So....
Venomous Bolt
School necromancy [poison]; Level ranger 3
Casting Time 1 swift action
Components V, S
Range 0 ft.
Targets one arrow or bolt
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Fortitude negates; see text; Spell Resistance yes
You infuse a single arrow or crossbow bolt with natural venom as you fire it. In addition to its normal damage, anyone struck by this arrow or bolt is affected as if by the poison spell. If the arrow is not fired immediately, the spell ends with no effect.
Several wands of venomous bolt appear in the Serpent's Skull AP. It's not clear to me how this spell would work via a wand.
(1) The spell's casting time is a swift action, which means even during a full-attack action you could envenom one bolt or arrow; but it takes a standard action to activate a spell-trigger item, so you can't use a wand and make an attack in the same round.
(2) The spell effect ends if the bolt/arrow isn't used "immediately"...not "before your next turn" or "within one round", but immediately, so is it even possible to use the wand one round and fire the bolt/arrow the next?
(3) The spell specifies the infusion of "natural venom." A natural attack is one you make with your own body; a human swinging a dragon's severed claw at someone is using an improvised weapon, not making a natural attack. Does that apply to natural venom as well; does that mean only a 'caster with a natural venom attack can use the spell?
1:I guess you'd have to team up to use the wand. One guy uses the wand, the other one fires the weapon. Yet that would run contrary to "as you fire it"
3: I have not seen something in PF but some games distinguish between natural toxins and man made toxins for some effects. Perhaps this was the idea behind the inclusion of venom.
On the other hand it might just be flavour because venom as opposed to poison or toxin already hints at it being from an animal or am I mistaken in this?
1 + 2: You're correct, this spell doesn't work when put on a wand. There's no workaround, just don't put it on a wand. There are other spells that are equally as useless on a wand (feather fall, for example) it.
3: There's no precedent to assume 'natural venom' is in any way similar to 'natural attack' or requires a caster with a natural venom attack to function. The text would explicitly call out this requirement if so. Whenever possible we should make a common sense reading of the spell.
1 + 2: You're correct, this spell doesn't work when put on a wand. There's no workaround, just don't put it on a wand.
He didn't.
Several wands of venomous bolt appear in the Serpent's Skull AP.
Perfect spell for a familiar wand jockey
As for 'natural venom,' there are things that are immune to natural diseases, but not super-natural ones. I don't know if that is true of poisons as well, but I would guess that this is the difference.
1 + 2: You're correct, this spell doesn't work when put on a wand. There's no workaround, just don't put it on a wand.He didn't.
Several wands of venomous bolt appear in the Serpent's Skull AP.
Fair enough! Sounds like an oversight on the part of the AP designer.
Could you get someone to poke your ammo with it on the same turn you fire perhaps? Still pretty useless all up...