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Since the wizard hook will "fulfill any somatic components for casting arcane spells", is it possible for the hook to fail because of armor or is it treated like Eschew Materials and material components?
If I'm grappled or pinned, can I use the hook to cast spells somatic components?
If I was tied up but had the wizard hook, eschew materials and could speak, can I cast nornally?
I'd treat it as no different from a hand; yes it can fail from armor, no you can't use it while pinned, if tied up with eschew materials you could cast verbal-only spells.
I'm curious. How does pinning stop the hook from doing it's thing? It's not actually moving, it's just sitting there. I'm having a hard time seeing the difference between "fulfill any somatic components for casting arcane spells" and the "You can cast spells without moving" from still spell.
If it had said something like 'you may replace movements or gestures with the hook for your normal somatic components' or something like that I could easily see it your way GM. However they make no suggestion that any action is required to have it stand in for your somatics.
Has there been any ruling on this? I can't see a RAW or even a RAI reason to deny it's being used like this. I have a feeling this was someone thinking what they said was totally clear when they made it but it's a trainwreck of a description if it does work like you say.
Because you have to be able to move your hand, or in this case your stump. If you are pinned you can't move your hand, therefore you can't provide a somatic component.
The RAW/RAI reason is that feats and abilities only do what is described. The wizard hook makes no benefit of bypassing the drawbacks of somatic gestures: hindered by armor, cannot do while grappling etc.
Robert, where does it say you have to move your hand/stump? If it did, I wouldn't have asked the question. Does fulfill only bypass the need for a hand or bypass the need to move? It doesn't explain just how it works and to what extent it 'fulfills' the somatic componets requirement.
GM, Yes feats and abilities only do what they say they do. "fulfill any somatic components for casting arcane spells" sounds like it would do all things I asked about, so I don't see how it applies here. If it didn't get any 'benefit of bypassing the drawbacks of somatic gestures' then you couldn't cast spells with it at all. My question is to what extect does it 'fulfill'. it's not unreasonable to see 'fulfill' as not requiring the normal movement. If you get as picky as you to say it only does what it says, it also doesn't come out an say you can make somatic components with the hook/stump. It all wrapped up in what they mean by 'fulfill'.
Hrmmmm. A key point of your argument seems to be that the wizard's hook fulfils somatic requirements and always fulfills them no matter what the circumstances, such as if the caster is grappled. I just see it as only fulfilling up to the level provided by an ordinary hand.
That said, I really do hope you're right; a plague of wizards chopping off their hands for some extra casting flexibility would be hysterical.
Hrmmmm. A key point of your argument seems to be that the wizard's hook fulfils somatic requirements and always fulfills them no matter what the circumstances, such as if the caster is grappled. I just see it as only fulfilling up to the level provided by an ordinary hand.
That said, I really do hope you're right; a plague of wizards chopping off their hands for some extra casting flexibility would be hysterical.
I wanna be a Magus with two hook hands now personally.
Why not use/abuse magic for all my mundane needs? I wonder if I would need Open/Close for the zipper though.
Fair enough, but the question is still relevant. I remember there being a big issue a while back about how its broken for Mage Hand to be able to open or close things because it invalidates Open/Close. It seemed to be serious business.
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True; I virtually never prepare Open/Close. The only difference I can see, is that it could open/close doors that would be too heavy for Mage Hand, but it seems a very pointless spell, and I don't know that I'd want to play in a game where it became important enough to track such a hair-splitting difference.
Being serious, for a moment, though...
Graystone, you ask 'Where does it say you have to move your hand/stump?".
The answer is, in the normal casting rules.
Somatic gestures are more than the wiggling of fingers; they encompass a range of arm gestures and body postures.
If they weren't, then a normal, able-bodied wizard would still be able to freely cast when grappled, pinned, manacled, bound, etc, since he would still be able to waggle the fingers at the end of his arms.
The fact that these restraints prevent casting, or force concentration checks, prove that normal casting requires more than finger-waggling.
The hook makes up for the missing hand, by allowing the caster to still be treated as having a hand, with wagglable fingers, but does not remove any of the other normal restrictions on casting.
Graystone, you ask 'Where does it say you have to move your hand/stump?".
The answer is, in the normal casting rules.
Somatic gestures are more than the wiggling of fingers; they encompass a range of arm gestures and body postures.
If they weren't, then a normal, able-bodied wizard would still be able to freely cast when grappled, pinned, manacled, bound, etc, since he would still be able to waggle the fingers at the end of his arms.
The fact that these restraints prevent casting, or force concentration checks, prove that normal casting requires more than finger-waggling.The hook makes up for the missing hand, by allowing the caster to still be treated as having a hand, with wagglable fingers, but does not remove any of the other normal restrictions on casting.
My disagreement is that the hook provides a way around the normal casting rules so I can't just look at the casting rules and say movement is still needed. The issue is that they don't explain how far it 'fulfills' the requirements.
As far as 'Somatic gestures are more than the wiggling of fingers; they encompass a range of arm gestures and body postures' I'd agree if it would have said 'fulfills the casting requirement of needing a hand' or something like that. What we do have is the knowledge that the hook fills in for the somatic components and never mentions the extent it does and in fact never even states that it does replace the hand requirement for casting.
From what I've seen, most people here have assumed that fulfilling somatic components = replacing hand requirement but that's not what it says. Not help with but replace the component (at least by my reading). The definition of fulfill is to satisfy requirements (ie, like the Eschew Materials fulfills the requirement for material components). it never limits itself to only replacing the need for a free hand.
That said, I no longer need an answer right away so I'll just faq it and hope someone takes a look and say what they meant it to do. if it really was meant to just replace the need for a free hand, it could/should be worded much better than it is.