Question about True Strike?

[Jerichomage]

I have a question about the True Strike spell. If I make an intelligent magic item with True Strike X times per day, who gets the bonus to attack? Does the act of making an item intelligent change who is effected by the spell? What if the item wasn't intelligent? By me activating it don't I gain the bonus? Does it boil down to, since the item is intelligent and considered a construct and it can cast the spell it gains the bonus to attack even tho it can't attack own its own because its inanimate? Has this come up before in any bodies game or covered in another thread? Thanks for your help.

[Tar-Tar]

If you give the intelligent item True Strike as an intelligent item ability, then the item would cast that on itself since the range is personal. You can still give it true strike as a normal magic item ability, though; it doesn't have to be one of the intelligent item powers. In that case, you could activate the true strike spell and it would affect you, not the item.

Also, you can always do use-activated: swing weapon. That means you get the true strike every time you swing. Little bit broken, but well within the rules.

[Malachi Silverclaw]

If an intelligent item uses TS, it uses it's own action to do so, and it affects the weapon, not the wielder, making it useless.

A magic ability, whether wondrous, wand, weapon, whatever, can be used to cast TS on the wielder. It would take a standard action (the 'activate magic item' action) to use, and then 'Your next single attack roll (if it is made before the end of the next round) gains a +20 insight bonus.'

From a warriors point of view, this means that instead of:-
• round one-full attack
• round two-full attack
It would be:-
• round one-activate true strike
• round two-full attack with the first attack at +20

This makes it useful in surprise rounds or against invisible opponents (TS let's you ignore concealment miss chance), but much less useful in the middle of a combat.

That ability would cost 2000gp (all else being equal), or 1800gp if activated by command word.

You could make it a quickened True Strike! You would activate it as a swift action, even during a full attack! It would only work once/round, and it would cost 90000gp! Or 81000gp with command word!

As for 'use activated'? To get a +20 sword for 2000gp? No chance!

'Use activated' for a weapon means that the target you hit gets affected by the spell/ability. You could use an attack action to hit yourself! Then the attack you made after that would be at +20!

The idea that the act of swinging a sword gives the wielder a +20 with that attack, every time you swing, for 2000gp, is just wishful thinking! It's RAW that magic items must be approved by a DM. The devs themselves have stated that there is no such item. Which sane DM would allow it? If such an item were allowed, then every magic weapon in the world would be a use activated True Strike!

[Tar-Tar]

Malachi Silverclaw wrote:

If an intelligent item uses TS, it uses it's own action to do so, and it affects the weapon, not the wielder, making it useless.

A magic ability, whether wondrous, wand, weapon, whatever, can be used to cast TS on the wielder. It would take a standard action (the 'activate magic item' action) to use, and then 'Your next single attack roll (if it is made before the end of the next round) gains a +20 insight bonus.'

From a warriors point of view, this means that instead of:-
• round one-full attack
• round two-full attack
It would be:-
• round one-activate true strike
• round two-full attack with the first attack at +20

This makes it useful in surprise rounds or against invisible opponents (TS let's you ignore concealment miss chance), but much less useful in the middle of a combat.

That ability would cost 2000gp (all else being equal), or 1800gp if activated by command word.

You could make it a quickened True Strike! You would activate it as a swift action, even during a full attack! It would only work once/round, and it would cost 90000gp! Or 81000gp with command word!

As for 'use activated'? To get a +20 sword for 2000gp? No chance!

'Use activated' for a weapon means that the target you hit gets affected by the spell/ability. You could use an attack action to hit yourself! Then the attack you made after that would be at +20!

The idea that the act of swinging a sword gives the wielder a +20 with that attack, every time you swing, for 2000gp, is just wishful thinking! It's RAW that magic items must be approved by a DM. The devs themselves have stated that there is no such item. Which sane DM would allow it? If such an item were allowed, then every magic weapon in the world would be a use activated True Strike!

From the magic items page:

SRD wrote:

Use Activated: This type of item simply has to be used in order to activate it. a character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, interpose a shield to deflect a blow in combat, look through a lens, sprinkle dust, wear a ring, or don a hat. Use activation is generally straightforward and self-explanatory.

Before I say anything else, we disallowed making an item that does that with true strike, for the reasons you said. It's slightly retarded that it's 2000 for +20 to all your attacks.

That said, if you went strictly by formula, wouldn't that work? I don't see why it would affect something else with true strike.

[Malachi Silverclaw]

Use Activated wrote:

This type of item simply has to be used in order to activate it. A character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, interpose a shield to deflect a blow in combat, look through a lens, sprinkle dust, wear a ring, or don a hat.

To use a potion you drink it. You are the target of the spell it contains. If it were a harmful spell the drinker is the one it would harm.

If you sprinkle dust, the object/creature covered by the dust is the target of the spell. Use activated in this case is sprinkling, but the use activated spell is not targeting the sprinkler, but the sprinklee! In the case of dust, you can sprinkle the dust on yourself so that you are both sprinkler and sprinklee. If you had dust of True Strike that was use activated it would affect the sprinklee, not the sprinkler!

When you look through a lens, the observer is the target of any use activated ability, not the object being observed.

When you attack with a weapon, the target of the attack is the target of any use-activated ability. If just swinging the sword around without attacking is the 'use' that activates the ability, fine! But that would be a standard action, and it wouldn't be a part of any attack.

[Tar-Tar]

Ah, I see what you're saying. So the target of the swing is always the target of the spell? That gives other equally stupid options, but not with true strike.

[Malachi Silverclaw]

Tar-Tar wrote:

Ah, I see what you're saying. So the target of the swing is always the target of the spell? That gives other equally stupid options, but not with true strike.

This is how 'use activated' works. Other activation methods aren't limited in this way, because then there need not be any causal link between 'use' and 'target'.