| james maissen |
If a Wand of Fireballs is neither arcane nor divine, then why can't a typical cleric use it? Or for that matter, a fighter? The easy answer is, 'the rules say so', but I was looking for an in-game reason.
Why can't a bard? They cast arcane spells. What's wrong with them (besides the tights)?
The arcane/divine division is not what is important here. You want to have it trump all in this respect, and it simply doesn't.
Spell completion requires a knowledge. This can come from a divine or arcane source, but that knowledge has to come for the completion to occur. It doesn't matter the source, what does matter is that knowledge.
How does that sound to you?
A bard doesn't have that knowledge, and most clerics don't have that knowledge. Some clerics do get this knowledge and can utilize those wands.
On one hand, I find that weird, and I want to house rule it away (see above). But on the other, I know that sometimes trying to break everything down logically results in bad game mechanics. ::shrug::
It's not just break it down logically, but rather impose certain views and preconceptions that might not occur.
People glom together 'consumables' as one big umbrella. Don't.
Scrolls are very different from Wands, and both are very different from Potions. Each requires less from the person looking to use them. There's nothing wrong with that added level of complexity. Imho such complexity can enrich the game world.
If a wizard or a cleric makes a potion, does it matter? No.
Likewise it doesn't matter for wands. They need more control than potions, but far less than scrolls.
Scrolls are the most specialized and require the most from the user. Even a wizard might not be able to activate or even understand a wizard scroll! And even if they do, they could mess it up! That's a different world.
Added layers of complexity. Again, I think of it as enriching the world in which we set our game,
-James