[3.5] Passwords

[Duke of Urrel]

This may be an easy question. What kind of action is uttering a password?

By "password," I mean anything that is called a "password" or a "special word" in the SRD. In particular, I'm thinking of the "password" you can use to bypass a Glyph of Warding or the "special word" you can use to change the transmuted text of a Secret Page back to its original form.

On the one hand, the SRD considers uttering a command word to activate a magic item to be a standard action by default.

On the other hand, the SRD considers speaking no more than a sentence or two to be a free action.

So what kind of action should you have to take to utter a password? Should this be a standard action, a free action, or something in between, like a move action? Should it make a difference whether the purpose of the password is to alter a spell effect or to activate a magic item (such as a magic portal)?

[CaladanMoonblad]

If the password activates a magic item, like a door or a wand, or whatever, it's a standard action for the entire event (password + effect) to happen.

If the password is to let Big Ed know you want into the Thieves' Guild back entrance, it is a free action followed by a delayed action for Big Ed to open the door.

[TuggyNE]

I think Caladan has a good idea here, although I doubt there's any strict RAW on it.

[Humble Master]

It says somewhere in the Players Handbook that speaking is a free action but that as close to rules for speaking as I know.

Here is the actual text from the SRD: "In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action. "

[Duke of Urrel]

Thanks to all for your responses.


If the password activates a magic item, like a door or a wand, or whatever, it's a standard action for the entire event (password + effect) to happen.

If the password is to let Big Ed know you want into the Thieves' Guild back entrance, it is a free action followed by a delayed action for Big Ed to open the door.


I think Caladan has a good idea here, although I doubt there's any strict RAW on it.

I also like CaladanMoonblad's neat distinction. I'm just wondering whether there are strong opinions about how passwords should generally work, and whether the folk of the Playground consider them to be the same as command words or something different.

Here's a scenario I'm thinking about. I'm a wizard and I have a magic scroll scribed with the Dimension Door spell. I cast the Secret Page spell on it to make it look blank, then scribe the Read Magic spell upon it by the usual method. (In my understanding, this is the only way to make both scribed spells fully functional, despite the fact that one is hidden by the other.) To complete the deception, I cast the Magic Aura spell on the scroll, making its magic aura seem to indicate that the item contains only a Universal cantrip.

Now, I have a Dimension Door scroll disguised as a fully functioning Read Magic scroll. All I need to do to access the Dimension Door spell is utter a "special word." If I can do that only with a standard action, it takes me two turns both to reveal the text of the Dimension Door spell and to activate it. If I can utter the "special word" with a shorter action, then I can both reveal the Dimension Door text and activate the spell during the same turn.

Are there strong opinions about this, one way or the other?

Now suppose I've just completed the Dimension Door spell by reading its text aloud. The scroll looks empty again, but if I utter the "special word" twice, I can get the text of the Read Magic spell back. (You never know when you might want to decipher a Symbol.) How much time does it take to utter a "special word" twice? Should I consider both utterances to be one standard action?

Again, let me know if you have strong opinions about this.

[SethoMarkus]

I don't have any RAW to support this, but as long as the word didn't have any external effect I would treat it as a free action. So, speaking a word to reveal the hidden text, speaking the password to bypass a trap, etc.

If the word triggers some external effect, such as the command word for a magic item or a spell with a vocal contingency (as a trap or other offensive use), then it is a standard action.

So, for your example, I would rule it as two rounds of actions:
Round 1 - Speak the special word revealing the Dimension Door scroll text (free), casting the Dimension Door spell from the scroll (standard)
Round 2 - Speak the special word twice, reverting the (now blank) scroll back to Read Magic

This is all just opinion, of course, but seems fairly consistent with RAW where I see it. This also assumes that the scroll is in hand already.

[BowStreetRunner]

I would even go so far as to say that in this case it might be just part of the standard action to activate the scroll. Adding one extra word could be seen as just a variation on the original activation phrase.

[HalfQuart]

I think I'm missing something. If you reveal the Dimension Door spell on the scroll before casting Read Magic, won't it be obscured by the text of the Read Magic spell? Or would you write one on the back and the other on the front or something so they wouldn't use the same space?

[Fouredged Sword]

Speaking is a free action.

Activating a spell trigger item in a standard action unless written otherwise.

Therefor, unless you are activating a spell trigger item or some other item with a stated activation time, the pass word is a free action.

For example, the alarm spell. Speaking the password should be a fee action taken during the move action used to cross the barrier.

Speaking the command word of a wand does not actually use said wand. That requires actually taking the action to directly command the wand with the intent of it activating.

[Duke of Urrel]

I think I'm missing something. If you reveal the Dimension Door spell on the scroll before casting Read Magic, won't it be obscured by the text of the Read Magic spell? Or would you write one on the back and the other on the front or something so they wouldn't use the same space?

We're talking about a possible application of the Secret Page spell, which "alters the contents of a page so that they appear to be something entirely different." The SRD goes on to say that when you cast the Secret Page spell, "The text of a spell can be changed to show even another spell. Explosive runes or sepia snake sigil can be cast upon the secret page." We are discussing how quickly you can use a "special word" to change the text that appears on a magic scroll (assuming that even this text can be altered by the Secret Page spell).