I am doubtful as well, how would the raven handle the wand ?
in it's beak would be most likely, but speaking while chewing a wand might be hard... and I very much doubt a raven has the manual dexterity to employ a wand.
a mephit or imp might do easily though
Wands aren't like remote controls for your television. They aren't covered in buttons that you have to activate in the right order. They are magic sticks that require a command word to activate (and some chicanery or innate magical potential). I see no problem with the raven holding the wand (well within its encumbrance limits) and speaking the command word, as long as it makes the UMD check.
Well for one, I'd not dare to use such silliness against my players as a DM, wether it can or can not is debatable at best, it will have a hard time aiming the thing and speaking the command word while flying around.
sounds like munchkinism to me, if you take an improved familiar go ahead otherwise I wont allow it.
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I'd agree that for a raven, i think it is a stretch. I've always loved the idea of a sorc who's far too lazy for his own good, but uses his Mephit familiar (gained from Improved Familiar) to do all the blasting via a wand and maxed out UMD ranks. Since the mephit has hands, feet, mouth, wings, etc. i can totally see him being able to work this.
Were I your DM (and I'm not) I think that having the familiar to test with and the Artificer to design the 'wand' it should be possible. The only questions are the UMD check and the item creation rules. It seems like a rather cool artificer challenge actually.
They have designed cameras to be carried by pigeons and I don't think this is intrinsically very different.
Some obvious limitations
1. The wand designed for the bird might be harder to use by a person. I imagine some sort of strap on apparatus hanging off his underside in a rather rude manner. The bird would have to be sure it didn't get in the way of its own shot.
The raven would have a UMD check and any character using it might have a penalty because of its design.
2. I don't know if wands have recoil and I don't know how steady you have to be to aim them. Typically they're held by a larger creature with his\her feet on the ground. You may have to come up with a particular flight pattern to fire. Getting into this pattern might not be as simple as a place in initiative.
The accuracy of attacks from the air would be subject to wind conditions and fly skill checks.
3. There may be limits to what the bird can imagine and or direct a wand to do.
4. Making a wand small and adaptive enough will change the standard price of the wand. If you have an artificer in the party it might be reasonable to think that the 'wand' is forever part of a bird harness and really not usable in any other way. This might put it more in the realms of wondrous items.
Sigurd
The only thing that I'd probably add is that if there is _no_ way that the artificer can make something like this he should probably play another class in that game world. Artificers have to be more than a purchase discount. They need their own challenges to overcome.
I'd certainly allow it; I think a bird can carry a stick in its claws.
Of course, a bird that flies around saying "Expelliarmus!!" might end up getting shot at on occasion.
I'd certainly allow it; I think a bird can carry a stick in its claws.
Of course, a bird that flies around saying "Expelliarmus!!" might end up getting shot at on occasion.
I would too.
I've played wizards who used RAWRs before. As such I would certainly allow them as GM.
I have a Wizard with a raven familar (in a non-PFRPG game) and while he does wear a couple of small magic items, there are few I'd consider him able to manipulate.
Wands can be made of very lightweight materials, so I don't think carrying one need be a problem. Aiming it might be. Even for spells that don't require a ranged touch attack to succeed, you still have to be able to direct the spell "over there; thataway" and I can't think this would be easy for a creature to do, with an object half its own body length, using its feet, while in flight.
There is also the question of whether familiars should have access to skill points they could spend to acquire Use Magic Device -- or are we talking about the Wizard having UMD and the raven accessing its master's skills?
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I thought that wands had somatic components and such is the reason why they provoked attacks of opportunity. And by the rules of somatic components the raven shouldn't be able to use it since he does not have the limbs to manipulate it. Now if the wand was specially designed for the raven then maybe since it would be like making special barding to fit on an animal.
I thought that wands had somatic components and such is the reason why they provoked attacks of opportunity. And by the rules of somatic components the raven shouldn't be able to use it since he does not have the limbs to manipulate it. Now if the wand was specially designed for the raven then maybe since it would be like making special barding to fit on an animal.
Wands do not provoke attacks of opportunity. They are Spell Trigger items, which, according to the rules...:
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.
...don't need gestures, only a single word.
Dropping bones onto stones to crack them, using twigs to dig out insects from bark, and using rock to crack egg shells are all examples of tool use in Corvids.
While this shows intelligence and a degree of dexterity with beaks I'm not sure that would necessarily translate into manipulating and casting with a wand, which would require holding in the beak and also reciting the command word.
Like Angryscrub indicates, ultimately it's a matter of balance, if a raven with flight can also use UMD to blast with wands then a Toad Familiar is pretty pointless. If you want a blasting familiar you should invest a feat and get improved familiar.