Use this skill to tell an antique from old junk, a sword that’s old and fancy from an elven heirloom, and high-quality jewellery from cheap stuff made to look good.
Check: You can appraise common or well-known objects with a DC 12 Appraise check. Failure means that you estimate the value at 50% to 150% (2d6+3 × 10%), of its actual value.
Appraising a rare or exotic item requires a successful check against DC 15, 20 or higher. If the check is successful, you estimate the value correctly; failure means you cannot estimate the item’s value.
A magnifying glass gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks involving any item that is small or highly detailed, such as a gem. A merchant’s scale gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks involving any items that are valued by weight, including anything made of precious metals. These bonuses stack.
Appraise Performance: In addition to appraising concrete items, any character can appraise the quality of a performance. A successful Appraise check (using the same DCs below) means that you estimate the approximate daily income a performer might be able to expect from a performance of this quality, as shown in the Perform skill description.
A character can also appraise a work being performed to determine its value, just as a physical item can be appraised. See the Craft skill description in this chapter for approximate values for artistic works.
Fast Appraise: You can appraise an item quickly, but the DC is higher (see table below). Failing the check means that you cannot estimate the item’s value at all, much like Appraise checks made to determine the value of rare or exotic items. Appraising an item quickly takes 1 round.
| Item (Examples) | DC |
|---|---|
| Common Trade goods (spices, food stuffs, raw materials, etc.), mundane items, livestock |
15 |
| Rare Fine clothing, precious metals (unworked), gems, artwork |
20 |
| Exotic Unusual gems (strange colourings, unusual to the region, unusually large or pure), spell components, jewellery, obscure religious items |
25 |
| Unique Masterpiece artwork, royal jewels, crowns or other adornments |
30+ |
Identify Dwarven Craftwork: You can tell whether an item is dwarvencraft or of dwarven manufacture or by making a successful DC 10 Appraise check.
Detect Magic (Epic): With a DC 50 Appraise check, you can sense if an item has a magical aura. You can then use Spellcraft to learn more about the item as if you have already cast detect magic on the item. This requires a full-round action.
Action: Normally appraising an item takes 1 minute (ten consecutive full-round actions). Appraising the quality of a performance requires the character to view and listen to the performance for 1 minute. However, appraising the actual work being performed (the entire song or poem, for example) requires the character to view and listen to the entire performance.
Try Again: No. If you attempt a normal Appraise check, you cannot try again on the same object, regardless of success. If you fail to appraise an item quickly (or even if you succeed), you can still try to appraise the item normally. Doing so requires the normal amount of time (1 minute).
Special: A dwarf gets a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items because dwarves are familiar with valuable items of all kinds (especially those made of stone or metal).
The master of a raven familiar gains a +3 bonus on Appraise checks.
A character with the Diligent feat gets a +2 bonus on Appraise checks.
The Appraise Magic Value feat enables you to use the Appraise skill to determine a magic item’s properties.
Synergy: If you have 5 ranks in any Craft skill, you gain a +2 bonus on Appraise checks related to items made with that Craft skill.
If you have 5 or more ranks in any Perform skill, you get a +2 bonus on Appraise checks related to performances using that Perform skill.
Untrained: For common items, failure on an untrained check means no estimate. For rare items, success means an estimate of 50% to 150% (2d6+3 × 10%).
Source: Player’s Handbook (Page 67), Complete Adventurer (Page 97), Epic Level Handbook (Page 39), Races of Stone (Page 129)