You then would need to read the scroll, so before you can do this you would need to cast Read Magic on yourself. Use of the Read Magic Cantrip/Orison would take a Standard Action. Since Read Magic has a duration of minutes this can be done sometime previously, it can be done on a turn previous to retrieving the scroll but it does need to be done prior to reading the scroll.
You do have to decipher the scroll, but it does not have to be done when you cast it. You can decipher a scroll and use it days later. Once you decipher a scroll, it stays that way (for you). And since Read Magic (if you have it) can be cast at will in Pathfiner, you can easily decipher any scroll right after you find it, an so don't have to decipher it when you want to use it later.
It takes a move action to retrieve the scroll, and a standard action to use. Thats (usually) all.
Nothing about a scroll says you need to have hands free, or even be holding the scroll to use it. You just have to read it. (Though as a spell completion item, you would need to supply the verbal and somatic components, so I guess a free hand would be needed.)
Yes wands are better than scrolls in many ways except these:
- They're cheaper per charge, but can only be bought/made with 50 charges. Scrolls are cheaper if you only need a few casts
- Wands can't be added to a wizards spellbook or witch's familiar etc.
Yes wands are better than scrolls in many ways except these:
- They're cheaper per charge, but can only be bought/made with 50 charges. Scrolls are cheaper if you only need a few casts
- Wands can't be added to a wizards spellbook or witch's familiar etc.
You forgot one:
-Wands can only be used with spells up to 4th level. Scrolls have no such limit.
Yes wands are better than scrolls in many ways except these:
- They're cheaper per charge, but can only be bought/made with 50 charges. Scrolls are cheaper if you only need a few casts
- Wands can't be added to a wizards spellbook or witch's familiar etc.
Also wands are limited to spells of at most 4th level
* Perhaps an ordinary person would need two hands to get something out of their pack, but we're dramatic heroes, so it only takes one. (No reference. You could call it "anecdotal experience" from the games that I've played.)
* Deciphering the scroll is a full-round action (pg. 490); but like Jeraa said, once it's done it's done. You do have to be able to read the scroll, but that just means you need your sight, sanity, and enough light for your vision; once you've deciphered it, you don't need read magic any more (it's in the description of the spell on pg. 330).
* If the spell takes longer than a standard action (such as summon monster), then that's how long reading the scroll takes (pg. 458). Otherwise yeah, standard action.
* I recall a scroll shield of some kind, that's specifically designed to hold scrolls ready to read on the inside? But yeah, if the spell has verbal or somatic components, you still have to provide those -- although any material or focus components are already taken care of -- as in the description of spell completion items on pg. 458.
* You can hold things briefly (though not wield them) with a light shield, so you don't have to drop your sword to throw a dart (in some dev post somewhere); but I think that you could only use a scroll with a somatic component with a buckler. (Heavy shields are right out, because you're holding a handle.) Yes on bucklers, no on heavy shields, unsure about light shields.
* You can read a scroll defensively, just like casting a spell (pg. 184). So you wouldn't trigger an attack of opportunity, but you lose a spell if you fail the concentration check (pg. 207), so I would say that the scroll is wasted in that case.
* It isn't explicit that you can draw a wand while moving, but they're described as "weapon-like" (pg. 186), so I'd allow it -- but only if they're holstered, not in a pack. A move action otherwise, which can be reduced to a swift action with the spring-loaded wrist sheath (Adventurer's Armory). And yeah, only one hand.
* Using a wand doesn't take any gestures or anything fancy. You just speak a single word, as in the description of spell trigger items on pg. 458.
* Yeah, no attack of opportunity for using a wand, and they're cheaper per use. But they come in lots of 50, so unless you're incredibly generous and let them find a shady huckster hawking a "slightly used" wand, it would be much more expensive out-of-pocket.
What chapter is page 184 in? I have never seen anything saying you can cast a scroll defensively. If you can then we need a rule saying whose stats you use, and since SKR has a magic item question thread open......
Combat, chapter 8. Emphasis added:
Spell Completion Items: Activating a spell completion item (see page 458) is the equivalent of casting a spell. It requires concentration and provokes attacks of opportunity. You lose the spell if your concentration is broken, and you can attempt to activate the item while on the defensive, as with casting a spell.
Sorry, I have an unfortunate tendency to go into Advice mode in the Rules Questions forum, and vice-versa. ;) I can't picture doing the somatic components with the same hand holding the scroll. I'd say that they need both hands free; a buckler is fine for holding the scroll, maybe a light shield, nothing more than that.
A scroll is just a piece of parchment, maybe with a bit of leather at the ends. It can easily be held in a hand holding something else.
I can see no problem holding a scroll in the same hand as a buckler, light shield, or weapon.
I wouldn't allow holding the scroll with a weapon, because even though I don't have the BB and I exclusively play this very simulationist game, I still have a cinematic style. And that's just not cool-looking. :p
An option if they know they're going to use a scroll the next turn, and aren't moving (or using another move action) this turn, would be to sheathe their weapon now. So then it's easier to get back later.