Activating an intelligent item

[SuperParkourio]

Intelligent items usually activate themselves as they please, using their own actions to do so. Could a creature with an intelligent item also activate the item with the creature's own actions?

[Finoan]

SuperParkourio wrote:

Could a creature with an intelligent item also activate the item with the creature's own actions?

Since this is the rules forum:

There isn't a rule saying that a character is allowed to do that. The intelligent item has control over its own abilities.

I don't think it is broken to allow the character to spend the actions needed to activate the item instead. It is probably a worse scenario for the character. But that is up to GM discretion to allow.

I'm curious why you would want to be able to do that. What benefit would having the character spend the actions activating the item have over having the item activate itself?

The only reasoning that I can come up with is that the GM doesn't want the item to activate at this moment, but the player does. That is a GM/Player disagreement problem, not something that can be fixed with rules.

[NorrKnekten]

RAW the item can provide or deny any and all magical effects and activated abilities with no agency of the player wether or not it does so.

There are however several cases where an item can be appeased,coerced or otherwise convinced to use its magic and what that means in most cases is going to be up to GM. Such as using a single action to Request or Command.

[SuperParkourio]

Finoan wrote:

I'm curious why you would want to be able to do that. What benefit would having the character spend the actions activating the item have over having the item activate itself?

Here is the thread about the item in question. Light spoilers for PFS #4-11: Prisoners of the Electric Castle, but nothing that isn't explained at the start of the adventure.

[Finoan]

SuperParkourio wrote:

Here is the thread about the item in question.

I answered for that specific item on that thread.

As a rule of thumb, a specific interaction like that shouldn't change what the general rules are. If one item is causing a problem interaction with the usage of Intelligent Items in general, then that specific item needs errata, not the general rules.