(3.5) Eternal Wands

[AslanCross]

I've heard it said on these forums that Eternal Wands can be activated without UMD by anyone. The entry in MIC says:


Any character who can cast arcane spells can activate the wand to use the spell contained in it, regardless of whether the spell appears on his class spell list.

My reading says otherwise. I think one will need UMD to activate it. Was I just misunderstanding people? I keep hearing the "It doesn't need UMD" argument.

[Kosjsjach]

My understanding is that they can be activated without any difficulty by any arcane caster, and because they're wands, they can be used by a non-caster with a DC 20 UMD check.

[sofawall]

I've heard it said on these forums that Eternal Wands can be activated without UMD by anyone. The entry in MIC says:



My reading says otherwise. I think one will need UMD to activate it. Was I just misunderstanding people? I keep hearing the "It doesn't need UMD" argument.

I've heard it said it can be activated by anyone with arcane spells. Either you misread, or the person you read is wrong.

[Tyger]

There are characters that can't cast arcane spells?? :smallbiggrin:

I kid I kid.

Yeah, that is pretty clear in the text. If you can cast even one arcane spell, you can use an Eternal Wand. If you can't cast any arcane spells, you could activate it via a UMD check.

[Kol Korran]

all that said though, i tended to rule that the wands can only be used if you have the spell on your class spell list, otherwise- UMD. seemed more logical for me, especially for wands of CSW for example.

[deuxhero]

There are characters that can't cast arcane spells?? :smallbiggrin:


Druid/Planar Shepard?

[AslanCross]

all that said though, i tended to rule that the wands can only be used if you have the spell on your class spell list, otherwise- UMD. seemed more logical for me, especially for wands of CSW for example.

Yeah, that makes more sense and follows the standard rule for Wands. I don't see why Eternal Wands should be exempt.

[Tinydwarfman]

Druid/Planar Shepard?

Nah man, it clearly has the potential to wildshape into forms with casting, and therefore can use it without difficulty! :smallbiggrin:

[Teron]

Yeah, that makes more sense and follows the standard rule for Wands. I don't see why Eternal Wands should be exempt.
Despite their name, being usable by any arcane caster is the real point of eternal wands. In Eberron fluff (I know... but in this case the mechanics are based on the fluff), they were specifically invented during the Last War so magewrights (NPC casters with a crappy spell list) could do something useful in battle.

Mechanically, it doesn't do much for the tier 1 casters (healing is important and easy to come by; if eternal wands of cure X wounds are the best your players can get, banning them definitely won't improve the game) and gives options to weaker classes, so I don't see a problem.

[Draz74]

Incidentally, what's a list of the best spells to put in Eternal Wands? My favorites have been:


Glibness
Haste
Benign Transposition
Greater Snake's Swiftness
Heroics (!!!)
Enlarge Person
Silent Image


What else? It's a delicate balance; some good low-level Arcane spells don't make the cut for practical Eternal Wands. Either they aren't used every day and are much more economical as normal Wands (e.g. Knock, in my games); or they are utility items that are cheap enough that you might as well get an infinite-uses custom item (e.g. Prestidigitation, Unseen Servant, Scholar's Touch); or when you need them, you need more than two of them (e.g. Nystul's Magic Aura, Cure Light Wounds).

[Coidzor]

Yeah, that makes more sense and follows the standard rule for Wands. I don't see why Eternal Wands should be exempt.

Because they're for any arcane caster to use freely and it says so in the rules on 'em. :smallconfused:

The one reason I believe was so that magewrights could be used in a military fashion for the backstory of the Eternal Wand in Eberron.