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Is it possible to use UMD to recharge a staff? I could possibly see it coming under "Emulate a class feature", but I feel like it is closer to "Emulate and use a class feature", which isn't an option for UMD.
Assuming you can't do it by the RAW but wanted to houserule a way to do it, what would you set the DC at? Something like 20 + caster level or 15 + 3*spell level seems reasonable to me. I like the last one, since it means that rogues can't keep up with actual casters in their ability to recharge a staff, but can still do it.
Is it possible to use UMD to recharge a staff? I could possibly see it coming under "Emulate a class feature", but I feel like it is closer to "Emulate and use a class feature", which isn't an option for UMD.
Assuming you can't do it by the RAW but wanted to houserule a way to do it, what would you set the DC at? Something like 20 + caster level or 15 + 3*spell level seems reasonable to me. I like the last one, since it means that rogues can't keep up with actual casters in their ability to recharge a staff, but can still do it.
UMD doesn't allow the recharging of staffs.
Opinion-wise, I can't imagine a balanced way of using _just_ UMD to recharge staffs. Perhaps a feat that allows you to recharge one spell per day given a UMD check. The feat might allow a UMD check like 15 + 2 * spell level (you don't have to make this particularly high since a feat is also used as well).
There's one conceivable way to do it that isn't particularly broken: UMD with a staff in one hand and a Pearl of Power in the other which is of the same level as the highest level spell the staff can cast.
The way it goes is this: Mr. Wizard has a staff that casts 4th level spells max, a 4th level pearl of power, and the ability to cast 4th level spells. To recharge his staff, he expends a 4th level spell, then to recharge himself, he turns on the pearl, regaining the spell he just used.
I see nothing wrong with a rogue attempting to use the two in conjunction and successfully channeling the spell energy out of the pearl and into the staff. It would probably take two UMD checks, and have some entertaining effects if either failed, but in theory, it should work, and so far as game balance goes, it doesn't seem to unbalance anything.
Assuming you [snip] wanted to houserule a way to do it, what would you set the DC at? Something like 20 + caster level or 15 + 3*spell level seems reasonable to me. I like the last one, since it means that rogues can't keep up with actual casters in their ability to recharge a staff, but can still do it.
I'd houserule that you have to be an artificer and spend your infusions instead of spells in addition to succeeding on a UMD check to use the staff.
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I would seriously advise against allowing P.C.'s to recharge wands and staffs etc with use magic device. We all have house rules but as G.M.'s we have to be careful that any changes we make do not unbalance the rules. This skill was never intended for that type of use and it would belittle the item creation feats as well as drastically change the market price of such items if they were so easily recharged. Just my opinion, at the end of the day it's your game and the rules are what you make them. They are only a framework.
I think the balance problem lies in the caster has to give something up to recharge a staff (a spell slot), a rogue wouldnt have to give anything up, its just a skill check.
As an aside, and possibly a solution, I was in a group that allowed staves to be recharged with scrolls as a house rule (scroll had to be of the same level needed to recharge the staff and was expended in the process). So a possible scenario for UMD, rogue makes UMD check to use the scroll, then a UMD check to emulate the class feature (able to cast spells), scroll is expended and one charge gets added to the staff. That way a resource is consumed (if he had a high enough UMD to use the scroll he could have just used it as a scroll), and it makes sense from a fluff perspective in my mind.
Sporge, simplest way to fix that problem: Have a spell that IS on your list placed on the staff. Then you can recharge the staff provided you have a high enough spell slot to recharge it with.
Example:
To keep within the flavor of a Staff of Healing I have Remove Curse added to the staff. (Yes, I know remove curse is abjuration and not conjuration(healing) but it is still peripherally related to 'fixing what ails you'.) Since Remove curse is a sorcerer spell you can now recharge it. The highest level of the staff is now 4 and thus you need a 4th level slot to recharge it. (Note: the highest level does not need to belong to your class' spell list.)
- Gauss
Might a Sorceror recharging with a spell not on one's spell list essentially work as Emulate a Class Feature? Basically DC 20 + level necessary to cast such a spell. I don't know, I'm borderline about it.
SenahBirdR, no. UMD allows you to use magic devices. It does not allow you to recharge them. The staff must have a spell you are able to cast and you must have a high enough spell level to recharge the staff.
- Gauss