"Casting" Spells Confusion

[gabrion]

I understand the rules for activating a wand (a spell-trigger item), but when I was looking back over the SRD and then the DMG I noticed some wording that I had previously thought nothing of until now.

Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast, however, has a longer casting time than 1 action, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.)

Bolding mine.

THe wording implies that the spell is still being cast, but this leads to my question...who is the caster? The most logical answer I can see is the user of the wand. Of course I still understand that the spell being cast operates at the caster level of the wands creator, but it seems like classes that have automatic benefits added to some particular spell(s) they cast would still get those benefits when casting the spell from a wand.

I'm sure something is wrong with this whole idea, and I encourage all of you to point it out for me, but please avoid comments that say it doesn't work just because you don't like it.

 

[werk]

THe wording implies that the spell is still being cast, but this leads to my question...who is the caster? The most logical answer I can see is the user of the wand. Of course I still understand that the spell being cast operates at the caster level of the wands creator, but it seems like classes that have automatic benefits added to some particular spell(s) they cast would still get those benefits when casting the spell from a wand.

I believe 'the caster' is the wand maker. DC is set at the time of manufacture, as are additional effects like energy substitution or metamagics. Consider a rogue using UMD on a wand.

The Incantrix can apply metamagics to wand spells, but that is a class ability.

 

[gabrion]

The reason I was asking this question is because many PrCs have abilities the read something like "Any time the (insert PrC) casts X spell it add Y affect." I was confused as to whether or not the modification would apply to spells (which doesn't sound right), but I've just come across a good precedent.

The warmage edge ability specifically states that it is not applied to any scrolls or wands, but it is applied to staffs, implying that this is true for classes that have similar mechanics. In other words, mystery solved.

 

[werk]

The warmage edge ability specifically states that it is not applied to any scrolls or wands, but it is applied to staffs, implying that this is true for classes that have similar mechanics. In other words, mystery solved.

That's kinda what I figured you were doing, and I think we're right.
Staves are a whole 'nother beast tho...

SRD:
Staffs use the wielder’s ability score and relevant feats to set the DC for saves against their spells. Unlike with other sorts of magic items, the wielder can use his caster level when activating the power of a staff if it’s higher than the caster level of the staff.

This means that staffs are far more potent in the hands of a powerful spellcaster. Because they use the wielder’s ability score to set the save DC for the spell, spells from a staff are often harder to resist than ones from other magic items, which use the minimum ability score required to cast the spell. Not only are aspects of the spell dependant on caster level (range, duration, and so on) potentially higher, but spells from a staff are harder to dispel and have a better chance of overcoming a target’s spell resistance.

 

[gabrion]

That's kinda what I figured you were doing, and I think we're right.
Staves are a whole 'nother beast tho...

SRD:
Staffs use the wielder’s ability score and relevant feats to set the DC for saves against their spells. Unlike with other sorts of magic items, the wielder can use his caster level when activating the power of a staff if it’s higher than the caster level of the staff.

This means that staffs are far more potent in the hands of a powerful spellcaster. Because they use the wielder’s ability score to set the save DC for the spell, spells from a staff are often harder to resist than ones from other magic items, which use the minimum ability score required to cast the spell. Not only are aspects of the spell dependant on caster level (range, duration, and so on) potentially higher, but spells from a staff are harder to dispel and have a better chance of overcoming a target’s spell resistance.

The original question came up in a kinda messy situation. I was building an Artificer and my DM ruled that I could take PrCs that advance casting progression to advance my infusions, but I wouldn't get my craft reserve. It really isn't a great deal, but I wanted to see what options were out there. I came across the Force Missile Mage in Dragon Magazine (328?) and came up with a crazy idea. The last artificer I played didn't have a problem dealing damage, but it got a bit expensive, so I was looking for more efficient wands to use. Doing a breakdown of averge gold spent/point of damage dealt, I found that magic missile would work well with the modifications from FMM.

Of course this led to my question about casting from wands. My DM wasn't sure about it, but once we found a precedent like the Warmage things cleared up. We did come to the conclusion that all the goodies would be added on for staffs though, so I guess I always have that.