help with improving UMD

[Thac0 Redeye]

Hello, I have a 3rd level scout/ranger and want to use my UMD skill for wands. I have maxed out my skill points but my CHA is a 7. So does anyone have any ideas to increase my skill? (magic items,spells etc)
thanks

[Mike Miller]

Are you planning for in combat usage or out of combat? If you have a cleric in the party, Guidance of the Avatar is nice.

[Thac0 Redeye]

both, any other ideas?
that spell is ok, but being only level 3, the spells are very limited and a wand of cure light was one of the primary uses wanted.

[Allanimal]

both, any other ideas?
that spell is ok, but being only level 3, the spells are very limited and a wand of cure light was one of the primary uses wanted.

Isn’t CLW on the ranger list? If so, no need to UMD that Wand of CLW, Just use it.

From the DMG: (emphasis mine)

Spell Trigger: Spell trigger activation is similar to spell completion, 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. This means that if a wizard picks up a spell trigger activation item (such as a wand or a staff ) and that item stores a wizard spell, she knows how to use it. Specifically, 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.) 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 and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

[Thurbane]

Indeed. This is confirmed in the Official FAQ:


For example, a paladin of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level has not yet gained any spellcasting ability, but she still can use spell trigger items that store spells on the paladin class list.

[Thac0 Redeye]

oh...awesome.
ok but what about a spell not on the ranger spell list such as magic missile
?

[Allanimal]

oh...awesome.
ok but what about a spell not on the ranger spell list such as magic missile
?

You either need to get it on your list somehow, or UMD it.

[Segev]

A masterwork tool gives +2 circumstance bonus to an associated skill check for 50 gp. Perhaps some sort of cheat sheet diagram you can look at for each spell you want the bonus to, showing how to wave it to activate it correctly. That would cancel the -2 from your low Charisma.

A magic item that grants a competence bonus to a skill is 100x(bonus2) gp. That is, 100, 400, 900, etc. for +1, +2, +3, etc.

And, of course, there’s Skill Focus for +3.

Is UMD a ranger class skill? If so, a mw item puts you at +6, and a 900 gp magic item would raise that to +9. Skill Focus and Magic Aptitude (if you’re willing to devote two feats to it) give you another +5, which would put you at +14; enough to roll a 15 on a natural 1.

[radthemad4]

UMD isn't a class skill for rangers. There are feats you can take to get it as a class skill, but the official ones I know of are both level 1 only.

I found this feat:

Arcane Dabbler [General] You gain detect magic and prestidigitation at will as a wizard of your character level. In addition, Use Magic Device is now a class skill for you.

here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?491181) under the Planescape tab, but I don't know if your DM is likely to allow that due to it being 'semi-official 3rd party' (Random aside, what does this mean? How is it semi official?).

If you take the Shape Soulmeld feat and shape the Mages Spectacles soulmeld, you can get a +4 insight bonus to UMD. You can add another +2 to that for each essentia you put in.

Anyway, I'm not sure it's a good idea for a character with low charisma and who also doesn't have UMD as a class skill to spend resources on UMD.

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Apprentice Spellcaster gives UMD as a class skill, plus any knowledge, and another trick for divine casters