Cracked Vibrant Purple Prism Ioun Stone

[Captain Harry Flashman]

I'm looking for some clarifications on the "Cracked" Vibrant Purple Prism Ioun Stone.

First and foremost, is the use of this Ioun Stone itself legal in PFS Organised Play?

Does the character using the Stone have to be an actual Spell-Caster themselves?

If they are not a Spell-Caster but CAN still use the Stone, can the Spell-Caster who is re-filling the Ioun Stone use scrolls AND wands of the spell in question?

Can a Non-Spellcaster Use Magic Device skill themselves to re-cast spells into the Stone, and what would the DC for doing this be?

And lastly, would personal spells - like "Shield",for example - be legal for PFS Organised Play if cast into this stone?

Any assistance or link to the most recent and official rulings and clarifications would be most appreciated.

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

Captain Harry Flashman wrote:

I'm looking for some clarifications on the "Cracked" Vibrant Purple Prism Ioun Stone.

First and foremost, is the use of this Ioun Stone itself legal in PFS Organised Play?

Archives of Nethys says yes. (See the little Society icon next to the item.)

Captain Harry Flashman wrote:

Does the character using the Stone have to be an actual Spell-Caster themselves?

If they are not a Spell-Caster but CAN still use the Stone, can the Spell-Caster who is re-filling the Ioun Stone use scrolls AND wands of the spell in question?

It works just like a ring of spell storing. So the user need not be a spellcaster; scrolls can be used to refill it; wands cannot.

Captain Harry Flashman wrote:

Can a Non-Spellcaster Use Magic Device skill themselves to re-cast spells into the Stone, and what would the DC for doing this be?

You could use UMD or Spellcraft to use a scroll to fill the stone, but you can't use UMD to generate a spell out of nothing.

Captain Harry Flashman wrote:

And lastly, would personal spells - like "Shield",for example - be legal for PFS Organised Play if cast into this stone?

They're legal in general, and I don't know why PFS would have banned them from such usage, but I can't guarantee that they haven't.

[Ferious Thune]

Shield is legal for the stone. That’s what I use mine for.

Something to keep in mind... Adventurer’s Guide reprinted the Stone and changed it to a minimum full round action to cast anything out of it. That’s not in effect yet, but will Be whenever Adventurer’s Guide shows up on the PRD.

[Captain Harry Flashman]

Ferious Thune wrote:

Shield is legal for the stone. That’s what I use mine for.

Something to keep in mind... Adventurer’s Guide reprinted the Stone and changed it to a minimum full round action to cast anything out of it. That’s not in effect yet, but will Be whenever Adventurer’s Guide shows up on the PRD.

Hi Fuzzy-Wuzzy & Ferious Thune,

Many thanks for your contributions. They are very helpful in terms of a couple of my PFS characters with AC issues in particular. One being a Two-Handed Great-Axe wielding Drunken Brute Barbarian / Brawler; the other a Two-Weapon Fighting Urban Barbarian / Free-booter Ranger. For flavour, skill useage and other reasons I prefer to keep them in light armour.

I have the "Seeker of Secrets" from which, of course, the Stone is sourced. But a link to a recent, official ruling from the game developers etc on the exact legality and useage of the stone would be helpful to satisfy whatever GM might be at the table on a given day.

(A couple of players in the past have also expressed doubts and reservations as well, if not to the legality of the item in PFS, then certainly to the use of it for casting personal spells - Shield being a classic example.)

Once again, thanks and cheers to you both.

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

Captain Harry Flashman wrote:

(A couple of players in the past have also expressed doubts and reservations as well, if not to the legality of the item in PFS, then certainly to the use of it for casting personal spells - Shield being a classic example.)

You might be better off posting this part in the PFS forum (pretty sure that link is the right one). I've heard the PFS higher-ups hang out there, so you might potentially get a ruling directly (no promises).

[blahpers]

Spells like shield are exactly what the ring of spell storing were made for, and the stone is mostly a slotless version of the ring. That much is fine.

[Captain Harry Flashman]

Thanks again for your helpful advice, folks. I've put this query to the PFS Forum as suggested. Hopefully I'll get an official ruling soon enough.

All the best and cheers.

[Ferious Thune]

Ferious Thune wrote:

Shield is legal for the stone. That’s what I use mine for.

Something to keep in mind... Adventurer’s Guide reprinted the Stone and changed it to a minimum full round action to cast anything out of it. That’s not in effect yet, but will Be whenever Adventurer’s Guide shows up on the PRD.

