hidden spaces & wands

[Loki Eremes]

hi there people

ive once open a thread where i asked for methods of delivering sneak attacks.
i that thread some people recommended me "use weapons with hidden spaces and use wands"

What i want to know is: how this works?

I mean, ive read the Complete Scoundrel (CS) and found about them.
I want to know if i could use a scimitar with a hidden wand inside it...and time costs (how many actions does it take to cast a spell form that wand)

[Yukitsu]

Wands of that nature count as being in your hand, so long as you could attack with the weapon from what I can tell. So a standard casting time.

[GreyVulpine]

Well, hidden spaces from complete scoundrel explicitly states:

"Opening a hidden space requires a full-round action unless otherwise noted."

There's a modification with a hidden scabbard tip that you can add to make it a move action for extra gold. To draw it from that space would be another standard action (unless you have the quick draw feat), then a standard action to cast from a wand.

[Loki Eremes]

Well, hidden spaces from complete scoundrel explicitly states:



There's a modification with a hidden scabbard tip that you can add to make it a move action for extra gold. To draw it from that space would be another standard action (unless you have the quick draw feat), then a standard action to cast from a wand.

yeah.... but i dont want to draw a wand in such a difficult way.
i mean, i though you could cast from it without throwing away the weapon...
if i would do something like taking it out from the scimitar, then throw (or sheathe) the scimitar, then cast......i would rater have the wand on my pocket......

[GreyVulpine]

Well, a scimitar is a one-handed weapon. There's nothing preventing you from having a scimitar in one hand, and a wand in the other, unless you wanted to wield the weapon with two hands.

The beauty of drawing a wand from a hidden sheath is that you can sleight of hand it, giving you a chance to catch your foe unawares (flat-footed) against an attack from a wand.

[FishAreWet]

WAND CHAMBER from Dungeonscape. Add 150g to the price of the item and you may now insert a wand in it. And if the weapon is being wielded then so is the wand.

[AslanCross]

^-- This, pretty much.

Another option is the Wand Bracelet, which shrinks held items to the size of a bracelet charm. These then hang from the bracelet for later use. You can draw them as a swift action and store them as a move action.

The Wand Bracelet's kinda expensive, though. I know Dungeonscape also has a Wand Bracer, a mundane contraption that allows you to retrieve spring-loaded wands.

[Darrin]

You want a Wand Chamber from Dungeonscape. I think it's 100 GP, but I can't recall exactly.

After that, you'll want a wand you can activate as a swift action. There are a few spells in the Spell Compendium that can help:

Distract Assailant (Assn 1, Sor/Wiz 1). Target considered flat-footed until its next action if it fails a Will save, and a 1st level wand has a DC 11. Not exactly a spell you can depend on, particularly against spellcasters with high Will saves, but there are also a lot of high-CR nasties with pathetic will saves (I'm looking at you, Mr. Purple Worm).

Invisibility, Swift (Assn 2, Bard 1). Lasts only 1 round, but opponents that can't see/detect you lose their Dex bonus.

Wraithstrike (Assn 3, Sor/Wiz 2). Doesn't really involve sneak attack directly, but turns all your melee attacks into melee touch attacks, which is just pure awesomesauce on toast.

[Devils_Blind]

You want a Wand Chamber from Dungeonscape. I think it's 100 GP, but I can't recall exactly.

After that, you'll want a wand you can activate as a swift action. There are a few spells in the Spell Compendium that can help:

Edit: The SRD is contradicted by the Rules Compendium on this, which says they have an activation time that is the same as the casting time. So if the Rules Compendium takes precedence in your games, ignore this post.

I'm pretty sure there are no swift action wands.

From the SRD:

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.)

[arguskos]

Im pretty sure there are no swift action wands.

From the SRD:

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.)

Overridden by the Rules Compendium, which states that the activation of a wand is the same as the casting time of the spell it is of.

[wormwood]

Im pretty sure there are no swift action wands.

From the SRD:

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.)

I believe this was updated to make casting from a wand the same type of action as the spell... though i can't remember if it was errata or an inclusion in a later book. I'm leaning toward it being in one of the books that introduced the idea of the swift action.

Edit: sneaky, sneaky ninja

[Yukitsu]

WAND CHAMBER from Dungeonscape. Add 150g to the price of the item and you may now insert a wand in it. And if the weapon is being wielded then so is the wand.

Oh yeah, those were what I was thinking of. Doh.

[Loki Eremes]

ThX to all

WAND CHAMBER was what i was looking for.




now another question: activating a wand is a DC= 10 + spell lvl [Use Magic Device] ? cause until now my master used 20 + spell lvl....

[Rauthiss]

now another question: activating a wand is a DC= 10 + spell lvl [Use Magic Device] ? cause until now my master used 20 + spell lvl....

Using a wand has a flat DC of 20.

[Jack_Simth]

Overridden by the Rules Compendium

Sort of.

According to the Rules Compendium, the Rules Compendium entry takes precedence.

According to the Primary Source Rule at the header of essentially all errata, the DMG entry takes precedence.

[Loki Eremes]

ive heard that wand could be made for storing an infinite number of charges at the cost of extra gold and limiting it to uses per day


Is that true? o.o
Wheres that rule?

[Waylor]

Thats a Eternal Wand (MiC), it has 2 uses/day of the spell, despite its name it just the regular cost for a 2 uses/day spell object (you can calculate it using the table at the DmGuide)

[Curmudgeon]

The beauty of drawing a wand from a hidden sheath is that you can sleight of hand it, giving you a chance to catch your foe unawares (flat-footed) against an attack from a wand.

Hmm. No, not really.

The Surprise Round

If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin.

It's not the wand that the foes need to be unaware of, but you. To make your strategem work you'd have to also convince these other people that you're not opposed to them (i.e., you'd need to lie convincingly) until you broke the trust by drawing your wand.