True or False: Rules Compendium

[cupkeyk]

We don't have Rules Compendium but is it true that it states that wands whose spell has a casting time of a swift action can be activated with a swift action? This seems too good to be true and would make Rules Compendium worth buying.

[Ditto]

Spell completion items never take less than one standard action to use. If it's a longer action (Summon X = Full round action, Identify = 10 minutes), then you use the spell's full casting time.

[Guildorn Tanaleth]

Spell completion items never take less than one standard action to use. If it's a longer action (Summon X = Full round action, Identify = 10 minutes), then you use the spell's full casting time.

The SRD seems to say that it's always a standard action:

Activating a spell completion item is a standard action and provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.

EDIT: Upon further examination, it seems that wands (which are spell trigger-activated, not spell completion) work as you describe:

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 standard action, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.)

[cupkeyk]

But according to this one guy who will be joining us, Rules Compendium says otherwise. T_T

I don't have a copy of that book.

[Reel On, Love]

The Rules Compendium's wording does indeed make wands of swift-action spells a swift action to identify. This was likely the original intent (well, original as of the invention of swift actions--the PHB was written before them), as I think Complete Arcane features a wand or two of a swift-action, one-round-duration spell and those would be useless otherwise.

[Kurald Galain]

However, remember that taking a wand out of your belt (holster?) is not a swift action (unless you take Quick Draw).

[cupkeyk]

However, remember that taking a wand out of your belt (holster?) is not a swift action (unless you take Quick Draw).

But a gish with a wand of wraithstrike in a wand chambered weapon (Dungeonscape) is just too cheesy!

[icefractal]

But that's because Wraithstrike is cheesy, not because wands are. I guess this means Rogues may actually get some use out of Gravestrike.

[Leadfeathermcc]

Rules Compendium page 85, second column, second paragraph from the bottom paraphrased says that spells trigger items cast spells in the same amount of time as casting that spell would normally.

[cupkeyk]

I am so buying rules compendium. I must see it for myself. Wand Chambered weapons for everyone! Gravestrike, Golemstrike, Vinestrike, Wraithstrike and it only takes a full round action to change wands. you can even afford a different weapon for each wand.

wands of assay spell resistance!

[Theli]

Gotta love how a single ruling can convince some people to buy a book...

[RandomFellow]

Gotta love how a single ruling can convince some people to buy a book...

Ah, yes. Powergamers of the World Unite.

[Balkash]

personally, i think if i brought the rules compendium to my games, my players would just spend all their time trying to find some way out of something, or some way to do something. but i'd side with the SRD saying standard action or more.

[Renegade Paladin]

Meh. I've ruled this way for a long time, for the simple reason that the information in the SRD predates the existence of swift-action spells. They couldn't have been written accounting for something that didn't exist yet.