Plane Sailing said:
Sneak attack can be applied to spells that require attack rolls - why should casting the spell from a wand be considered less of an attack then casting the spell directly? The rogue is still aiming at a particularly tender bit of the target...
According to the SRD:
"Touch Spells in Combat: Many spells have a range of touch.
To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject, either in the same round or any time later. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch (or attempt to touch) the target. You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target, or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll.
Touch Attacks: Touching an opponent with a touch spell is considered to be an armed attack and therefore does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
However, the act of casting a spell does provoke an attack of opportunity. Touch attacks come in two types: melee touch attacks and ranged touch attacks. You can score critical hits with either type of attack. Your opponent’s AC against a touch attack does not include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. His size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) all apply normally.
Holding the Charge: If you don’t discharge the spell in the round when you cast the spell, you can hold the discharge of the spell (hold the charge) indefinitely. You can continue to make touch attacks round after round. You can touch one friend as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action. If you touch anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, the spell discharges. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates. Alternatively, you may make a normal unarmed attack (or an attack with a natural weapon) while holding a charge. In this case, you aren’t considered armed and you provoke attacks of opportunity as normal for the attack. (If your unarmed attack or natural weapon attack doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity, neither does this attack.) If the attack hits, you deal normal damage for your unarmed attack or natural weapon and the spell discharges. If the attack misses, you are still holding the charge."
As you can see, while all the actions that derive from casting spells which require a touch attack are derived from casting the spell, a distinct seperation exists between casting the spell and making the (touch) attack.
"Activate Magic Item
Many magic items don’t need to be activated. However, certain magic items need to be activated, especially potions, scrolls, wands, rods, and staffs. Activating a magic item is a standard action (unless the item description indicates otherwise).
[...]Spell Trigger, Command Word, or Use-Activated Items: Activating any of these kinds of items does not require concentration and does not provoke attacks of opportunity."
As you can see, there is a clear difference between activation of a wand (activated by a command word) and casting a spell followed by a touch attack. The spell triggered by activating the wand and the touch attack that is required to hit are all part of the same action, instead of being seperated.
If my interpretation of the rules is wrong, please correct me on that, but it seems odd (to say the least) to compare activating a wand with making an attack with a weapon, like sneak-attack is intended to, in my humble opinion.
