, a 2nd level spell scroll is worth 1000 gp in the making...

[Hackworthy]

I just reread the core rules a few days ago I dunno how I've missed that.

[Clever_Munkey]

For setting magic item prices there is a supplement in the showcase called The Magic Shoppe. It gives good guidelines about determining worth of an item with the assumption that the goods will not be sold for cash, but may be used to barter/trade for favors, ransoms, or other items.

As for identifying an item, I would say that depends a lot on how much money you give, and how much you want to take. If you give xp for gold, then level and wealth will be fairly closely related, you can then decide roughly how many items a character should be able to identify per level. As a point of reference, platemail is a one time purchase which costs 300 gp, so I usually set that as my limit. But, again, it depends on how much money/magic items they have.

Also in one campaign I ran, identifying items was not a priority, so if they paid a small fee, it might take a month before they got their item back, but they could get it done faster by paying more on delivery.