Use Magic Device

[fuindordm]

Quick question:

Can UMD be used to blindly activate a wand, in order to find out what spell it holds? It's not obvious to me from the description of that function of the skill, which says "sometimes a magic item is activated by a specific action, command word, or condition" (paraphrasing from memory).

My instinct tells me that to use a wand with UMD you have to emulate being able to cast the specific spell it holds, and you have to know what spell that is first. These days, wands don't have command words--they just work.

But I can also see the other side of the argument--blindly activating a wand does make a certain amount of literary sense and could be good for story purposes.

Your opinions and thoughts are welcome!

Ben

 

[Infiniti2000]

You need to know what you're activating. You can't activate a wand of fireball if you don't know that you need to emulate the wizard class spell list feature. Per the skill, "You must consciously choose which requirement to emulate. That is, you must know what you are trying to emulate when you make a Use Magic Device check for that purpose."

Although I agree a truly blind activation might be fun, it really calls for some tough choices. Where does the fireball get placed? Do you identify each possible grid intersection on paper, number them 1 though N and roll dN to find out? Obviously, that would negate any fun on the blind activation, but really there's no other way. Do you ask the player? If you do, you're already telling him that this is not a personal-spell or touch-spell. That's already TMI.

Or, you could just always center the spell on the character, either on one of his grid points or on him. Just remember that he gets no save and no SR.

 

[fuindordm]

Or, you could just always center the spell on the character, either on one of his grid points or on him. Just remember that he gets no save and no SR.

Dude! Happy 4k post!

Ben

 

[shilsen]

Actually, wands do need a single word to be spoken for activation (see Spell Trigger items, DMG pg.213), besides the other requirements.

The 'activate blindly' option says that you can use items that are activated "by special words, thoughts or actions ... as if you were using the activation word, thought, or action, even when you're not and even if you don't know it." I'd say that fits the bill for a wand which you haven't identified yet.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The related question is - can you 'blindly' activate a wand without UMD?

"It's a wand with a faint aura of Illusion [Glamer]. I'll try to activate Invisibility. No? Okay, I'll pass it to the cleric - you try Silence!"

It costs a charge, but saves the Identify spell...

-Hyp.

 

[Infiniti2000]

It costs a charge, but saves the Identify spell...

It only saves the identify spell if you notice that something happened. So, it may require a detect magic as well.

 

[Thanee]

Hmm... I guess you have to choose the spell to emulate, so you could just go through the spell list and activate blindly until something happens, then you obviously know what spell is in the wand, the one you emulated.

With Detect Magic one should be able to get good directions with school and approximate caster level to narrow down the choices.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Infiniti2000]

Dude! Happy 4k post!

Thanks. I'm doing my best to catch up with Crothian. My posts per day is high and I don't even have a story hour!

 

[Dimwhit]

Activate Blindly: Some magic items are activated by special words, thoughts, or actions. You can activate such an item as if you were using the activation word, thought, or action, even when you’re not and even if you don’t know it. You do have to perform some equivalent activity in order to make the check. That is, you must speak, wave the item around, or otherwise attempt to get it to activate.

You can activate a wand blindly without knowing what it is. I think that's the whole point. There's certainly nothing in the description that prevents it. Once you've done it the first time, you get a +2, so it's only a DC23. When you get it identified (which gives the command word) it becomes a DC20.

That's how we've always played it, and it works well. Keep in mind that activating the wand blindly doesn't reveal the activation word. The next time, you still have to do it blindly.

 

[Lamoni]

Activate Blindly: Some magic items are activated by special words, thoughts, or actions. You can activate such an item as if you were using the activation word, thought, or action, even when you’re not and even if you don’t know it. You do have to perform some equivalent activity in order to make the check. That is, you must speak, wave the item around, or otherwise attempt to get it to activate. You get a special +2 bonus on your Use Magic Device check if you’ve activated the item in question at least once before. If you fail by 9 or less, you can’t activate the device. If you fail by 10 or more, you suffer a mishap. A mishap means that magical energy gets released but it doesn’t do what you wanted it to do. The default mishaps are that the item affects the wrong target or that uncontrolled magical energy is released, dealing 2d6 points of damage to you. This mishap is in addition to the chance for a mishap that you normally run when you cast a spell from a scroll that you could not otherwise cast yourself.

It sounds to me like you certainly could blindly activate a wand. It is just a difficulty of 25 rather than 20. Of course then you would have to be able to identify the spell with a spellcraft check so that your second attempt could be DC of 20 rather than DC of 23.