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A situation came up yesterday that started me thinking about how wands work. If all this is posted somewhere please forgive the new post. Is it a magic wand or magic tip? Do you have to tap someone with the far end or can you hit with the shaft? DependingDepending on that answer, do you have to tap your self to heal or does just being in contact insure success?
I cannot imagine a situation where this could be an issue, myself, so now I'm curious.
Most of that is simply flavor text; the important part is that you follow the rules for the spell being emulated.
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To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for non-humanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area.
Pointing the wand at something definitely implies the power exits through the tip. So with a touch spell either you have to touch with the tip, or possibly just point with the tip but touch with your hand (since you'd normally deliver touch spells through the hand). I'd go with "touch with the tip" since you're not supposed to need a second free hand when using a wand.
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Situation was this. Ranger used his turn to move to an unconscious oracle, kneel down, and pull out CLW wand. End turn. The BBG hits Ranger with a spell that blinds him. Next round the Ranger gets a 50% miss chance to tap the Oracle. Succeeds that but fails his save and is still blinded. Oracle moves away. Next several rounds the Ranger spends trying to heal himself with the CLW wand. Being blind GM gave him the same miss chance to heal himself. It was the GMs call and I have no problem with that. It just got me thinking, you're holding the wand in your hand, you dont have to touch skin when healing someone else (As far as I know)just touch what they're wearing. Weirdo that does seem to answer it.
The wand is not the important issue here, it is the spell in question that dictates the use of a wand.
For example, in your case the Cure Light Wounds spell requires you to touch the target so I can see how a 50% miss chance for a blinded character would be appropriate. However, I could also see how an immobile and unconscious character ought to be easier to tag than a moving foe.
If it was a targeted spell like Charm Person for example, then the blind character could not use it from the wand as he cannot target an individual.
Again, it is like the spell in all ways except that it is coming from a wand instead.
In no way or shape should the ranger need to make a 50% miss chance to touch himself. That should be considered automatic.
In no way or shape should the ranger need to make a 50% miss chance to touch himself. That should be considered automatic.
You may wish to rephrase that...
:)
Only opponents get the concealment. Allies (such as the oracle) and yourself are not opponents, so no roll should have been made.
In no way or shape should the ranger need to make a 50% miss chance to touch himself. That should be considered automatic.You may wish to rephrase that...
:)
I thought about the double entendre as was writing it but it just seemed to be the easiest way to get message across.
It is the same when the paladin decides to use his Lay on Hands and the player tells the DM, "I touch my self as a free action." My thought is that it should be a full round action at least to touch yourself. ;)
Only opponents get the concealment. Allies (such as the oracle) and yourself are not opponents, so no roll should have been made.
I understand where you are coming from on this but concealment from blindness and other effects is not ignored by allies (at least not in any rules that I have found). However, I would think that a conscious ally would gladly hold their hand out for you to touch them without a miss chance or at least a mitigated miss chance. An unconscious ally cannot reach out but also does not move so I could also see an argument for some mitigation of the miss chance to touch them in that situation.
I just wanted to be clear that it does not say that "only opponents get the concealment" in the rules.
Yes, it does, actually.
From the SRD:
Blinded
The creature cannot see. It takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class, loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and takes a –4 penalty on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks and on opposed Perception skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail.
All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) against the blinded character.
Blind creatures must make a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. Creatures that fail this check fall prone. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.
Yes, it does, actually.
From the SRD:
BlindedThe creature cannot see. It takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class, loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and takes a –4 penalty on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks and on opposed Perception skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail.
All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) against the blinded character.
Blind creatures must make a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. Creatures that fail this check fall prone. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.
Okay, good catch, but wouldn't the previous sentence that says "all checks and ACTIVITIES that rely on vision automatically fail" come into play as you are trying to reach over to touch your ally?
I would rather have 50% miss chance than an automatic failure.
I am really not arguing with you here as I think a blind character should be able to touch him self (smirk) with no miss chance and to touch willing allies pretty easy as well.
I just think we open up a big can of worms if you say that there is never concealment towards allies. If you think my usage of that extra line does not include spells, then now a blind character can target allies from a distance and I do not think anyone agrees with that. I sure don't.
It is worth a ponder!
Poking someone with a stick doesn't rely on vision at all. That refers to things like Sight Perception rolls, or reading, or telling the red pill from the blue pill.
And I have no problem with blind characters targeting an ally at a distance at all. The only issue is if the effect in question requires line of sight.
allies can reach our a hand (or body part) to the outstreched hand of someone casting a spell like CLW as a free action and could presulably do so in order to recieve the benifits. if you were attempting to heal a reluctant ally however (lets say trying to use CLW on an udead ally for example) then they would be treated as an enemy for this. unaware/knocked out ally would do neither of these however. so the ranger should not have had to roll to touch the oracle as he knew where he was before he became blinded. as far a touching ones self lets use common sense here: if you close your eyes and try to touch yourself anywhere on your own body, do you miss? didnt think so. your own body parts are in known locations in relation to your hands unless you are suffering from something other than blindness