does a rod of magical precision work with a wand?

[IIzak]

Okay so my question is, does a rod of magical precision work with a wand? like lets say i have a wand of magic missile, but i don't have the precise shot feat, since the rod grants the precise shot feat to spells and spell-like abilities, would it be possible to use precise shot when firing the wand of magic missile so i don't take the minus 4 in combat? I hope this question makes sense. I need to know because if it does work, then it frees up a feat for me, and if not, then i'll need to use up two, so please help me out here? Thanks

[eggynack]

It doesn't look like it works, but it also doesn't look like it matters. Magic missile just hits, with no attack roll involved, so you can shoot into melee to your heart's content without ever missing. Thus, precise shot is irrelevant to your current goals. As long as you have line of effect, you should be fine.

[ArcturusV]

Not even line of effect, isn't it only line of sight for Magic Missile? Thus concealment and cover won't effect it?

[IIzak]

It doesn't look like it works, but it also doesn't look like it matters. Magic missile just hits, with no attack roll involved, so you can shoot into melee to your heart's content without ever missing. Thus, precise shot is irrelevant to your current goals. As long as you have line of effect, you should be fine.

so it wont work for one that requires ranged touch? (im playing a warforged artificer and i accidentally took the wrong feat early on, trying to cope now)

[tyckspoon]

Not even line of effect, isn't it only line of sight for Magic Missile? Thus concealment and cover won't effect it?

Still requires effect, but not an attack roll. As long as you can adequately identify your target and the missiles can find a (presumably straight line path) to it you'll hit it. Total Concealment (you can't see your target to ID it, but there's nothing solid in the way) and Total Cover (there's a solid object completely blocking you from the target) will both prevent Magic Missile from hitting.

@ intended thread question:
I'd probably allow it, but I think strictly RAW the answer is no- the spell trigger activation method means the wand is casting the spell, not you, and thus any beneficial feats and items you have do not apply to the wand unless they specifically call out wands.

[eggynack]

I agree that it probably won't. Wands aren't really you casting spells, or using spell like abilities, so it's outside the rod's purview. As long as you're not making an attack roll though, you should be fine. It's really not all that important to have precise shot anyways. Ranged touch attacks have a pretty high chance of hitting, so it's not that big a deal.

[Diarmuid]

I disagree that wands are not you "casting the spell".



Activation: Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast, however, has a longer casting time than 1 action, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.)

[Alienist]

I disagree that wands are not you "casting the spell".

I remember looking into this (specifically for Artificers), and coming to the conclusion that most stuff like this doesn't actually work.

I'm not saying that the rules can't be bent or 'massaged' into supporting the opposite point of view, but the most natural and obvious interpretation of the rules is that they don't.

I think one of the cooler ideas that got shot down was to use Spectral Hand:

"For as long as the spell lasts, any touch range spell of 4th level or lower that you cast can be delivered by the spectral hand."

If you dig into whether that can be used with wands it becomes obvious that it can't, which is a shame.

You're trying to use exactly the same language as Spectral Hand for the Rod, so if Spectral Hand doesn't work like that neither should the Rod.

[Gem]

Wands are generally characterized by working the same way for all characters. They have fixed effects. Caster level doesn't matter, any DC-enhancers don't matter, even metamagic requires a special wandgrip.

However, if we're talking about a ranged touch attack, such a touch attack by necessity must use the caster's inherent stats; at the very least their BaB. That is one element that isn't fixed. And if it's using the caster's stats anyway, it seems strange to exclude any modifications to that. The Rod of Precision's exact wording refers only to "any ranged attack you make with a spell or spell-like ability". Given that you are definitely making a ranged touch attack, I'd say it applies, even when you use a wand.