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That is now how Fast Hands works though. Fast Hands says using a magic item that requires the magic action to use. Wand of the war mage requires the magic action to use. So by this reasoning it is usable by fast hands. A spell scroll augments the casting of a spell and so does wand of the war...

Wait, here's a great consequence of this line of thinking. If I open a door that is magical during my magic action to cast a spell, that magic action now involves a magical object so Fast Hands will allow me to cast the spell as a bonus action.

It's also on page 20. "one free interaction [of an object] per turn" which must occur during movement or an action. So as I walk I can pull a scroll out of my bag. And then on my next turn I can hand it to someone else as I walk. I just interacted with a scroll twice and neither time involved...

I think this showcases how useful it is to have a rules glossary at the back of the book. Instead of us needing to hunt down all the different meanings of Magic Action it is just on pg 371 where it describes 3 separate cases that call for a Magic Action. One of them is clearly what Fast Hands...

This was pretty low level. It wasn't the actual spell, it was some sort of toxic gas that came from a spill and the effect used the rules. I can't remember exactly but I don't think it was a terrible tactical idea to stay where they were considering the close quarters.

Oh they were nice and pleasant they just chose not to continue the game. It might not even have been that. It was their first TTRPG experience. Could be the group they didn't like too. But I have a feeling not getting to act for what was probably 30 minutes (there were multiple new players)...

Advantage is much easier to get now so I'm not sure how I will feel about it. I didn't think people hit too much in regular 5e as a baseline but I did not like things like archery fighting style. 2014 kept the base to hit rate fairly constant and then most abilities added damage instead of...

Yeah, throwing a bead is very much a fast hands thing (unless it is being thrown as an attack such as alchemists fire). Casting a spell is not.

Is it just me in or does the art style not match the PHB at all? I always end up using the screen from whatever adventure I'm running so I don't have a need for the generic screen. The Planescape one is really nice looking.

The Wand of the War Mage (a magic item) also requires a Magic Action to use.

I very much want it to be Int only but in practice in my game I would allow both b/c I don't want to tell a player they can't play the character they came up with even though I don't think it makes sense.

Fast Hands doesn't say 'activate' it says 'use'. How do you use the Wand of the War Mage without casting a spell?

The full ability is: Pick a lock, disarm a trap, pick a pocket, take a utilize action, activate a magic item. The ability does not require a specific item that may not be available to use. The magic item activation as written will probably come up more often than needing to quickly pick a...

A specific magic item? It's more than half the book. Also we're getting common magic items in the 2024 DMG as well. This was just in the 2014 one which is not what this ability was written for.

Of course. Otherwise all 1 action spells can be cast as bonus actions if there is a magic item involved in the process.

It's about research. The 16 Int isn't doing the warding. I have no trouble believing that a library in a city will have information on folklore. Van Richten from Ravenloft is usually (if not always?) low level but he is successful because of his research. He knows what the vampires weaknesses...

I am with you on that, but how do they get to that point. A character with high intelligence is going to know how to offer hospitality to the fey without offending them. They might even learn a true name. They are also going to know how to ward them (eg. bring a bell) which will allow them...

Magic items in the DMG that require an action to activate excluding casting a spell: A-D Alchemy Jug, Amulet of the Planes, Apparatus of Kwalish, Armor of Invulnerability, Bag of Holding, Bag of Tricks, Bead of Force, Bowl of Commanding Water Elementals, Brazier of Commanding Fire Elementals...

Wand of the War Mage is a magic item that requires casting a spell to use it. Most of those spells are going to be Magic Actions.

We have monsters now that have abilities that look very much like spells but aren't. They are just innate abilities that use an action and sometimes have a cool down. I suspect for magic item activation it won't say 'cast' at all. It will just describe the effects of fireball.