Quick question: how do you determine who can use a magical staff's powers?
Quick question: how do you determine who can use a magical staff's powers?
Activation: Staves use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a staff is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 standard action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a staff.) To activate a staff, a character must hold it forth in at least one hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures).
They follow all the normal rules you'd expect for any spell trigger activation item. So, just like wands. You need to be the correct kind of spellcaster and be able to cast the spell in the staff. If you are the right kind of spellcaster, but can't cast the spell (IE: Not high enough level) make a Use Magic Device check and the spell uses the CL of the staff, not yours. If you aren't a spellcaster, make a UMD check to activate it and use it's CL.
Many thanks!
That helps a lot.
Quick question: how do you determine who can use a magical staff's powers?
They follow all the normal rules you'd expect for any spell trigger activation item. So, just like wands. You need to be the correct kind of spellcaster and be able to cast the spell in the staff. If you are the right kind of spellcaster, but can't cast the spell (IE: Not high enough level) make a Use Magic Device check and the spell uses the CL of the staff, not yours. If you aren't a spellcaster, make a UMD check to activate it and use it's CL.
Activation: Staves use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a staff is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 standard action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a staff.) To activate a staff, a character must hold it forth in at least one hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures).
Not entirely true.
You are thinking of Spell Completion items, like scrolls. Staves are Spell Trigger items (as you pointed out), but you are a little off on what that means:
Spell Trigger: Spell trigger activation is similar to spell
completion, but it’s even simpler. No gestures or spell
finishing is needed, just a special knowledge of spellcasting
that an appropriate character would know, and a single word
that must be spoken. Spell trigger items can be used by anyone
whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case
even for a character who can’t actually cast spells, such as a
3rd-level paladin. The user must still determine what spell is
stored in the item before she can activate it. Activating a spell
trigger item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks
of opportunity.
So you only need to have the spell on your class list. You don't need to be able to cast. You don't even need to be able to cast spells at all - as long as the spell in the staff is on your class list you're good to go.
So you only need to have the spell on your class list. You don't need to be...
Meh,
I need more sleep. What DM said.