Magical Wands

[albo]

I have a new player in my DND 3.5 group that says a 3rd level ranger can use a wand of cure light wounds with a dc of 8. The players handbook says "Use Magic Device" is a DC 20 to use a magic wand with a spell on it that you dont know. How did he get a DC of 8? Where did he get a DC of 8 from? I looked at the DMG 1 and I didnt see anything on it. A 3rd level ranger does not have access to spells. Cure light wounds is a Ranger 1st level spell. Does anyone know anything that will help me? Please and thank you.

[Troacctid]

You're both wrong. The spell is on the character's spell list, so no check is required. This is true even if the character does not have casting yet, as long as they have at least one level in the appropriate class.

[albo]

You're both wrong. The spell is on the character's spell list, so no check is required. This is true even if the character does not have casting yet, as long as they have at least one level in the appropriate class.
Where did you find that information, so I can show proof when we play again?

[Mcdt2]

Where did you find that information, so I can show proof when we play again?

All below quotes are taken from the D20 SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm), which is an excellent resource.



Activation - Wands use the spell trigger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicItemBasics.htm#spellTrigger) activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm#standardActions) that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/attacksOfOpportunity.htm). (If the spell being cast, however, has a longer casting time than 1 standard action (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm#standardActions), it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.) To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area. A wand may be used while grappling (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#grappling) or while swallowed whole.

Spell trigger activation is similar to spell completion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicItemBasics.htm#spellCompletion), but it’s even simpler. No gestures or spell finishing is needed, just a special knowledge of spellcasting that an appropriate character would know, and a single word that must be spoken. Anyone with a spell on his or her spell list knows how to use a spell trigger item that stores that spell. (This is the case even for a character who can’t actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/paladin.htm).) The user must still determine what spell is stored in the item before she can activate it. Activating a spell trigger item is a standard action (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm#standardActions) and does not provoke attacks of opportunity (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/attacksOfOpportunity.htm).

As it states, even a 3rd level paladin (with similar spellcasting to a ranger's) is able to activate wands of spells on their list without a problem

[albo]

The ranger doesn't have a spell list because the ranger can't cast spells until 4th or 5th level. Remember this is a 3rd level ranger we're talking about

[tyckspoon]

Anyone with a spell on his or her spell list knows how to use a spell trigger item that stores that spell. (This is the case even for a character who can’t actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin.)


Isolating for emphasis. Ranger is exactly the same as the Paladin called out in the explicit example of how this works. The Ranger can use it, there is no check required.

Edit because I can't leave well enough alone: Unless your Ranger took one of the spell-less alternate class features or variants which actually do completely remove the spellcasting, leaving them with no spell list whatsoever. In that case they'd be looking at the standard Use Magic Device DC 20 for 'use a wand'.

[Goaty14]

The ranger doesn't have a spell list because the ranger can't cast spells until 4th or 5th level. Remember this is a 3rd level ranger we're talking about

The spell is still on the ranger's spell list. Yes, it is not a spell that he can cast, nor is it a spell that he has access to at this particular level, but he can still activate the wand. Note the example in the second quote (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicItemBasics.htm#spellTrigger) where a 3rd level paladin (which, like the ranger, does not have access to spells at that level) could activate any spell-trigger item (AKA, a wand) of any spell on their spell list.

[Doctor Awkward]

The ranger doesn't have a spell list because the ranger can't cast spells until 4th or 5th level. Remember this is a 3rd level ranger we're talking about

Player's Handbook, Glossary, pg. 313:

spell trigger item: A magic item (such as a wand) that produces a
particular spell effect. Any spellcaster whose class spell list includes
a particular spell knows how to use a spell trigger item that
duplicates it, regardless of whether the character knows (or could
know) that spell at the time. The user must determine what the spell
stored in the item is before trying to use it. To activate the item, the
user must speak a word, but no gesture or spell finishing is required.
Activating a spell trigger item is a standard action and does not
provoke attacks of opportunity.

[albo]

Player's Handbook, Glossary, pg. 313:
ok thanks everyone for the information. ill let the ranger know he can use the wand without rolling a dc.