« Reply #311 on: August 16, 2011, 09:51:15 PM »
Nothing in the rule books describe activating non-keyword magic items is exactly like pushing a button and outside of the continuous/reactive effects nearly all of them are in fact command based. Quick, how many animals can you think of even have the ability to Command the use items to begin with? If you came up with one, the Raven, you know as much as I do. The rest don't and yet they all have intelligence scores while Zombie/Skeletons don't.
IIRC Immovable Rods are button activated, so the principle does exist (though you might have to make these button activated items yourself). I imagine both mindless undead and animals could be used for button pushing.
Hardly a point.
Breaking out certain examples - robe of w/e has you rip it up, rod of batman has 3 buttons - can equally be met with certain items that require spell slots spent or anything that uses Command(mental) or any scroll or wand. Specific examples are specific examples. The arch type Manipulation gives zero rules to what you are doing and likens it towards Somatic Components which is another totally undefined area. Saying "all zombies can use magic items because an Immovable Rod has a button" is like saying everyone knows how to swim because dead bodies float.
On the speech side, even programmed to be set off on an open syllable sound a zombie would probably make like "mer" the zombie it's self cannot be trained to say "mer" while aiming the rod of shoots-death at a target. Instead it would randomly utter the sound with no regard of where the rod is pointing much like an idiot with a roman candle. And then this is where the differences between Speech and Magic Item Activation pop in. Despite flavor text talking about accidentally saying the wrong word, combat is strictly limited in terms of actions. Saying "mer" when it's not your turn cannot activate the magic item because you cannot take a Standard Action, you are entirely hoping
the item reacts to an event at key moment. Its like saying the clock is intelligent to know what time it is based off the gear's reactions to the spring's tension. You're rebuttal is based on everyone is talking about your personal meaning to a word where as they are talking about the claim your zombie activated a necklace of give me Magic Fang before attacking or w/e and weather or not a zombie is intelligent enough to properly use an item vs you building a series of reactions to what you'll expect the engine to do.
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Tiers explained in 8 sentences. With examples!
[spoiler]Tiers break down into who has spellcasting more than anything else due to spells being better than anything else in the game.
6: Skill based. Commoner, Expert, Samurai.
5: Mundane warrior. Barbarian, Fighter, Monk.
4: Partial casters. Adapt, Hexblade, Paladin, Ranger, Spelltheif.
3: Focused casters. Bard, Beguiler, Dread Necromancer, Martial Adapts, Warmage.
2: Full casters. Favored Soul, Psion, Sorcerer, Wu Jen.
1: Elitists. Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Wizard.
0: Gods. StP Erudite, Illthid Savant, Pun-Pun, Rocks fall & you die.
[/spoiler]