The core rulebook doesn't have a lot of information on identifying magic items your PCs might find. I've seen more than a few people take a crack at this, Over on Archade's Tower there is a great system for it that ties it directly to the item in some way and I've really considered including a roll on that table in my various magic item entries.
I like magic items to be mysterious, the players pick up a unique looking sword, how should they know it's magical and not just a decorative sword or a noble's weapon? For this I use "Omens", minor magical properties that give no benefit but tell you that there is something unusual about this thing you picked up.
Once they see the omen and know they have something magical how do they find out exactly what they have? There are a lot of ways to do this, the above linked article is a great example. There is also trial and error. If you spend enough time fighting with the magical dagger you picked up you will eventually learn its ins and outs, given that magic weapons usually have an intelligence score this is a good way to use this, as the PC uses it, the weapon reveals more of itself to the wielder... but that's dangerous, surely there is a safer way to do this?
The system I adopted was called "Lore". Its based on a sub system of the first Baldur's Gate game in which your character has a score based on their class and intelligence modifier called their "Lore". The game is still a computer game and can't get too into it and have a ton of nuance but basically, if your lore is high enough you automatically know what a magic item is. I changed this up a little. For my games "Lore" only means you might have some information but not all of it. This represents the character's education and scraps they have picked up in their journey. Recall the part of lord of the rings where Gandalf sees the ring, leaves, spends weeks or months traveling and reading books to figure out exactly what that ring is. Your character might begin such a process because their lore score was high enough to recognize the magic item for what it is and know where to find more information on it. I prefer it this way because it leans more into the "Quest for it" side of DCC which is my bread and butter.
How does it work?
First your character determines their Lore value, using three things: their peasant profession, their intelligence score, and their class.
- Fighting men: +3/level
- Includes Warriors, Barbarians, Minotaur or other extremely martially focused or typically not learned classes such as the Kobold.
- Men of guile: +5/level
- Includes the Thief, Halfling, Prowler, or similarly clever but not well educated class.
- Men of faith: +7/level
- Includes the cleric, the Mountainborn, the Dervish, or the Icon bearer, these are typically people who have had some form of formal education in a temple or something similar.
- Long lived ones: +10/level
- includes Elves, Dwarves, Furies, and living weapons.
- Men of knowledge: +12/level
- includes the wizard, the Goblin or the Leech. These are people who's class represents someone who's knowledge base includes passing familiarity with obscure arcana.
- Scholars: +15/level
- includes Bards, Balladeers and Sages. These are people who's lives have been spent collecting and learning the most obscure pieces of information
Once a player knows their PC's Lore, they note it on the sheet and when they encounter obscure arcana or magic items, assign those items and information a Lore value, anyone who has a Lore Value high enough will get a few crumbs of information to follow up on and seek out more information on the item or arcana in particular. Not everything should have a Lore value, just the most obscure things or one of a kind magic items (which should be most or all of them).
I hope this is useful, it's certainly been helpful at my table and given my players quite a bit of guidance for the directions of their quests and adventures and hopefully it will give your players some threads to pull on too!
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