[RPG] Do spellcasters need to know a spell to use a magic device

pathfinder-1esorcererspellswizard

This question came up amongst my group when, in a Pathfinder game, the Wizard acquired a wand of fireballs but does not actually know the spell fireball. Does he actually need to have fireball recorded in his spellbooks to be able to use it? And does a Sorcerer actually need to know the spell to be able to use it, or will they need to be making use magic device checks?

Although this question is mainly about Pathfinder, could someone say if it's the same in 3.5 as well? Those are the main 2 games we play

Best Answer

As long as you have at least one level in spellcasting class X, you can use wands of any spell Y that is on the spell-list of class X.

Spell Trigger items

Wands are Spell Trigger items, which is one of 4 activation methods for magic items. Use Activated and Command Word items don't require any spellcasting ability to use. Spell Completion (Scrolls) and Spell Trigger (Wands, Staffs) do, to a varying degree.

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. Spell trigger items can be used by anyone whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin. [...]

(emphasis mine). The quote is from Pathfinder, but this holds true for 3.5 as well.

This means that a wizard can use a wand of any spell that appears on the wizard spell list, regardless of whether or not the spell is in his spellbook. The same holds true for sorcerers, regardless of their list of spells known (which is different from the sorcerer spell list).

Spell Trigger items and UMD

If the spell is not on any of your class lists, you can use the Use Magic Device skill to pretend it was:

Use a Wand, Staff, or Other Spell Trigger Item: [...] This use of the skill allows you to use a wand as if you had a particular spell on your class spell list. [...]

(emphasis mine) This works even when your class spell list is normally empty, such as when you are a Rogue or Barbarian.

Spell Completion items

It's slightly more complicated for Spell Completion items.

Spell Completion: [...] To use a spell completion item safely, a character must be of high enough level in the right class to cast the spell already. If he can't already cast the spell, there's a chance he'll make a mistake. [...]

In this case, the character's (caster) level* in an appropriate class must be high enough to be able to learn the spell (e.g. 5th level wizard for a 3rd level scroll), or make a fairly easy caster level check (see Scrolls). Again, there is no need to actually know the spell or have it in your spellbook. Having it on your class spell list is sufficient.

However, contrary to Spell Trigger items, using a Spell Completion item whose CL is higher than yours requires a caster level check. Another important difference with Scrolls is that they require you to have a sufficiently high ability score to cast a spell of that level.

* Spell Completion states "high enough level to cast" while scrolls specifically states caster level.

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