Gem of Seeing action


Rules Questions


Does this require a standard action to use or is it just like looking through an object.

Could a fighter still fight while looking through one?


maybe, maybe not. it's a standard action to activate, once activated the fighter would need to hold to his eye to see. so really up to GM fiat.


Yonman wrote:

Does this require a standard action to use or is it just like looking through an object.

Could a fighter still fight while looking through one?

Gem of Seeing[none] $75000.

There is no specific direction given for activation thus you assume the basic rule which is a standard action to activate the gem. Thereafter the user >effectively< has true seeing for 5 min at a minimum but must at least gaze through the gem and Perception skill says looking for something is a Move action.
Because it is Use Activated a GM could move it down to a Move action and that's pretty sensible if it is "in hand". It is gonna play hell with two-handed weapon usage.

Magic Item Activation:
Activating a magic item is a standard action unless the item description indicates otherwise. However, the casting time of a spell is the time required to activate the same power in an item, regardless of the type of magic item, unless the item description specifically states otherwise.

Magic Item, Use Activated:
Use Activated: This type of item simply has to be used in order to activate it. a character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, interpose a shield to deflect a blow in combat, look through a lens, sprinkle dust, wear a ring, or don a hat. Use activation is generally straightforward and self-explanatory.

Many use-activated items are objects that a character wears. Continually functioning items are practically always items that one wears. A few must simply be in the character’s possession (meaning on his person). However, some items made for wearing must still be activated. Although this activation sometimes requires a command word (see above), usually it means mentally willing the activation to happen. The description of an item states whether a command word is needed in such a case.

Unless stated otherwise, activating a use-activated magic item is either a standard action or not an action at all and does not provoke attacks of opportunity, unless the use involves performing an action that provokes an attack of opportunity in itself. If the use of the item takes time before a magical effect occurs, then use activation is a standard action. If the item’s activation is subsumed in its use and takes no extra time use, activation is not an action at all.

Use activation doesn’t mean that if you use an item, you automatically know what it can do. You must know (or at least guess) what the item can do and then use the item in order to activate it, unless the benefit of the item comes automatically, such as from drinking a potion or swinging a sword.


see also: Table: Action in Combat where Activate an Item is a standard action that does not provoke.
Perception skill: Most Perception checks are reactive, made in response to observable stimulus. Intentionally searching for stimulus is a move action.

Advice: All in all the spell is a lot easier to manage & use. Just have your party caster use your consumable item to cast it on you. Better yet have your caster do Darkvision & UMD See Invisibility(personal)/Hand of Glory/Mask of the Mantis, which accomplishes most of what you need and is both cheaper and lasts far longer.
Your GM could okay using the Gem as the pommel of your two-handed weapon. This would greatly simplify rule wrangling at the table and possibly give you a cool paw-sheath.


Generally the reason this item is so cheap compared to the goggles is that you can only inspect something with truesight when you are safely analyzing in detail. You're not allowed to "monocle" it at all times just because the description doesn't list an activation cost.

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