Ok, how about splitting the ability to identify potion from the spell read magic and making it a spell in itself (using the same graphics and everything, just a different name, and a different spell for you to use). It just seems more, appropriate for a cantrip to have truely unique functionality... And will FINALLY increase the amounts of USEFUL cantrips from 1 to 2. Taking votes on it now!
Useful? What about 'frag undead' and 'daze', they r useful! Can't argue with that. Meh, I'll vote for it.
What are you're going to do with all the extra cash accumulating anyway? (can't transfer it to PayPal) I have never been short of cash in this game: and taking an unidentified potion only to find out that it was poison is well... hillarious.
Personally, I think it's not worth the hassle. The reason the read magic option was implemented, I believe, was because normally potions can be identified with a skill check in the core rules. Adding another spell is an unneccesary complication for something that was meant to make up for a missing component of the rules. Plus, sorcerers have limited choices for spells, so forcing them to take an extra one somewhat defeats the purpose of the implementation in the first place. And it'll be real annoying for wizards and clerics to have to go "Crap, I found a bunch of scrolls instead of potions this time. Guess I need to rest and re-prepare my spells to ID these." I've found, on the lower levels, that Disrupt Undead and Daze are incredibly useful. Resistance is neccessary if you want to craft cloaks of resistance. Guidance is helpful in getting past Liv's boosted trap and lock DCs. Once I reach a level where these are no longer useful, I generally have enough cash to save time and ID all my potions at a shop anyway.
The 'Read Magic' fix has already addressed this issue. For anyone who doesn't understand this, pretend that your character is reading the first few glyphs of a scroll spell to see what it is; or the runes on a potion flask. That doesn't mean that what's written thereon isn't a lie, as in the case of some poison potions. I'd like to see some cursed scrolls that affect the caster and / or their party. Now that would be an improvement... BTW, my vote is "STFU"
There's a rule in 3.5 that says if you've had enough experience with a potion, you can identify it through a finger-tip taste-test or even by smell. I don't know if there's any way to do this in ToEE, but I'd like to see it work like this: if you've already used a certain type of potion say 2 or 3 times, it comes to you identified already; anything else must be identified with magic, and I'd be okay with requiring identify here. Otherwise, I'd say leave it alone, because by the rules of D&D ToEE has shafted us enough already in this regard. Why make it harder?
Unless you can create proper skill usage to ID the potions, leaving it "as is" is a better solution. By creating an ID potion spell you're effectively attempting to create a whole new rule to make up for a deficiency in the game, one that honestly has been appropriately fixed with whats available. I would say focus on finding a way to implement a skil or leave it alone.
