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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hypersmurf" data-source="post: 1727846" data-attributes="member: 1656">From the updated Main FAQ:How long does it take to activate a scroll with an identify spell on it? How about a scroll with any of the summon monster spells or a wand of summon monster? This has been a serious debate for some of us. Page 213 of the Dungeon Master's Guide, under Using Magic Items, says 'Activating a magic item is a standard action unless the item description indicates otherwise. However, the casting time of a spell is the time required to activate the same power in an item, whether it's a scroll, a wand, or a pair of boots, unless the item description specifically states otherwise.' Yet, the very next section (spell completion items) states: 'This is the activation method for scrolls . . . Activating a spell completion item is a standard action and provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.' The Player's Handbook section on scrolls also says it's a standard action, yet the Dungeon Master's Guide spell storing weapon ability on page 225 says 'This special ability is an exception to the general rule that casting a spell from an item takes at least as long as casting that spell normally.' Which set of rules is correct?Activating any magic item is a standard action, unless the item duplicates a spell effect that has a longer casting time or unless the item description specifies a different casting time. The sections on spell completion and spell trigger items should include the caveat that activating the item takes as long as casting the stored spell would take. Thus, it takes 1 hour to activate a scroll with an identify spell on it. A scroll or a wand with any of the summon monster spells in it takes a full round to activate, just as casting a summon monster spell does. A command word item takes a standard action to activate, no matter what the casting time of the spell it duplicates. In general, command word items don't duplicate spells with long casting times.  Use-activated items typically don't have any activation times (because they function continually or because you activate them automatically as part of the action you take to use the item). Like command word items, use-activated items usually don't duplicate spells with long casting times. Activating a scroll (or any other spell completion item) is 'like casting a spell for purposes of arcane spell failure (such as from armor)' (see 'Activation' on page 238 of the Dungeon Master's Guide). An armored rogue who activates a scroll with Use Magic Device suffers the normal arcane spell failure chance.Now, I don't agree with everything he's said there.But it's another point to throw into the debate <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />-Hyp.</blockquote>

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