Use this skill to activate magic devices, including scrolls and wands, that you could not otherwise activate.
Check
You can use this skill to read a spell or to activate a magic item. Use Magic Device lets you use a magic item as if you had the spell ability or class features of another class, as if you were a different race, or as if you were of a different
Alignment.
You make a Use Magic Device check each time you activate a device such as a wand. If you are using the check to emulate an
Alignment or some other quality in an ongoing manner, you need to make the relevant Use Magic Device check once per hour.
You must consciously choose which requirement to emulate. That is, you must know what you are trying to emulate when you make a Use Magic Device check for that purpose. The DCs for various tasks involving Use Magic Device checks are summarized on the use magic device checks table.
Activate Blindly: Some magic items are activated by special words, thoughts, or actions. You can activate such an item as if you were using the activation word, thought, or action, even when you're not and even if you don't know it. You do have to perform some equivalent activity in order to make the check. That is, you must speak, wave the item around, or otherwise attempt to get it to activate. You get a special +2 bonus on your Use Magic Device check if you've activated the item in question at least once before. If you fail by 9 or less, you can't activate the device. If you fail by 10 or more, you suffer a
Wild Surge.
Decipher a Written Spell: This usage works just like deciphering a written spell with the
Spellcraft skill, except that the DC is 5 points higher. Deciphering a written spell requires 1 minute of concentration.
Emulate an Ability Score: To cast a spell from a scroll, you need a high score in the appropriate ability (
Intelligence for
Wizard spells,
Wisdom for divine spells, or
Charisma for
Sorcerer or
Bard spells). Your effective ability score (appropriate to the class you're emulating when you try to cast the spell from the scroll) is your Use Magic Device check result minus 15. If you already have a high enough score in the appropriate ability, you don't need to make this check.
Emulate an Alignment: Some magic items have positive or negative effects based on the user's
Alignment. Use Magic Device lets you use these items as if you were of an
Alignment of your choice. You can emulate only one
Alignment at a time.
Emulate a Class Feature: Sometimes you need to use a class feature to activate a magic item. In this case, your effective level in the emulated class equals your Use Magic Device check result minus 20. This skill does not let you actually use the class feature of another class. It just lets you activate items as if you had that class feature. If the class whose feature you are emulating has an
Alignment requirement, you must meet it, either honestly or by emulating an appropriate
Alignment with a separate Use Magic Device check (see above).
Emulate a Race: Some magic items work only for members of certain races, or work better for members of those races. You can use such an item as if you were a race of your choice. You can emulate only one race at a time.
Use a Scroll: If you are casting a spell from a scroll, you have to decipher it first. Normally, to cast a spell from a scroll, you must have the scroll's spell on your class spell list. Use Magic Device allows you to use a scroll as if you had a particular spell on your class spell list. The DC is equal to 20 + the
Caster Level of the spell you are trying to cast from the scroll. In addition, casting a spell from a scroll requires a minimum score (10 + spell level) in the appropriate ability. If you don't have a sufficient score in that ability, you must emulate the ability score with a separate Use Magic Device check (see above).
This use of the skill also applies to other spell completion magic items.
Use a Wand: Normally, to use a wand, you must have the wand's spell on your class spell list. This use of the skill allows you to use a wand as if you had a particular spell on your class spell list. This use of the skill also applies to other spell trigger magic items, such as staffs.
Cause a Wild Surge: You can intentionally cause a magic item to produce a
Wild Surge, as if you had attempted to activate it blindly and failed by 10 or more. The DC to produce an intentional mishap is 30. If you succeed, you have some control over the
Wild Surge. If you fail the check by 9 or less, you create a normal
Wild Surge you do not control. If you fail by 10 or more, nothing happens.
Action
None. The Use Magic Device check is made as part of the action (if any) required to activate the magic item.
Try Again
Yes, but if you ever roll a natural 1 while attempting to activate an item and you fail, then you can't try to activate that item again for 24 hours.
Special
You cannot take 10 with this skill.
You can't
Aid Another on Use Magic Device checks. Only the user of the item may attempt such a check.
Skill Unlock
A character who selects this skill for the Signature Skill feat or a
Rogue who selects it for their Rogue's Edge class ability gains the following abilities when they reach the designated number of ranks in this skill:
- 5 Ranks: You can use the Aid Another action to assist another creature’s Use Magic Device check by attempting a check against the item’s Use Magic Device DC.
- 10 Ranks: If you roll a natural 1 when activating an item, you take a –10 penalty on Use Magic Device checks with that item for 24 hours instead of being unable to activate it. This penalty stacks with itself.
- 15 Ranks: You can use this skill to emulate two races or two alignments simultaneously.
- 20 Ranks: If you roll a natural 1 when activating an item, you can reroll the check at a –10 penalty to activate the item. You must take the result of the second check, even if it is worse, and you can’t reroll it again.
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