Spell Oddities

[pawsplay]

Has anyone ever tried using awaken? 24 hour casting time. I had an NPC I wanted to have use it, but the casting time kept tripping me up, so I invented a new magic item... magical food imbued with the awaken spell.

 

[Kwitchit]

The fact that Minotaurs are not affected by Maze is a little allusion that adds flavor, but has anyone actually been hidered by it?

 

[Nail]

You might need to check up on your Scroll-Fu. Scrolls take a standard action OR the normal casting time to activate. I'm thinking wands are the same (will check if someone doesn't correct me first). [edit] ok SRD is letting me down, it says standard action for both, but I'm certain the scrolls take at least as long as the spell does. Anyone know where the contradictory rule is located?

Wands may take longer than a Standard Action:

Activation: 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.)

The scroll description in that same spot does not call out how long it takes. You have to look elsewhere....

Activating a spell completion item is a standard action and provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.

However, there's room in that statement to interpret longer casting times.

 

[Nail]

FWIW, the FAQ says "activating the item takes as long as casting the stored spell would take".

 

[MarkB]

Has anyone ever tried using awaken? 24 hour casting time. I had an NPC I wanted to have use it, but the casting time kept tripping me up, so I invented a new magic item... magical food imbued with the awaken spell.

When my cleric wanted to hallow a vampire's mausoleum (and most of the surrounding graveyard) with a linked Daylight spell (3.0e, when Daylight still counted as daylight), the rest of the party basically had to stay up all day and night with him, fighting off anything that showed up whilst he kept casting.

 

[Bad Paper]

well, duh:

potion of lesser restoration: your barbarian should never leave home without it!

 

[TYPO5478]

Restoration is good for removing the FATIGUE from the barbarian AFTER he rages. I think that's what he meant. Though what he says sounds like it dispells rage.

Ah, I see. Yes, it would be useful for the fatigue, but I don't think it dispels any other raging effects (before or after the rage ends).

Wands may take longer than a Standard Action:

D'oh! I saw "spell trigger" and stopped reading. That'll learn me.

However, there's room in that statement to interpret longer casting times.

How do you figure? It only says that it provokes AoOs like casting a spell, not that reading the scroll takes as long as casting the spell. You only provoke an AoO for casting once: when you begin casting. It seems to me that scrolls always take a standard action to use.

Potions are definitely another way to go.

 

[Pell-Mell]

The Spell Compendium has a spelled called Undermaster that lets you duplicate a number of earth spells once per round as a standard action, including Move Earth. It is a 9th level spell, but if you absolutely must stun an earth elemental or fling a clay golem hundreds of feet, you are covered.

 

[Caliban]

Wands may take longer than a Standard Action:

The scroll description in that same spot does not call out how long it takes. You have to look elsewhere....However, there's room in that statement to interpret longer casting times.

The SRD (and the DMG) state, in the paragraph before the specific types of activation:

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, regardless of the type of magic item, unless the item description specifically states otherwise.

I would consider this to be more a more specific rule than the general one found under the (spell completion, spell trigger, etc.) types. The FAQ also agrees with this view, as does the RPGA for what that's worth.

It is more confusing and redundant than it should be.

Since potions are use activated, they are still just a standard action regardless of the casting time of the spell contained in them.

 

[Piratecat]

The fact that Minotaurs are not affected by Maze is a little allusion that adds flavor, but has anyone actually been hidered by it?

Actually, yes! I ran a fight where this specifically came into play.