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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
[3.5]Change to spells cast from Staves...
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<blockquote data-quote="Fanog" data-source="post: 1038758" data-attributes="member: 10680"><p>Actually, they do list staffs. It's under the heading of <em>Use a Wand</em> : "This use of the skill also applies to other spell trigger magic items, such as staffs." So, according to RAW, a Staff <em>can</em> be activated by UMD (DC 20). </p><p></p><p>Since it states no where that it uses different rules then normal activations of a staff, the person with UMD would apply his own ability scores to the save DC, if higher than the staff's. You could up this with <em>Emulate an Ability Score</em>, as far as I can tell. The ability in its strictest sense reads that you use it when you <em>need</em> a higher ability score, but I don't see why you couldn't use it if you <em>wanted</em> a higher score.</p><p></p><p>Upping effective caster level for Staffs is iffy at best. It's not really supported by the rules: Using a Staff is bunched in with wands. Since caster level isn't relevant for wands, the UMD skill completely ignores the issue. But...</p><p>You could argue that <em>Use a Wand</em> is similar to <em>Use a Scroll</em>. The latter one does give you an effective caster level (UMD result minus 20). Even <em>Use a Wand</em> might give you a caster level, but it just doesn't matter for wands. (Hence, why they left it out). Effective caster level for staffs is (UMD result -20) seems reasonable. I think I'd allow it.</p><p></p><p>Fanog</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fanog, post: 1038758, member: 10680"] Actually, they do list staffs. It's under the heading of [i]Use a Wand[/i] : "This use of the skill also applies to other spell trigger magic items, such as staffs." So, according to RAW, a Staff [i]can[/i] be activated by UMD (DC 20). Since it states no where that it uses different rules then normal activations of a staff, the person with UMD would apply his own ability scores to the save DC, if higher than the staff's. You could up this with [i]Emulate an Ability Score[/i], as far as I can tell. The ability in its strictest sense reads that you use it when you [i]need[/i] a higher ability score, but I don't see why you couldn't use it if you [i]wanted[/i] a higher score. Upping effective caster level for Staffs is iffy at best. It's not really supported by the rules: Using a Staff is bunched in with wands. Since caster level isn't relevant for wands, the UMD skill completely ignores the issue. But... You could argue that [i]Use a Wand[/i] is similar to [i]Use a Scroll[/i]. The latter one does give you an effective caster level (UMD result minus 20). Even [i]Use a Wand[/i] might give you a caster level, but it just doesn't matter for wands. (Hence, why they left it out). Effective caster level for staffs is (UMD result -20) seems reasonable. I think I'd allow it. Fanog [/QUOTE]
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[3.5]Change to spells cast from Staves...
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