I figured I should track down this post and correct it here instead of just in the new thread. I misread the stone in Adventurer's Guide. Only the flawed version of the stone has the full-round action casting time restriction. The cracked and normal stone do not. So I don't think anything has changed with it, and my apologies for any confusion. Happy casting!

[Azothath]

Sadly the item casts out at minimum level(thus Shield 1@3 goes in and Shield 1@1 comes out), thus a Wand is better unless you cannot use wands.

[Ferious Thune]

Action economy and needing a free hand plays into it as well, since you don’t need to draw the Ioun Stone. A wand isn’t automatic for a UMD user until they are at +19. That’s higher than a lot of Martials are ever likely to reach. I like the Ioun Stone on monks, two-handed weapon users, and two-weapon users. Ultimately I switched back to a wand with my ninja when her UMD got high enough. Divine favor, lead blades, or gravity bow are also good options.

[Azothath]

How does pulling a wand as a free action with a move or 5ft step having a BAB of +1 or better effect action economy? The free hand as a temporary thing isn't a problem by RAW if you drop the wand after using it (tie a string to the wand and to your belt or use a weapon cord). Spring loaded wrist sheath is a good accessory.
An ioun stone is a great target if a foe wants to steal or break a few of your items. A wand in a wrist sheath is not targetable.

Using the wand is more the issue. It's Class list or UMD. Magic is such a strong factor in the game not taking 1-2 levels in a spellcasting class seems a liability. Dimensional slide, a few spells, and access to ALL wizard spells is worth 1 BAB.

[Ferious Thune]

You can draw one weapon-like object as part of a move. So if your weapon isn’t out and you wanted to cast shield, move up, and have your weapon drawn for AoOs, you couldn’t use a wand. For my ninja, I have two-weapon fighting and draw both weapons as part of the move, so no free hand. If you’re a slayer and you need to move action study a target, you couldn’t take a move to draw the wand, move to study, standard to cast. If you study as a swift (or Martial Flexibility, or investigator studied combat, or judgement, etc.) you can’t use a spring-loaded wrist sheath. Or maybe you just have a heavy shield and a weapon already drawn and don’t have a free hand for a wand. Anyway, you get the point. There are combinations where not having to have a wand out complicates things. There are obviously combinations where a wand would work fine. Neither the wand nor the Ioun stone a one size fits all solution.

[Ferious Thune]

Also, I’m not sure if you know that weapon cords received an faq/errata. It’s a move action to recover the weapon/wand and you can’t wield another weapon with that hand while it’s hanging from it. So dropping the wand on a cord to cast a Spell is probably fine. Dropping it on a cord to wield a two-handed weapon. Dropping it to the ground is fine, but if you’re in a game where you’re worried about GMs targeting Ioun stones floating around your head, which are still attended items, I’d be worried about an enemy picking up my wand. That is what I do in PFS with my ninja, though, since I’ve never had a GM take a wand from the ground. Never had one try to sunder/steal an Ioun Stone either.

Weapon cord wrote:

If you drop your weapon or are disarmed, you can recover it as a move action*, and it never moves any further away from you than an adjacent square. However, you cannot switch to a different weapon without first untying the cord (a full-round action) or cutting it (a move action or an attack, hardness 0, 1 hit point).

[Azothath]

while off topic and in a GM's gray area, I suggested tying a string or a weapon cord to the wand and then to a belt so a creature can drop the wand and it will drag along with them rather than stay in the square dropped. Some GMs require the purchase of a weapon cord. Even if it takes a standard action to retrieve the wand it is better than leaving it in the square where the creature dropped it. So it's helpful but not necessary.

I am very aware of the weapon cord errata as I play & GM PFS. The change was on the action time to retrieve the dropped item.

[YogoZuno]

Fuzzy-Wuzzy wrote:

It works just like a ring of spell storing. So the user need not be a spellcaster; scrolls can be used to refill it; wands cannot.

I'm curious why you said wands cannot refill the stone? I don't see anything on the spell storing description preventing a wand casting from charging it? Can you provide an explanation or reference for that assertion, please?

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

YogoZuno wrote:

Fuzzy-Wuzzy wrote:

It works just like a ring of spell storing. So the user need not be a spellcaster; scrolls can be used to refill it; wands cannot.

I'm curious why you said wands cannot refill the stone? I don't see anything on the spell storing description preventing a wand casting from charging it? Can you provide an explanation or reference for that assertion, please?

The ring of spell storing specifically says you can use a scroll to fill it. It does not say that about wands. Ergo, either the author was an idiot, or you can't do it with wands.

[Unbegreiflich]

Choices... Hmmm...