AD&D Rule Spotlight: Command Words for Magic Items
I like command words because they make magic feel hard. You do not attune and go. You learn something. You risk charges. You hunt clues.
Run it fast. Give real leads when the party searches well. Let research pay off. Punish wild guessing by burning charges. Make villains use Silence and decoy notes. If players get the word, the item feels earned. If they fail, the cost makes sense.
This rule adds tension. It also adds story. A single word can send a party through a library, a tomb, and a thieves’ den. That is good gaming.
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Great episode, I recall back in the day much discussion about this, AD&D didn't really have clear rules about discovering command words.
As a side point, I always wondered why potions would not be labelled, surely any adventurer (or nemesis) with their salt would make sure a potion was the right one, especially if needed in an emergency, whilst you could establish a potion by colour, consistency, bottle shape, some symbol, etc, you'd still write this down somewhere.