Useless Magic Device
I have a Rogue in a Pathfinder game who is trained in Use Magic Device (UMD) and I started to read over the skill a bit more as it’s not something I have had to deal with a great deal in my gaming career.
And I am now sad.
Especially since we now have a wizard in the group who can make scrolls of invisibility.
This Catfolk Rogue has an INT score of 10. Which is a problem.
Invisibility being a second level spell needs an INT of 12 to caste. In this case I would need to emulate that score. The way to emulate an INT/CHA/WIS score is with a UMD check -15. So for my feline, the math would be (1d20+8)-15. So to get a 12, at least, I would need to roll... *ticks off fingers* a 19? Minimum?...
(19+8)-15...27-15...Yeah, that would be what I would need.
So there is that part of the equation effectively out of the question.
Next comes the actual use of the scroll.
Right, for those who don’t know, this is a 2 step process. Emulate the needed score then actually use the damn thing.
In this case, it would be a UMD check of 20+spell level. So a DC of 22. With a +8 of UMD, I would need to roll a 14 on 1d20.
Should I meet all those state criteria...I could caste invisibility on myself. But if I can’t emulate the needed INT score, I can’t. At all.
Which means that scrolls and the like are all but useless to this rogue.
He’s still sneaky as all get out, level 5 and a +23 to stealth and able to take 10 on stealth checks isn’t bad. But...the extra utility of a nice scroll of like invisibility or dimension door would be nice.
